Solutions for high lift, minimum clearance doors?

[sansbury]

To cut to the chase I’m looking for door solutions for a new detached garage build.

Right now the prints show I’ll have 10’ 11-1/2” floor to ceiling, and I’d like to preserve as much of that as possible. At minimum I’d like to have 10’3” of clearance, but more would be better.

To get the obvious things out of the way:

Yes, I could build taller, but I’m trying to avoid that for aesthetic reasons so the building doesn’t feel too massive. Also creates more dead space I have to pay to heat in the winter.

I could also do rolling doors, but I’m going to be staring at them from my main outdoor patio so I want something that looks residential. I’m also in New England so want something with the best insulation/weather sealing that’s practical.

This game is new to me so I don’t know a lot about what’s out there. Appreciate any suggestions and experiences people have to share. Thank you!

 

[sansbury]

Oh, and in terms of doors I’m good with a standard 8x8 size give or take. I’m not storing a trailer or anything so don’t need to go super wide. The building will be 28’ wide on the inside.

 

[LopezBart]

Hang swinging doors - you can get as much height as you want. Weld up steel frames, 2" or more foam insulation and cover them w/ the same stuff you're using on the walls... and then put a man door in one. And make the opening 10' wide... you'll be happy you did the first time you back something in.

 

[racecougar]

I'm questioning whether or not I'm missing something here, as it sounds like you just need a high lift track for a standard sectional overhead garage door. If you want an operator for it, get a jackshaft unit.

 

[gizardlizard]

I'm questioning whether or not I'm missing something here, as it sounds like you just need a high lift track for a standard sectional overhead garage door. If you want an operator for it, get a jackshaft unit.

Agreed. I put a high lift kit on one of my doors and I cut the track so the door clears the ceiling by 1 1/2”. That’s pretty tight

 

[sansbury]

I'm questioning whether or not I'm missing something here

Probably not! I’ve never built a garage before and my contractor has always done either standard doors (the kind that hang 12-18” from the ceiling) or roll-up doors so neither of us knew off the top of our heads what to look for here.

From what I found on my own, the high lift tracks still hang pretty far below the ceiling? I’ve also found things like the Super Sneaky brackets which seem designed for garages with very low ceilings.

If the answer is one part A and one part B, that’s great, I’m basically just hoping somebody can say “you can definitely combine product X and Y and get Z” of clearance.” I’m trying to avoid the part where I buy three different systems before finding one that works, or worse yet, find none that work and find I can’t use my brand new building the way I wanted!

 

[firebirdparts]

This is the easy scenario for a high lift door. You need torsion springs. they make a special drum just for that geometry and it'll work well.

The easiest way to explain that is to go here https://ddmgaragedoors.com/diy-instructions/garage-door-high-lift-conversion.php

 

[racecougar]

jstroede https://www.garagejournal.com/forum/members/jstroede.65127/ is the guy to talk to here.

Have you discussed having a garage door company install the doors instead of the contractor who is unfamiliar with high lift tracks?

Something else to keep in mind: the greater the delta between your door height and the ceiling height, the less the door protrudes into the room when open. These are 8' doors with a 12'7" ceiling. The doors only protrude into the room ~6'.

 

[Old Moparz]

For an overhead door you may still need room between the ceiling & the face of the garage door when it's in the up/open position. Light fixtures, garage door opener, ceiling fan, etc., can all interfere with the door. I'm not sure if the horizontal height of a high lift track can vary other than that it may differ by manufacturer.

 

[u2slow]

I went with a 14' tall door. Sure, its a tall building, but my square footage was restricted, so I compensated with a partial mezzanine.

Edit: door is a standard jackshaft style. No high-lift tracks; only 4' track extensions to get the open door closer to the the 19' ceiling.

 

[sansbury]

Have you discussed having a garage door company install the doors instead of the contractor who is unfamiliar with high lift tracks?

Well, that will be the next step if I don't feel like I'm going to get a good solution with him. He's been very responsive and accommodating so far so I'm giving him a chance to figure this out together before I tell him to hire an expert.

Something else to keep in mind: the greater the delta between your door height and the ceiling height, the less the door protrudes into the room when open. These are 8' doors with a 12'7" ceiling. The doors only protrude into the room ~6'.

Right--I guess I'm struggling a little with the math/geometry here. Your ceiling is 12'7 and your door is 8', and the height reduces the length on the ceiling by 2'. My ceiling is 18" lower than yours, so all things being equal, that would net out to only 6" less protrusion?

I guess the way to think about this is that you have three sections: The vertical track, the horizontal track, and the radiused track section that connects the two. What I don't know is how to work out the dimensions of the radiused section to understand the vertical and horizontal components of it. I get that a taller vertical section reduces the run of horizontal section.

 

[racecougar]

I haven't measured the protrusion into the room; I'm just going off of visual reference above. The strut brace in the middle of the door looks to be around 2' from the wall when the door is up, so 2' + 4' = 6'. The track radius and the slant of the vertical track play a role here.

With the desire to get the door right up to the ceiling, I'd advise hiring someone that does this for a living.

 

[sansbury]

Agreed. I put a high lift kit on one of my doors and I cut the track so the door clears the ceiling by 1 1/2”. That’s pretty tight

So, you're saying that the distance from the ceiling to the top of the track is 1-1/2"? So that would be like a 3-1/2" total height for a 2" track?

That's the closest fit I've seen anyone talk about. Any chance you have photos or details you could share? The links I've found or that have been shared above seem to say 8-12" as a minimum which is not a sure thing for me.

 

[ericm]

When raised the doors in my current garage are only a few inches from the ceiling. It's an 8' ceiling with 7' doors. You can get the total stack of tracks and doors to less than 6" from the ceiling.

 

[Old Moparz]

Found a couple of photos I had showing the tracks & the 8' high doors in relation to the ceiling & I-Beams in the garage. The bottom of the two steel I-Beams are approximately 4 to 5 inches above the doors & tracks. If I remember correctly the bottom of the steel is 11'-9" from the floor.

 

[ericm]

Ok I went and measured. The tracks stick down 8" from the ceiling. But the center mounted screw type opener sticks down 2". The door barely clears it as it opens. So with a side mounted jackshaft opener (or no opener) you could get down to 6" with tight clearance, or 7" and have some wiggle room. The thickness of the door probably has some effect too. I.e. an insulated door might need more clearance than my cheap non insulated wood framed door.