Garage door advice needed

[amp2oo1]

I've been lurking here since I bought my house and the time has come to ask for some help. I hadn't planned to do anything to the garage until next summer, but since the plastic gear teeth in my opener decided to give out I may need to start this work early...

My plan, ultimately, is to gut the entire garage, redo the terrible electric, put up all new drywall on the walls and ceiling (or OSB, not sure yet), a new garage door, new insulation.

I picked up a new garage door opener this morning, and once I took down my broken one, I started to wonder if I am wasting my time/money just putting up a new opener at this point. I've already thrown away money buying new sensors and car remotes for this one, and I don't want to continue down this path. If I put up the new opener now, I'll have to take it down in the spring to rip out the insulation that is held up with plastic and put up a ceiling. Maybe I should rip out all of the insulation, or just that section, now and put up some OSB, and finish the rest in the spring?

My other concern is wasting time working with a garage door that is a total POS. It's terribly heavy, has a hundred dents, rusted, not insulated, etc... I'm beginning to think I need to bite the bullet and call someone to get a new door put in as well.

Anyway, here are some pictures of what I'm looking at now. Do you think I am wasting my time fitting up a new opener for the winter, and having to take it back down to redo it with the spring renovation? Or will it not be that big of a deal to jerry-rig the new opener to the old door for the winter?


Picture of current ceiling...

The next two pictures are kind of dark, but it seems like the rails bow outward, which is why the previous owner welded on some brackets for the upper most wheels...

How the old opener was mounted (board was mounted directly to bottom of rafter). You can also see the chewed up gear teeth and some of the shavings on the ground...

 

[tfi racing]

If you can afford it now,just do it and get it over with.You'll feel a lot better looking at a new pretty door instead of that old POS.It may be a good idea to finish up your ceiling work in that area so you are not doing it all over again later.

 

[kbs2244]

Installing an opener is not that big a job.
I would put the new one in just for the convience through the winter.
But those gears are telling me that your springs are way out of wack.
Get them adjusted for correct balance before you tear up your new opener as well.

 

[Torque1st]

With everything right the door should go up and down with almost fingertip ease. Make sure it works like that BEFORE you install a new opener.

 

[Old61]

You could have gotten a new gear set and another 10 yrs out of the old opener with proper adjustments. I think out of the many openers that I have replaced (contractor) only 1 motor was bad. Being you already replaced sensors etc. it would have been a good way to go.

 

[cdent]

Most garage door openers would come down very quickly and easily. You don't have to take it all apart, it should just be a pin up front and two bolts on the motor. I do agree to check the spring tension. I believe the door should pop up 6 or 8 inches from the ground all by itself. It's probably a good idea to check for shot wheels and lube them, because it wouldn't be too tough to ruin a new opener.

 

[amp2oo1]

You could have gotten a new gear set and another 10 yrs out of the old opener with proper adjustments. I think out of the many openers that I have replaced (contractor) only 1 motor was bad. Being you already replaced sensors etc. it would have been a good way to go.

I actually ended up doing this earlier today. I stumbled upon a gear set for $15 through amazon and decided to give that a shot to get me through the winter. Took the new opener back to HD and saved myself $130

Reading some of the other posts, it sounds like I need to check out the springs and everything else. It takes a lot of effort to lift the door manually.

Thanks for the info and help everyone

 

[Old61]

The door should not pop up at all, it should stay on the ground and open easily.
Good luck

 

[TheShrine]

I just installed this door. The OVERHEAD Door Co. said it could not be done. They said it would be too much vertical weight and the motor would either continually reverse and/or burn up. I just installed commercial springs and spent some time adjusting the weight and balance and it works like a champ. It's all in the weight and balance adjustment.

 

[kbs2244]

Boy, that is one long remote pendant hanging down.
How high up is your winch?

 

[Jaguar Fan]

I have 4 garage doors with 4 openers. Every couple of years the teeth chew up on one or another of the openers & I get new parts locally for about $35. They are pretty easy to install... just follow the directions.

 

[Torque1st]

I have 4 garage doors with 4 openers. Every couple of years the teeth chew up on one or another of the openers & I get new parts locally for about $35. They are pretty easy to install... just follow the directions.

Just one of the reasons I will reuse my 30 year old 1/3HP Sears chain drive garage door opener. It has operated perfectly except for an 8V TO-92 case voltage regulator on the receiver board that failed just after the warranty lapsed. I replaced the regulator with a TO-220 style regulator and all has been good since. The inspectors would want to see a new style opener with all of the electric eyes etc so my door will be installed without an opener. The old opener will be installed "later"...

 

[kbs2244]

You shouldn't be going through gears that fast.
Check your springs and lube the rollers.

BTW, the electric eyes can be pushed into the ends of a toliet paper tube and the whole bundle of wires stacked on top of the opener. They will always "see" each other.