bad garage door or foundation issue?

[onetwo3]

I would like to ask for your advice re: a potential garage door issue.

The issue is that there are 2" gaps between the garage door and the garage's concrete floor (at the left and right sides of the garage door bottom) , and its frame (at the top left and right corners of the garage door frame). Is this a major issue with the foundation settling or drainage? Or is this just an issue with the garage door itself?

Links to pics are below.

Here is additional info:

House age: 60 years.

No visible cracking inside the house or garage floor.
No visible cracking of stucco at the garage door frame.

The foundation was a poured concrete slab (garage) and raised batter poured concrete perimeter system with
concrete pier blocks and wood post supports and girder connections.
There are visible vertical cracks in the perimeter foundation or interior stem walls, but they do not exceed more
than 1/8” in width.

Thank you very much for any information.

Links to pics:

Whole garage:



Left top:


Right top:


Left bottom:


Right bottom:


House front:


House driveway:

 

[rice rocket]

Get a spirit level (or any other known flat object) on it and see for yourself.

The pics you've posted are all symptoms of both foundation issues and a sagged door. Concrete foundations don't settle/heave without cracking though, so it's more likely a door issue.

 

[larry_g]

Try pulling a string line across the TOP of the bottom panel while the door is closed, It will show you if it is warped or sagging. Then do the same across the top of the cement to see of it is straight.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[brownfoot]

Is this a new to you house?
Photos appear to show the floor has a crown in the center, the gaps at the top of the door indicate the frame is not square, probably from settling, but the door looks to not be flush with the frame, maybe the frame is not only out of square but also not plumb.

The bottom of the door can be coped to fit the floor, but the frame would need to be at least plumb and better if square also. Then the tracks adjusted for the proper fit.

 

[C96]

Yes, I too would just pull some string lines and take measurements. Of course a laser would be ideal, but string line is fine.

From what I see in your pictures, the garage door is the problem. It looks to be sagging quite a bit down the center.

 

[CNGsaves]

You can check for out-of-square opening by measuring criss-cross corner to corner. These measurements should be SAME distance.

Show us PICS of back side of garage door from inside the garage. What does it look like back there??

If this is potential purchase of house, send a garage door installer out there to get estimate. Then have that likely high-priced quote DEDUCTED from potential sales price of house. Worst case scenario complete replacement of garage door.

 

[fury9]

Adjust the door tracks to push the door closer tho the outside, then put your weatherstripping on your doorjamb to cover up the rest of the gaps on the sides. For the bottom attach some strips following the curve of the floor and put some rubber weather strips on.
I personally wouldn't go cutting and/or smashing the bottom of the door to fit. I agree to check it with a level .

 

[jkwilson]

Holding a sheet of paper on the picture makes it look like the door has a problem.

There appears to be a gap in the center between the 3rd and 4th panels from the ground.

 

[NUTTSGT]

I edited your post to show the picture instead of the links.


Is that a solid wood door ?

 

[little d]

1,2,3,
the top corners are the easy fixes and should be addressed first. When the tracks were installed, someone didn't adjust them right.

The brackets that hold the tracks to the walls have slots in them so that when you install them you can adjust how far away from the walls they and the door itself are. With the door closed, loosen the brackets that hold the end of the tracks to the ceiling. With these loose, loosen the brackets that hold the track to the wall (one at a time) and tap the track back towards the wall, leaving about an 1/8 of an inch clearance all the way down and tighten them back up. After that, look at the gap where the horizontal track meats the vertical, you may need to raise the rear of the track (where it is mounted to the ceiling). Once you get one side done, move over to the other side and adjust it. After it is all adjusted about an 1/8 of an inch away from the door jam and you run it up and down a few times and have no binding issues, they make a weather strip for garage doors, cut it to length, snug it to the door and nail it in place.

Now, on to the floor. I doesn't really matter if the foundation has sunk or the floor has just crowned, you have the crown issue to deal with. You can; A, live with it, B, grind the floor back flat (where the door sits), C, scribe and cut the door to match the crown or, D, add weather sealer to the outside edges to make up the differences.

For me, A wouldn't be an option and while B and C would be the easiest fixes, I'd see them every time I drove up to the door and would drive me crazy so with that said, they rent concrete grinders (they look like floor polishers), snap a chalk line on the back side of the door, grab a six pack while you get the grinder and spend an evening grinding away on the high spot until the door closes flat.

After which, pour yourself four fingers of some Jim Beam Black over ice, drag your lawn chair around to the driveway and relax, admiring what a fine job you have done.....

 

[Thorold]

It looks like a wood door to me and i'm betting it has a GDO attached to the centre with no top brace so that it has been warped over time.

 

[RonnieC]

Just putting the edge of a sheet of paper to the pictures you provided, the header frame is straight, and the door is sagging in the middle. Because the center of the door is hitting the ground first, the upper edges of the sides are not dropping low enough in the track to seal at the front.
Case closed. Where's my prize?

 

[kbs2244]

For sure a sagging door.
You can see the "smile" in the bottom 2 joints.

 

[stikman56]

For sure a sagging door.
You can see the "smile" in the bottom 2 joints.

Yeah, looks like it's time for a new garage door.

 

[jnkpile]

Just putting the edge of a sheet of paper to the pictures you provided, the header frame is straight, and the door is sagging in the middle. Because the center of the door is hitting the ground first, the upper edges of the sides are not dropping low enough in the track to seal at the front.

Case closed. Where's my prize?

Bingo!