Jammed garage door

[Tony Hwang]

Hey, I replaced a broken spring and cable. It just needs proper tool and time. Can be done.

[JIMMIE]

Having uneven tension from the torsion spring will cause it to jam. Best bet is to just call the garage door company. Ive replaced them but it is better a two person job when both people are experienced. I'd rather replace an outlet on a live circuit than work on a garage door.

Jimmie

[Sanity]

Having uneven tension from the torsion spring will cause it to jam. Best bet is to just call the garage door company. Ive replaced them but it is better a two person job when both people are experienced. I'd rather replace an outlet on a live circuit than work on a garage door.

Jimmie

try putting the lifting pressure on the side where the spring is broken. That might possible unjam it as you're trying to lift it. Replacing the broken spring is a relatively simple job but you have to be very careful and you should replace them in pairs. If you're not handy, call a garage door installer and pay them.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, I was told to soak the springs with oil(like 10-30) to prolong the life.

[cshenk]

"MikeB" wrote

It's common here to see a perfectly decent guy, recently retired, work like that. I see no note that he asked for money *before* showing up for the install so you've made a wise choice I bet if you are in a military community area.

Can I ask you to email me? I might be able to help validate but not here. Address not grunged.

[MikeB]

OK, I promised y'all an update. :)

He actually called me earlier in the week and asked if he could come over on Thursday (instead of Friday). I said sure. about 10:30 Thursday, still no show so I called him and he said his technician was on the way (about 20 mins away). The kid himself actually showed with a rented U-Haul with the doors on it, about an hour later. I guess talking about a technician makes him seem bigger to himself.

He started working and it seemed a struggle to do it all by himself. The thing that mainly struck me is that while he seemed to know what he was doing, he was not experienced in the ways of contractors. He asked for drinking water and it was one of the very rare occasions where a contractor asked to use the bathroom. This inexperience became very marked since he took hours and hours to do the job single- handedly (one door is a double door 16' wide and the other was a 9' single door) and at about 7pm he asked for some food - I never realized the poor kid didn't bring anything to eat. . He damn near hurt himself when dismantling the 16ft door and he dropped the top portion with the glass panes in it - glass all over my garage. Also, he left a lot of the screws lying around, I went around that night and the next day to try and make sure I retrieve all the discarded screws and junk so as to not get an accidental flat when parking in the garage.

The other unwelcome surprise is that he tagged on a $125 removal fee to dispose of the old doors. From the way he talked, he was going to take them back to wherever he bought the new doors from andit was a pass-through charge.

The overall installation seems very solid, I checked all the things outlined in the above post, and they all seem to be just fine. I also have a couple of handymen doing some other outside renovation at this time (deck repairing, painting) and I know the guy who does that quite well - he is quite good at most jobs around the house - he checked out the new doors and says they seem very well done. So overall I'm still kind of ahead with the price.

There are a few niggly things. The old doors had windows, the replacements don't. The old doors had a latch that one could latch the doors (and open them with if they were off the opener) - the new one doesn't have this. More worrying is that the single door that is not on an opener and has no other egress than through the door has no lock like the old one used to have - not that we ever in all the time we lived here locked the door, but still. I mighe invest in a little latch on the side with a padlock if it ever gets to be an issue. It seems that he never considered that and didn't look if there were different models in the shop to accomodate the requirements.

In conclusion, I think he is very inexperienced, but that he does good workmanship and that I got a good price. My take-away lesson is to be more careful with the specifications and not simply make a blanket statement to "replace the doors."

He did tell me there was a 60-day warranty on the installation, but the trophy here would be if I never have to find out whether he honors that warranty. :)

Overall we are OK with the new doors.

[aemeijers]

You were lucky, and hopefully will remain that way. Sounds like he needs to hook up with your regular handymen for some mentoring. Seems like a basically good but clueless kid. Did you ask about contractor license and insurance? Warranty on the installation is less important than the warranty on the door itself- will the door company honor that with an iffy install job?

Asking to use the can on a long job is to be expected- when I had furnace replaced, I showed the guys where it was when they did the estimate. Asking for food is pushing it. Panels for a 16-foot door are a

2-man lift, both for safety and to avoid damaging the parts. As you realized, the lack of windows, the lack of an outside latch, or a lock on the second door, are due to insufficiently documented requirements. The 'disposal fee' probably paid for the rented U-haul, which may have come up at the last minute when the door wholesaler declined to load them on his pickup truck. (You gotta support the whole length when hauling stuff like that flat.)

If you do decide to add a lock to second door, and an outside latch to the main door, you should be able to buy the parts online or at the same dealer where kid bought the door. They are simple to install, and the track probably already has the notches for them. A drill and a hole saw, and a few screws. Just remember not to use opener (or pull the release pin) if you ever use the manual latch bolt on the door with the opener.

-- aem sends...

[MikeB]

Well, yea, I expect that people can't control nature, but, for instance these guys painting my house, they have been here every day since Monday from about 7am to 4 pm and not one of them, once asked to use the can. I've gone out and told them they are welcome to use the can, but they just don't. I don't know if they go in a bottle or behind the bushes or what... :)

So yea, using the can is OK, I just found that most contractors seem somewhat reticent to use customers' facilities.

I usually make a point of offering contractors something to drink, usually water or if they are here early, coffee. Most again decline and I know that many of them make sure they have enough liquids in a cooler or something so they are not dependent on customers.

As for the food, I felt kind of sorry for the kid. It is tough if you are youngish and don't eat for a long while. Making him a sandwich wasn't a problem. Again, if I remember, I might inquire of a crew if they have food around lunchtime. With this kid it just slipped my mind, since I was quite busy that day and didn't eat lunch myself.

[aemeijers]

They go behind the bushes, or hold it till lunch. Contractors are often leery of letting their people, especially subs, be anywhere unescorted in a customer's house, for fear of being accused of theft, inappropriate behavior, or damaging something. Some people in the trades are dishonest, and some customers are as well- looking for a bargaining chip to renegotiate price, or for a patsy for an insurance scam. Many in the trades hate working on occupied houses for lots of reasons- that is just one of them.

-- aem sends....