DIY Garage Door install

[iceman5]

I have a couple of garage doors that I want to replace. The two on my house garage are old fiberglass doors from the 70s. Considering the winters ... well ... Its a little chilly in the garage now. The doors are 9x7 with openers. I really want to put insulated garage doors in place. I just choked at about $1K labor to install.

Is this something that some of you have tackled? I can't imagine that replacing the doors is that difficult. Setting the springs seems to me to be the hardest part. What am I missing?

 

[kbs2244]

You are not missing anything.
Depending on the weight difference between the old and new doors you may need new springs.
The tricky part of a new install is getting the tracks aligned, but it a replace job this is already done
If you follow the directions on torsion springs (if that is what you have) you should be OK
The door panels themselves are a remove and replace procedure.
.

 

[QwikKotaTx]

On the springs if you haven't seen it on the internet, the guy who put a new one on for me just used two sections of round bar to wind the spring up. They looked like 3/8" dia steel but you would need to check your spring tensioner/locking ring whatever it's called. It would be wise to have a friend ready to tighten the bolts down too so you can keep both hands on the spring lock.

 

[StingRay]

I installed a 16x8 and a 9x8. I had never done it before. I just followed the instructions. If you are typical of most others here you can probably do it just fine.

 

[justin1795]

i installed my old 16x7 myself its the adjustments that makes the door guys shine. keep shopping around on my big door 16x11 I found one installed for the same price almost as the door.

 

[jeep_boy02]

Yeah, shop around... look at some steel building supply stores. My local one had the best by far pricing. $265 for a 8x7 installed. No opener tho but I didn't want one for this.

 

[Chev Korbin]

http://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/

 

[upndown]

How do you figure $1000 for labor? That's ******* nuts! Find a new Door Guy.

 

[Platonic Solid]

Do you have Torsion (parallel with door) or Extension (parallel with track) springs?
Do you have normal headroom or low ceilings?
You may be able to use existing track hangars, which makes the job easier.
Garage doors come with standard track and properly rated extension springs unless otherwise specified.
Post a pic of your existing door.

 

[iceman5]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try to post some pics this afternoon.

The current doors have extension springs; and I don't have any low clearance to deal with. The house garage seems to be easy .... I might convince the other half that I'll do it in the spring and save the cash. That will leave more for the pole building renovation

 

[KCarGuy]

I did Mine Myself. Easy.
I installed the top piece first. once bolted in track...Slide it up and Back overhead.
Then the next piece, slide up and attach to first...so on and so on.
Its alot easier that trying to open your door when its all put together and THEN setting up your springs.
I did both my 2 Car Door and single Door (with Tracks) in 3 hours.
Good Luck.

 

[bazzateer]

Spray foam insulate the existing fibreglass doors?