Overhead garage doors are an everyday necessity that we generally tend to overlook. Moving our cars in and out of the garage, I admit that I often forget the fact that we do have a garage door installed. It was only when the spring broke and we were not able to shut is close at night, did I realize as how important it really is.
Before starting with the actual overhead garage door installation ensure that you have read all the safety instructions that have been listed out in the manual that is a part of the package when you purchase the overhead garage door. A wide range of garage doors are available these days and are available is a variety of quality and cost. Choose a door that comes with good warranty and blends with the landscape of your house.
Installation of Overhead Garage Door
At the onset, it is very important to understand that torsion bar springs have a lot of tension. Be very careful winding and unwinding these springs else they are known to be fatal.
If you have an existing garage door that you want to replace, then the same has to be uninstalled first. The first step is to disconnect the garage door and lock one side of the door in its track to relieve the tension. Insert a winding rod into the fitting and apply pressure on the spring very slowly, which will help you loosen the screw set. Insert the second winding, remove the first and loosen the next screw set. Disassemble the door by removing the top roller bracket on one side and free the panel by removing the hinges. With the panels out, remove the vertical and the horizontal tracks and the torsion bars and end by prying the old doorstop of the jamb.
Now starting with the installation of the overhead garage door:
Scrape away any caulk left behind by the old doorstop molding.
Attach a weather strip to the bottom edge of the first panel and set it at the doorway with the help of nails that are only part way driven. Attach hinges to the top end of the door.
Read the user's manual carefully and assemble the vertical, curved and the horizontal pieces of all the tracks.
Next, install all the brackets on the door or the wall as per the instructions provided in the user manual.
Slide the vertical tracks onto the rollers on one side of the first door section. Repeat the process for the other side.
This is followed by installing the rollers into the second section. You will require a helper here to lift the section and set it in place after which you will have to slip the rollers into the vertical tracks at both sides of the doorway.
Now, fasten the hinges on the first section to the second. Generally, a power drill is used to speedup the entire process.
Repeat the entire process to install the third section. Ensure that the door is leveled.
After attaching the jamb brackets to the tracks fasten them to the framing members. It is advisable not to tighten the lag screws very hard at this point of time, as they may need readjustment later to level the door. You can use a ladder to support the horizontal track if required.
Installation of the curved and horizontal tracks is the next step. After ensuring that the horizontal track is at the right level, cut the rear hanger to a length that is necessary for supporting the track. After screwing the track hanger to a ceiling or a block, loosely mount the track to the hanger. Repeat the process for the horizontal track.
After fitting the last section of the door into place, remove any temporary nails that you may have used during the installation process. Roll the door up by about four feet to ensure that the tracks are aligned evenly. Make any adjustments if necessary and lastly remember to tighten all the screws. I hope that this article has provided useful insights that will help you install your own overhead garage door. It is a very complicated process especially because of the heavy weight of the garage itself.
Undertake this activity on your own only if you are absolutely confident about what you have to do, can differentiate garage door hardware parts and are very handy at using the toolkit. And remember that caution is the keyword at every step. All the best!
