convert door from horizontal track to incline track

[Cobra6]

I need some help with my garage door.

I have a 9' wide x 7' tall standard door that was installed with a horizontal track (90 degrees) - I want to convert it to an incline track (hopefully 45degrees) to match my roof pitch (12/12) (see pics)

I had one of the local garage door dealers (CHI Overhead Doors) tell me that I just needed to cut my horizontal curve track, suspend it the way the door needed to go on the incline, then he could retension the spring or get a new one.
I am guessing that could work - Is that the way to do this or do I need to get a pair of incline curve tracks? Is it just as simple as cutting off the end of the curve of the track and drilling two holes, and bolting it together, or is there something I am missing and I am going to screw up my curve track? I am going to have to cut of 6 - 8" or more.
I have not seen any of these on any of the parts listings online, but I bet it is not real cheap.
Has anyone done this?

This is just about the only thing I didn't plan for when I built my shop since I couldn't install roll-up doors - SWMBO insisted that I not put "storage building" doors on the front of my garage.

Thanks for any help.

 

[bjcouche]

Been there, done that, got the T-Shirt. It's amazing how uncommon this is. I tried hard to find a door installer that could do it and didn't find anyone who knew what they were doing or wanted to do it at all. In the end I did it all myself. I did two 10X10 doors and one 16WX12H insulated doors. It doesn't sound like the guy you talked to knew what he was talking about.
The installers just cut 90 degree track, I never found any track precut for a specific roof pitch. I bought a kit online after several e-mails and phone calls with the supplier and getting all the appropriate measurements and door weights to them. You will need at a minimum, new longer cables, new tapered drums, new larger springs, miscellaneous metal angel, nuts, bolts, etc. I bought a kit to do the 16X12 and 10X10 door first. the kit came with the above stuff plus a piece of track for the vertical lift. The piece they sent me though was exactly the same length that I was able to cut off the end of the track anyhow.... My door is a high lift and then a follow the roof pitch. The 16X12 (or is that listed as 12X16) is lifted 1' before it starts to angle. The 10X10 doors lift 2.5' and then angle up. It looks like your door you could lift about 1 foot before starting to angle. Remember when you cut your 90 degree section you will actually be lowering the track.
If you are good at designing and fabing stuff then I'd do it yourself. I just bought the parts and not the kit for my 2nd 10X10 door. I took lots of pics thinking I would write a howto but haven't yet. I would suggest to you that if you have the time to tinker with it you could start by mocking it up. Remove the tension on the spring (carefully using correct procedure, look it up) Then remove your horizontal track and start repositioning it at the correct angle and height. Then youwill see where you'll have to cut it to get the correct angle and you'll probabbly see you can give it a 1' or so lift as well and get the door close to the ceiling. I don't have a ceiling per se but I do have a truss that is at a pitch that the door follows within 2"
If doing it yourself I'd recommend getting the track installed fully and then ordering the springs, cables, drums, based on your exact installed measurements. It's a bit hard to measure what you think your pitch, and height will be to order your parts. If you want to increase the pitch or height even a couple inches after you've ordered your parts, it might throw the spring calcs off and your door won't balance properly.

 

[KPSquared]

You just got all the answer you need.

Springs, Tapered Drums, Cables, and a bunch or misc. hardware. Not gonna be cheap.

 

[Justanoldguy]

metal angel,

You just got all the answer you need.

Springs, Tapered Drums, Cables, and a bunch or misc. hardware. Not gonna be cheap.

And don't forget that metal angel.

 

[KPSquared]

Indeed. Without her, things wont run nearly as smooth. . .

 

[PCO6]

... I tried hard to find a door installer that could do it and didn't find anyone who knew what they were doing or wanted to do it at all.

The company that sold me my door and installed it did a good job but when I asked them about angling my door up they didn't seem to have a clue. I explained what I wanted, pointed to things, made a sketch, etc. and they acted like I was the first guy to ever ask. Unlike your garage, in my case it wouldn't have resulted in a big gain and I just let it go. Like you, I figured if you're handy you would be better off doing it yourself.

 

[bjcouche]

Actually, the parts aren't that expensive. The big money would be in the labor if paying someone to do the whole thing for you. I think I have less than $200 in hardware in each door, so with his smaller door, and smaller springs I'd say he might be around the $150 range for hardware. If you bought a kit it might be back around $200. Remember that you can reuse most of the punched angle you already have. You'll be shortening the vertical angle sections significantly, so you can use the scrap elsewhere.

Brian

 

[Cobra6]

Actually, the parts aren't that expensive. The big money would be in the labor if paying someone to do the whole thing for you. I think I have less than $200 in hardware in each door, so with his smaller door, and smaller springs I'd say he might be around the $150 range for hardware. If you bought a kit it might be back around $200. Remember that you can reuse most of the punched angle you already have. You'll be shortening the vertical angle sections significantly, so you can use the scrap elsewhere.

Brian

Thanks for the writeup and details Brian. This is exactly what I was looking for. You are right, I have not been able to find anyone that knew what they were even talking about. I want about the same setup as you have in the pic, so I won't have to shut my door to use a lift.
One other thing - did you get a kit from the manufacturer? I am even having trouble locating one of those.

Thanks again,
Beri

 

[FrankR63]

Hi,
What you’re talking about is converting your standard lift door to a Hi Lift door.
Nothing exotic about it.
If you can tell me a few things I can lay it out for you.

Ceiling height - FLOOR TO CEILING MEASUREMENT
Door size
Door weight

With this info I can provide a material list, cable length & spring size required.
Will you have an opener on this door?
If so, look at the Liftmaster 3800 side mount, perfect for these applications.

I have done hundreds of these.
It is not that difficult to do but you must have a measured plan and stick to it. The fact that the door is already installed will make it all better.
Realistically, if you have never worked on a garage door, have a solid plan, the right tools and so on, this should take you about 4-5 hours to accomplish after you have accumulated all the material.
Shoot me those figures and I will hook you up
Frank

 

[Cobra6]

Frank,
my door is 9' wide and 7' tall - it is a 4 panel door, so each panel is about 21".
It is stamped steel with insulated panels on the rear, no windows.

Looking on the tags, it is a C.H.I. overhead door model 2201 - I have no guess on the weight, I will try to get it from the manufacturer tomorrow.

The ceiling joist starts at 8' 4", so I have about 16" from the door to ceiling - it tapers up to about 12" or so where the top of the door would be.

Like Brian said earlier, I had not thought about the fact that when I cut my 90 degree section, I will be lowering the track, so I am guessing I need at least a foot extension of straight track to get 45 degree curve up to the ceiling. That will give me the lift and contour to the ceiling.

At least I am on the "right track" now -

 

[bjcouche]

I bought my kit for the first door from:
http://www.diygaragerepair.com
Check out their online videos to learn more about how they are installed.
What you want is a high lift (about 12" or so) PLUS a follow the roof pitch.
More good info is here:
http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/garage-door-high-lift-conversion.php

They were helpful and that's what counts. You don't want to try and save $30.00 on this project and buy parts from a place that you can't get support from. I mail ordered all the stuff but I bought the extra punched angle from the local door company as it's not economical to ship 10' lengths of anything.

I did not go the the original door manufacturer for parts, I tried to get them to do the install for me but they didn't even know what I was talking about.

Don't expect that you can get it done in 4-5 hours, I'd say that you could probably do a second door in that time once you knew what you were doing.

FrankR63 is correct in that once you buy your parts you have to stick with the dimensions that you gave the parts supplier. If you start building your track and find out you want to move the track a couple inches closer to the ceiling than you originally thought, then you can't or it will affect the balance of the door based on your calculated springs, and drum cable length.

Note that the vertical high lift portion of the track starts from where the existing vertical track ends. The high lift section installs at an angle so that as your door starts to open, the door moves away from the opening so that it doesn't bind on the opening.

I HIGHLY recommend doing the project in reverse. Build the track first and then measure your install to order the springs, cables and drums. Then you can install it as close as possible to your ceiling. Remember when installing, that your new drums are tapered and will be larger diameter than your old ones. Also when installing the track, remember that your door panels ride ABOVE the track, so measure and account for that.

Get your horizontal track where you want it and then measure and cut the angle at the correct location so that the vertical section will transition to the angle smoothly. Again remember that the high lift will angle away from the door opening. you may have to also cut the angle that's attached to your horizontal track depending on your lift, roof pitch, etc. Lastly measure the exact length of high lift track you need. Then cut that length of the end of your horizontal track and use it for your vertical high lift. If you cut too much you can always buy another horizontal track from the door supplier, worst case scenario.

I'm out of town for the next couple weeks so I'll try to post some close up pics of my step by step install.

I also suggest the liftmaster 3800 opener which will work well for your door. I used it on my 10X10 doors but my 12X16 door was way too heavy for the LM3800 per the install manual so I went with a commercial opener.

Brian

 

[Crusty Nut]

great info here, and timely. I'm going to be doing this soon.

 

[Cobra6]

Brian -
Those links are the ticket - should be enough to get me squared away.

Thanks again

 

[danny10301]

I thought deep and hard about this same setup. In the end i ordered a swing out door. just ordered it the other day. pic below. Hope it works out for you. I hate having my ugly door overhead with the 90 degree brackets taking up so much space. Surprised it isnt more common to do what you are doing.

 

[kbs2244]

The big advantage of overhead doors is in snow country.
You can open them without the need to shovel away any snow.

If you are converting to tracks matching the ceiling slope, remember the is no law that says the slope has to match exactly.
Do a search and you will see where a couple of guys have done it with a “close enough” angle.

 

[Cobra6]

After looking at this a little more, I have figured that I can only raise my cable drums about 3", which made me wonder if I should mess with them, but I probably will for proper door clearance.

The rail that mounts the horizontal door track to the wall is riveted to the track, so even if I cut that track channel for the correct angle, I will have to drill out at least one of the rivets and cut the bracket short. I haven't seen any track other than 90 degree angle track, it would have been sweet to find a piece of 135 degree track.

 

[bjcouche]

I won't be home till this weekend. I can post some pictures then. It should be more evident how you go about doing this by looking at what I did step by step.

You shouldn't have to drill out rivets to separate the angle from the track. The angle just becomes the same slope as the track. You may have to lengthen or shorten the angle though. I had to shorten mine about 2".

Brian

 

[Cobra6]

I won't be home till this weekend. I can post some pictures then. It should be more evident how you go about doing this by looking at what I did step by step.

You shouldn't have to drill out rivets to separate the angle from the track. The angle just becomes the same slope as the track. You may have to lengthen or shorten the angle though. I had to shorten mine about 2".

Brian

Brian - thanks -
I'm tracking (no pun intended) - that solves one problem of how to remount the angle to the track - about 2' shorter should be about right.
I am trying to measure 20 times, cut once. So - now I really wonder if I really need to raise my cable drums at all. I will wait to see what you did.

Thanks again,
Beri

 

[jstroede]

Depending on how much roof pitch you are needing, the drums really shouldn't move much.

On the horizontal angle, what is generally done is to cut the downward flange and bend the angle so that it goes back to the flag bracket (the angle mounted on the wall). This way the bearing plate still has some place to attach to.

As far as I know, roof pitch track is all built from regular standard lift horizontal track. Every setup is different, and it would not make really to try and do it any other way.

John

 

[kbs2244]

It is a “custom” install.
There will be few, if any, stock parts.
What you have is the “standard” install.
You will have a “hacksaw” job.
But it will work just fine.

Check out the parts the guy in those links offers.
He can get your drums higher if needed.
And, I am sure, give advice on how to cut the curve.

You may or may not need new drums, but I am pretty sure you will need new springs.

 

[Cobra6]

Well...........
I was real busy this week, but I did get the track off and set up - it looks like I will need to raise the vertical track with an extension of about 7" or so.

After I cut the curve in the the track to be horizontal at the 135 degree angle I will either need to move the track back about 5" on the angle brace - (which will mean taking the rivets out) or cut the angle off 5".

I am really tempted to take the rivets out and re-mount the track since the bracket fits well in the existing hardware instead of shortening the angle bracket. I am thinking it would be easier to get the placement correct by marking the holes for the track with the correct alignment for the vertical extension.

It also looks like I will be able to remove the A bracket on the door and mount the roller flush on the door with the existing roller bracket.

So --------- after the cut on the track, I ma only need to get a vertical track extension and see how the door spring will have to be adjusted. Hopefully I have clearance for the door on the curve and won't have to raise the cable drums - but I am sure it is not that simple.

 

[Cobra6]

Well, I got the door track done - I only had to raise the track about 5 inches, so I am hoping it doesn't throw off the spring tension, etc., too much.

I am going to put some more angle bracing in to stabilize it, but at least the track is up - I have got to get some new mounts for the rollers on the top of the door.

 

[HotrodHR]

Beri:

I don't know if you've checked out these sites but they have some pretty good info... especially the first one:

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/garage-door-high-lift-conversion.php

http://www.diygaragerepair.com/High-Lift-Garage-Door-Track-s/345.htm

 

[Cobra6]

Beri:

I don't know if you've checked out these sites but they have some pretty good info... especially the first one:

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/garage-door-high-lift-conversion.php

http://www.diygaragerepair.com/High-Lift-Garage-Door-Track-s/345.htm

Craig,
I got my parts from them - I am just hoping I don't have to change out over adjust my cable drums, etc.

 

[jopickens]

Hey how did this turn out? I'm trying to order three 10x10 doors for the garage I'm building and no one seems to bite on selling me what's required to do this. I.e. I'll probably just buy the doors with standard hi-rise kits and 'angle' them myself as you have...
Josh

 

[Cobra6]

It wasn't too bad -
no installation people around here would touch it - you will just need to add more spring tension or add another spring to account for the increased lift needed to hold the door up.

 

[jopickens]

Sounds good. I was able to order my three clopay 10x10 doors with 15" radius track and built in 4:12 roof pitch. Just picked them up and will be installing next month!
Josh

 

[dfreeman616]

Now I don't feel so crazy when the installer for my contractor said he'd never heard of doing this. Once again, the garage journel has the info even when the professional doesn't.

 

[jopickens]

I started installing mine the other day...

 

[toplessHO]

I did mine because no one in my area would do it,citing windload and no testing certification.
I call BS on this because the windload is with door down and nothing is changed there.
So I figured the angle needed,cut a section out of the 90 deg bracket to match roof pitch
and welded the support plate for my torquemaster tube back on. My only downside is every few years I need to replace the screw drive attachment gizmo for my Genie lift as the teeth wear out pulling the door uphill.When the door operator gives out I think Ill go with a liftmaster wall mount.

 

[DUK]

I worked on mine today, just got to get the correct springs, drums and cables now...

before




after



Here's what I did for the track and wall plate attachment...



And here it is opened, not exactly all the way...

 

[gnpenning]

I don't understand why doors companies are unwilling to order follow the roof line and high lift doors.... most manufactures have sell the doors that way and so you do not have to pay twice for the same things. We have never turned anyone down and have suggested these options many times.

For jack shaft openers you should have a few inches of high lift to tension the cables. And that means 8500.
Yes you can do it otherwise but if should have some.

If your dealer won't order a new door for you that way order it yourself. Or call someone out of your area that will as some manufactures will only sell to dealers.

 

[jopickens]

^Duk - that looks good. Does your top overhead door panel have wind bracing on it because it has windows?
Josh

 

[jopickens]

Here's a fuzzy pic of my overhead doors... w/ 4:12 pitch track from Clopay.

Outside pic

Josh

 

[DUK]

The bracing is a code thing for the county. If you have any opener you have to have it.

 

[DMaxRocks]

Sounds good. I was able to order my three clopay 10x10 doors with 15" radius track and built in 4:12 roof pitch. Just picked them up and will be installing next month!
Josh

jopickens,

I am in the very beginning of building my shop, about 3-4 weeks from getting the concrete poured. The shop will have (2) 8' tall x 12' wide garage doors that I want the track to follow the 4/12 pitch of my scissor trusses, sound familiar?

Did you order the door/track/hardware from Clopay online and have someone install it or did you go to a local retailer?

Thank you for the write-up, this was something that really has me worried.

-Mark

 

[jopickens]

jopickens,
I am in the very beginning of building my shop, about 3-4 weeks from getting the concrete poured. The shop will have (2) 8' tall x 12' wide garage doors that I want the track to follow the 4/12 pitch of my scissor trusses, sound familiar?
Did you order the door/track/hardware from Clopay online and have someone install it or did you go to a local retailer?
Thank you for the write-up, this was something that really has me worried.
-Mark

Ah - it's so fun to get started on a new shop project!
You're situation is much like mine with the 4:12 interior roof pitch yes.
I ordered the Clopay doors from a local Clopay dealer. I did all my research online and went to him with all the important details. He was familiar with the 'roof pitch' optioned track, which made the purchase smoother. He was fine with simply selling me the doors/track/components for a DIY install. I picked all three door kits up at his business, brought them home, and installed them myself. His cost for install was reasonable... I'm just a DIY geek as many of us on this site are...
Josh

 

[DMaxRocks]

Josh,

I received your PM and tried to respond...a couple of times. It doesn't show that anything was sent. Hopefully you don't have 2-3 responses from me. So, if nothing went through, yes I would like the information you offered.

Thanks,
Mark