Do section door tracks have to be level?

[kyle242gt]

Hi all - next silly question

My bays are perpendicular to my roof ridge. There's a drawing here:
http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=53794
The roof is a fairly low hip roof design.
The doors are 8' high, with a 10' ceiling.
I plan to have an open beam over the lift bay (thanks to all in the previous thread).

My builder is suggesting a rollup door instead of a sectional. I'm not real hip about style, but I think they're pretty ugly, and I think my "loan officer" (aka wife) would agree (first time in 15 years).

Can I instead have the high-lift tracks for a sectional door follow the slope of the ceiling? A jackshaft opener would complete the package. Assuming this can work (I'm pretty sure I saw a garage like this in the gallery), how wide should the open beam ceiling be to allow room for the tracks/hardware? The door is 10' wide.

No wisecracks about my graphic artistry!

 

[Torque1st]

That has been done. Contact a couple overhead garage door companies for their requirements.

 

[kyle242gt]

Thanks, appreciate the help.

 

[nehog]

A relatively common solution, as Torque1st says, contact a door supplier. A door opener may be a bit more complicated, but not impossible. How tall is the door?

Your drawing was excellent!

 

[kyle242gt]

The door will be 8' tall. Glad my drawing made sense, a picture's worth a thousand words!

 

[Mickey O]

There are pictures of what you want somewhere here on the board, I think the guy had a Corvette and a Jeep, try those search terms.

 

[purpony]

here is what i did with my door this past summer after i raised my ceiling-

I could have put a high lift kit and get a special track build to put it closer to the wall but really didnt need to so I just took my existing tracks and figured my angle and broke out the sawzall. Then redrilled the holes and bolted it all together. I then called a local garage door guy who calculated out what i needed for a spring and had a local supplier make me a spring. Spring cost $35 and I paid the door guy $30 to install it. Works great! I plan on installing a jacksahft 3800 opener on it as well.

 

[kyle242gt]

That's the ticket! Thanks!

 

[rwhite692]

Slightly off topic, but, since this is new construction, have you considered a 9' high door opening? If it fits aesthetically with your garage design, it is nice to have the extra height.

 

[kyle242gt]

Don't know, I put an email into the draftsman. His thoughts previously:

Top of garage doors: I don't think we should try to match the height of the top of the existing garage doors with the new ones (or the windows in the back). First of all, it will most likely not allow enough room for a big enough header, and 2nd of all, I think it will look better to have them stepped down, to match the contours of the land.

The addition is 2' below the existing garage, but with a common roofline; the new is 10' walls, old is 8'. I'm not much good on cosmetics, so was inclined to take the advice of a designer-type-guy as far as the aesthetics. I'll get back into my sketchup model and see what it looks like.

 

[bluesman2a]

Yes, this can be done, the picture here is a 7' door on a 10' back wall. Some caveats to think about here:

1) Make SURE you have them give you heavier springs (this is necessary to maintain the door balance in the "up" position since the load is greater.

2) roll-up doors will NOT seal at the top. I know this as a fact. note the door on the far left of the picture below is a very nice roll-up door, and if you search here you will see others have the same issue. It's inherent to the design of a roll-up. If you DO have to get one, order like a 10' for a 8' opening if you have the space, it will minimize the issue.

3) if you go with a traditional door, you can get one that's insulated, which cuts down on noise if you are working late as well as keeping you warm. in addition to this, if you get the right one, you can also get a tax refund as well, under some of the new laws for 2009/2010.

4) as you mentioned, this door is planned to be used with an LM3800.

5) only downside of conventional door like this is you cannot surface mount flourescents above where the door opens and/or when it is open they are ineffective.

 

[rwhite692]

Don't know, I put an email into the draftsman. His thoughts previously:

The addition is 2' below the existing garage, but with a common roofline; the new is 10' walls, old is 8'. I'm not much good on cosmetics, so was inclined to take the advice of a designer-type-guy as far as the aesthetics. I'll get back into my sketchup model and see what it looks like.

If it helps to visualize...Here is what a 16' wide x 9' high door looks like, on the 24' wide end of my detached garage, which has 10' walls:

 

[kyle242gt]

Interesting how the 16x9 looks more like a 10x7 until you open the door. Pretty cool, like a reverse Disneyland Mainstreet.

Really appreciate the info, bluesman.

After trading a few more emails around, I think this is headed toward changing my 7.5' doors on 8' walls (existing) to 7', and putting 9' doors in the addition's 10' walls, that'll keep everything visually the same from the roof down.

Now it's time to shop it around and get bids and construction details for the new installations.

I love this board!

 

[GreyOwl]

True unless you happen to have windows in your door, then you can line up the lights with the windows when the door is fully open.

Charles

 

[rwhite692]

Or, you can go with a vaulted ceiling and just use more lights....

 

[kyle242gt]

Hey-hey! Not too worried about the lighting - the doodle at the beginning of the thread shows the approximate layout of the shop. Where the door obscures the ceiling (about 8' of the ~12' length, with a 9' door fully open) I can install lights on the side of the vaulted section. Did that at my last place, and it worked well.

Plus, with the door open, I'll have tons of natural light; the door is going to face NW. Not only that, but I figure the end opposite the door will be where I do most of my work.

 

[Pyebird]

here is what i did with my door this past summer after i raised my ceiling-


I could have put a high lift kit and get a special track build to put it closer to the wall but really didnt need to so I just took my existing tracks and figured my angle and broke out the sawzall. Then redrilled the holes and bolted it all together. I then called a local garage door guy who calculated out what i needed for a spring and had a local supplier make me a spring. Spring cost $35 and I paid the door guy $30 to install it. Works great! I plan on installing a jacksahft 3800 opener on it as well.

Bringing this back from the dead. I'm looking at modifying my garage door in this exact same manner. How did it work out for you in the long run? Any problems down the road?

 

[CraigStu]

One other thing to look at-how much more powerful motor will that require? A friend did it 3 yrs ago. Normal doors lose weight as each section goes horizontal. Doors on a sloped track are full weight all the way up.

 

[Hot Rod Grampa]

If you get the proper hardware and spring the door will not "feel" heavy. It should still balance, so you can open it without an opener and it should be able to stay open or closed, without aids or props. Anything else is not a proper installation.

 

[kbs2244]

My ceiling, and the door tracks, are at a 4/12 slope.

When I ordered my door from Menards they had a "commercial" order sheet that I filled out.
It asked for track angle, distance from top of door hole to bottom of ceiling, and more.

The door came with the tracks cut to the correct length and meeting angle.
Springs were right on.

My guys just followed the instructions to the letter and the door balanced on the first try.

The factory guys have seen it all.
Give them all the info and the door will come set up right.

 

[Pyebird]

My ceiling, and the door tracks, are at a 4/12 slope.

When I ordered my door from Menards they had a "commercial" order sheet that I filled out.
It asked for track angle, distance from top of door hole to bottom of ceiling, and more.

The door came with the tracks cut to the correct length and meeting angle.
Springs were right on.

My guys just followed the instructions to the letter and the door balanced on the first try.

The factory guys have seen it all.
Give them all the info and the door will come set up right.

Yeah that sounds like a good plan. I'm very confident that if I trim the radius I will be able to make all my current tracking work well. Just get some new springs and I'll be good to go.

 

[rburke65]

It’s calld a high lift track or installation. My ceilings are..?..13’5” and I have 8’ OHDoors. My door track starts to curve at about 13’ or so.

 

[firebirdparts]

I did this also; That is, cutting the tracks off so that they go up at an angle I chose. It works fine. I have torsion springs and am using the original cable drums, so the door can never be properly balanced, but of course I don't worry about that.

I'm just happy to have a nice air conditioned shop with a lift to have an unbalanced door on.