Recent content by Paultergeist

I rather doubt that this will be the issue in your case, but my garage door had a gap (space, opening) at the bottom on one side because the concrete slab was not level. I did not notice this with my original (old) garage door, as that old door had so much *slop* in the hinges that the door...

I am curious about your question. I have seen the cells of concrete block left empty (hollow), and I have conversely seen the cells filled with concrete. I have never seen "grout" used in a structural role with regards to concrete block. Can you elaborate? I also do not understand this...

Wow.....I am not a professional nor an expert, but I see very scant evidence of there even being a footing under those stacked concrete blocks. I can see -- from the pictures -- what appear to be two spots where the end/corner of the blocks are *floating* unsupported. A proper footing -- in my...

I agree that the springs would probably not have to look identical, but I would rather just know that they were matched springs (of opposite winding directions). What is important, however, is that the spring(s) are correctly sized and rated for the weight and travel of the door. My...

Thinking......Immediate plan: get it put back together and working, such that I can have a functional garage door again. Bonus: learning and confidence have increased. Slightly longer-term plan: Outfit the garage with dual springs. For consistency, I will probably order the opposite side-spring...

....and with that, I now understand *why* I was unable to simply adjust the torsion spring as I had originally intended (a la YouTube video), and why the original plan went pear-shaped. In retrospect, I was a bit lucky that I was able to get the door closed (it had gotten jammed during all of...

To all, I am truly appreciative of the support of these replies; I am equally humbled by the depth and wisdom of many of the insights being provided. I got the spring winding cone loose last night. It was suggested to me (in an earlier post) that I insert a winding rod into one of the cone...

These are my sentiments exactly. I am pretty sure that -- if you were talking to these concrete guys in a casual setting outside of any sort of work obligation -- they would each-and-every-one say that it is better to place the entire footing as a continuous pour. While there are differing...

All, Thank you most kindly for the thoughts and suggestions. I have read through these replies several times and am allowing these ideas to "marinate" in my head a bit. Top_Fuel asked a few specific question which I thought I would try to answer: It is a 16 x 7 door and -- as installed by...

I am not about to make you feel better about the situation....... I am not an expert at concrete matters by any means, but I would lay odds that the most likely point of failure will be the interface between the two different pours. What I do feel like I have coinsiderable experience with...

Greetings, I am hoping that some of the folks that really understand garage doors can possibly offer me some suggestions: I have a 16-foot (wide) garage door. It was professionally-installed about 5-6 years ago. The weight of the door is counter-balanced by a single torsion spring. There...

Fascinating thread......and such matters have been on my mind many times. In truth, I guess I have been pretty lucky not to have gotte *zinged* by the city for the work I have done on my own house, but most of that has simply been interior repair/remodel (i.e. "like replaced by like.") A...

Understood.......thank you for the helpful thoughts. Now that you call my attention to it, that one set screw is the only thing holding that spring tension once it is set, is it not? I can see why people might be prone to over-tightening it. Thanks -- to everyone -- for the very helpful...

Thanks very much for this link.....exactly what I was looking for..... I am going to look around my local area a bit more before I resort to ordering on-line, but my local HD/Lowes stores do not seem to be as focused on these sort of materials. If I strike out locally, I'll pull the trigger on...

Greetings, I am soon to embark on an attempt to adjust my torsion spring on my garage door. It is a fairly new garage door (about 3 years old, very low use) and my understanding is that a new-ish spring may need to be re-adjusted as the new metal relaxes following initial installation. The...