Garage Door Issue

[busted knuckle]

Just put up a 15x30 garage for my parents. Bought all the sheeting and some wood. Mainly recycled the old one that Dad had built long ago from material he got from the train cars at work. Well anyway, we sized the opening for a 7x9 rollup door and Dad bought a cheap thin sheet metal door. He then decides to insulate it with foam board and then covers that with thin vernier plywood. Well, this was his project on the whole barn and he can't get it to raise using the suppied hardware (springs). My thoughts are that the springs are too light weight for the door now. These are not the coil/torsion springs, but the pull type that run along the rail. What does everyone else think?

 

[Gary S]

I agree. Door manufacturers size the springs for the weight of the door. If you add enough extra weight to a door, you might exceed what those springs can lift. You can stretch them farther to get more lift, but that weakens them and speeds up spring breakage.
You might look into getting replacement springs for a heavier door, or just adding a second set of springs like the larger, heavier doors come with.

 

[thdewey]

Have the installer adjust the spring tension. If he installed the door, he'll need to find the instruction book to findout how. This is dangerous!!! If you don't know how to do it or the door is an old one, call a door installer to do it for you.

 

[tcianci]

You can weigh the door with a bathroom scale. I have seen diagrams on how to do this. It involves the scale and a fulcrum with the ratio of the distances between the door and the fulcrum being the multiplier so that the bathroom scale is not overloaded. Take that information to any big box store and get a new set of springs. The POS information at the big box store also can help you select the correct springs by referencing the size and contstruction type of the door. Replacing typical extension springs is not dangerous at all. Raise the door, hold the door up with C clamps at the tracks where the bottom panel of the door is and then just disconnect and re-connect one at a time so you have an example to follow. You want to initially tension them so that there is no droop to the spring/cable assembly when the door is fully open. Test your setting by operating the door manually. It should move smoothly and be tensioned so that it will stay still when you let go if it anywhere in its travel. If your current springs do not have a safety cable running through them, this would be a good time to add them. Google is your friend, you can get details through a good web search.

 

[Gary S]

I fully agree with tcianci. If you have common sense, you can replace the long springs on a garage door and adjust them. It isn't any more dangerous than changing a flat tire on your car. If you are one of those people who can't drive without a cell phone on your ear, hire someone to do it for you.