How to Install a Garage Door

To accommodate this next request, Ron's workshop headed to Brandon, Florida, just outside Tampa. Gina and Dave Bednarz are new parents who sent Ron a letter telling him that their garage door was slowing them down. What they needed was a garage door opener, but they were afraid to attempt the installation themselves. Ron began his visit with a little lesson in garage door maintenance and safety, and then they got down to the business of installing the new opener.

Click here for a list of what you will need in order to complete this project.


View How to Install a Garage Door Video

1. Safety and maintenance:

• The garage door is generally the heaviest moving object in the house. So before Ron began helping Dave and Gina with the installation process, he wanted to take a few minutes to make some safety checks on the door and make sure it was operating properly.

• One of the first things Ron noticed was that Dave and Gina's garage door had steel wheels. He suggested replacing them with new Teflon wheels, which run more smoothly and quietly, especially on a metal door like theirs.

• To make the change, they bent the track open temporarily with a pair of pliers and slipped out each wheel. They removed the wheels from the mounting brackets and then replaced them with a newer Teflon version. The wheels were then slipped back into the tracks.

• When all the wheels on one side had been replaced, the track was simply bent back into its original shape using pliers and a hammer.

• Next they took a moment to oil the hinges. One or two drops on each pivot point is enough to keep a roll-up door squeak-free and operating effortlessly.

• The final step in Ron's garage door tune-up was to tighten all the nuts, bolts and screws with a ratchet wrench.

2. Spring adjustment:

• A sectional garage door, especially a wooden one, can weigh up to a thousand pounds. This is far too much weight to lift manually so garage doors use torsion springs to do the lifting. These springs are adjustable and Ron demonstrated the following simple test you can do yourself to see if they are adjusted properly.

• Lift the door all the way up and then pull it down about a foot. When you let go, it should go back up by itself. Next, pull the door half way down. Now when you release it, it should remain in that position. Finally, bring the door all the way down to within about a foot of the floor. This time when you let go, it should gradually ease to the closed position. If any of these three tests fail, it means the springs probably needs some adjustment.

• It is very important that torsion springs are correctly adjusted. Too much or too little tension not only can damage garage door openers but can also be dangerous if you are opening and closing the door manually. You should never attempt to adjust them yourself. If the energy stored in these coiled up springs is unleashed accidentally it can cause serious injury.

3. Track and motor installation:

• The heart of a garage door opener is the drive unit. Contained in this unit is the motor that moves a chain or drive screw to pull a carriage or "traveler" along a track. The carriage connects to the door with a bracket that allows the motor to raise and lower the door.

• The track comes in sections. Ron attached the first section to the drive unit. Gina and Dave then connected the remaining sections together.

• The carriage, which slips into the track, will move back and forth along this track when the motor is operated, pulling and pushing the door up and down.

• Next, Dave attached a mounting bracket to the end of the track, which they attached to the beam or header above the garage door.  Once the bracket end of the track was attached, they raised the door and laid the track and motor assembly on top where it could rest while they prepared to mount the drive unit.

• A garage door opener motor is very heavy so it must be attached directly to a ceiling joist. The joists in the Bednarz garage ceiling were covered with drywall so they used a stud finder to locate them.

• Ron attached a piece of perforated angle iron to the ceiling joist with lag screws. They attached two short vertical pieces of angle iron to the drive unit and then ran the bolts through the holes and tightened them. The motor and entire track assembly was securely supported in place.