"nospam" wrote in message
...
Hello,

Our garage door broke again today. It's a metal one you lift to open.
One of the cables got tangled so it would not shut.

This happened on the other side some months ago. The repairman did
show me what to do in case it ever happened agin, but I forgot

Am I right to think you remove the track the roller runs along and
then remove the roller, thus freeing the cable. then get one person in
each corner and lower the door and then refit everything in reverse
order?

What's the life expectancy of a garage door? The people we bought the
house from left us all the instructions and receipts, so we know this
is ten years old. Is it time to get a new one?

If so, how easy is it to get one from Wickes and fit it yourself, or
should I call in a professional?


There's no good reason to change the door - they last a very long time as
long as they don't corrode, which is down to maintenance.

If this is the kind of door that has a big spring along the top then there
are usually two wires, one each side, going down to conical plastic pulleys.
You can get "cone and cable" sets from builders merchants and they are not
too difficult to replace. The vital thing is that there should be a clip in
the set - looks a bit like a giant hairpin made of about 4mm steel. This
goes through a hole in the top bar and stops it rotating, thus preventing
the spring from unwinding. There is huge torsion stored in the spring and
thr clip is what stops it relaesing suddenly when you are working on it.

Once its safe, its relatively easy to unfasten the four bolts hodling the
door in place, fold down the mechanism and swap the cone and cable. Usually
they come in pairs and both are replaced at once. You'll need a pin punch
to knock out the dowel holding the cone on its shaft. The sets usually have
instructions.

In my experience, living close to the sea, the cables are not long lived - I
reckon to get about 5 years is good going.

Hope this helps