Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!

Thanks!

MikeB wrote:
....
At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.
....
When the torsion spring broke, it apparently jammed somewhere. You'll
have to find where that is and release it. Be careful to not get caught
anywhere there's still tension/compression in the spring, obviously.

--

MikeB wrote:
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!

Thanks!
Hi,
One spring being broken, one spring torsion can't lift the door which
weighs couple hundred pounds. Try to find the jam, and try to lift the
door giving more push on the broken spring side. Then leave the door
open and call for the service. Make sure cable is not tangled and
rollers are all on track(not jumped out). At least you should be able
to open it with one spring working. I once replaced a broken spring
myself not easy but can be done being very careful for the safety.
Took me a whole day including the trip to hardware store for parts.

dpb wrote:
MikeB wrote:
...

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

...
When the torsion spring broke, it apparently jammed somewhere. You'll
have to find where that is and release it. Be careful to not get caught
anywhere there's still tension/compression in the spring, obviously.

--

I doubt that's the reason, the door should be able to be move up with
one or both cables slacked.

The OP didn't describe the size or material of the door, but it's likely
just too heavy for him to lift by himself. He should get a few strong
friends and give it a try.

My single width garage door exerted a downforce of about 250 pounds when
almost closed and resting a scale with both cables disconnected. I
probably could have lifted it by myself but didn't want to risk a
hernia. (I made that weight measurement to determine what strength
expansion springs to buy when one of them bust. No color coding on the
original springs.)

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

On Sep 27, 3:00*pm, jeff_wisnia
wrote:
dpb wrote:
MikeB wrote:
...

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

...
When the torsion spring broke, it apparently jammed somewhere. *You'll
have to find where that is and release it. *Be careful to not get caught
anywhere there's still tension/compression in the spring, obviously.

--

I doubt that's the reason, the door should be able to be move up with
one or both cables slacked.

The OP didn't describe the size or material of the door, but it's likely
just too heavy for him to lift by himself. He should get a few strong
friends and give it a try.

My single width garage door exerted a downforce of about 250 pounds when
almost closed and resting a scale with both cables disconnected. I
probably could have lifted it by myself but didn't want to risk a
hernia. (I made that weight measurement to determine what strength
expansion springs to buy when one of them bust. No color coding on the
original springs.)

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

I always forget to mention something crucial to my problem, don't
I?

It is a double-sided garage door made of wood with foru windows along
the top. The door is quite old, if it is as old as the house, it is
upwards of 25 years old. We were actually thinking of replacing it,
since it is starting to rot through at the bottom.

I checked and the rollers seem free in their tracks and the cables
don't seem jammed anywhere.

If the door weighs 250 lbs, then that would explain why I can't open
it. My one neighbor recently moved out and the other one is disabled,
so I can't count on them. I've found a guy on CraisgsList that said
the'd come out for $99. Hope he's good.

On Sep 27, 2:56*pm, Tony Hwang wrote:
MikeB wrote:
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!

Thanks!

Hi,
One spring being broken, one spring torsion can't lift the door which
weighs couple hundred pounds. Try to find the jam, and try to lift the
door giving more push on the broken spring side. Then leave the door
open and call for the service. Make sure cable is not tangled and
rollers are all *on track(not jumped out). At least you should be able
to open it with one spring working. I once replaced a broken spring
myself not easy but can be done being very careful for the safety.
Took me a whole day including the trip to hardware store for parts.

I just don't seem to see a jam. But there probably is one, since even
our car jacks have difficulty lifting the door and a car jack can lift
more than a couple of 100 lbs. Will have to wait for this service guy
to see what's up. This couldn't have happened at a worse time. We
just got a call that our daughter's Girl Scout troop was returning
earlier than expected from camp, both our cars are in the garage, it's
a Sunday and my wife wanted to go to churc and tomorrow we have to get
my daughter to school and we have to get to work. Murphy's law at its
best.

MikeB wrote:
On Sep 27, 2:56 pm, Tony Hwang wrote:
MikeB wrote:
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!
Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.
I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.
At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.
The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!
Thanks!
Hi,
One spring being broken, one spring torsion can't lift the door which
weighs couple hundred pounds. Try to find the jam, and try to lift the
door giving more push on the broken spring side. Then leave the door
open and call for the service. Make sure cable is not tangled and
rollers are all on track(not jumped out). At least you should be able
to open it with one spring working. I once replaced a broken spring
myself not easy but can be done being very careful for the safety.
Took me a whole day including the trip to hardware store for parts.

I just don't seem to see a jam. But there probably is one, since even
our car jacks have difficulty lifting the door and a car jack can lift
more than a couple of 100 lbs. Will have to wait for this service guy
to see what's up. This couldn't have happened at a worse time. We
just got a call that our daughter's Girl Scout troop was returning
earlier than expected from camp, both our cars are in the garage, it's
a Sunday and my wife wanted to go to churc and tomorrow we have to get
my daughter to school and we have to get to work. Murphy's law at its
best.
Yes,
Murphy's law. Luckily our trailer tow truck is always parked in the back
yard car port. Good luck.

On Sun, 27 Sep 2009 13:17:13 -0700 (PDT), MikeB
wrote:

On Sep 27, 2:56*pm, Tony Hwang wrote:
MikeB wrote:
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!

Thanks!

Hi,
One spring being broken, one spring torsion can't lift the door which
weighs couple hundred pounds. Try to find the jam, and try to lift the
door giving more push on the broken spring side. Then leave the door
open and call for the service. Make sure cable is not tangled and
rollers are all *on track(not jumped out). At least you should be able
to open it with one spring working. I once replaced a broken spring
myself not easy but can be done being very careful for the safety.
Took me a whole day including the trip to hardware store for parts.

I just don't seem to see a jam. But there probably is one, since even
our car jacks have difficulty lifting the door and a car jack can lift
more than a couple of 100 lbs. Will have to wait for this service guy
to see what's up. This couldn't have happened at a worse time. We
just got a call that our daughter's Girl Scout troop was returning
earlier than expected from camp, both our cars are in the garage, it's
a Sunday and my wife wanted to go to churc and tomorrow we have to get
my daughter to school and we have to get to work. Murphy's law at its
best.

I seldom pull the emergency release rope to open my double door by
hand. One day I did and noticed it did not disengage when I thought
it did. Another pull made certain.

MikeB wrote:
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!

Thanks!

BTDT, very recently. Luckily, it happened as I closed the door leaving
for work, and had 1 untrapped car. (Boy did I cuss when I got home that
night, and all the opener did was make one end of door go up a couple of
inches. WTF?) Fix was an emergency service call to local overhead door
vendor. Within 24 hours, they did a temporary repair with a cable clamp
reconnecting the broken ends of the spring, for about 20 bucks. I went
ahead and had both springs replaced, for about $275, but I had to wait a
week for an opening in their schedule, to get that done. If you call and
say 'trapped cars', that bumps you to the top of the list for the
temporary repair, at least for the people I used.

You theoretically could undo the spring on the other side and open the
door, but I would advise against it. It is likely to make the eventual
repair cost even more, and those are greasy nasty parts that will bite
you. And without the counterweighting, those doors are heavy. Cabs, kind
neighbors/coworkers/using up a couple vacation days till the repair guy
can get there, are the painless solution.

--
aem sends...

MikeB wrote:
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

If you need your cars and the door's a goner anyway, it's time for a sledge
hammer.


The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!

Thanks!

On Sun, 27 Sep 2009 17:41:59 -0400, aemeijers
wrote:

/using up a couple vacation days

I thought the same thing.

Me: "I'm calling in."

Boss: "Are you sick?"

Me: "No, I'm going fishing!"

MikeB wrote:
On Sep 27, 3:00 pm, jeff_wisnia
wrote:
dpb wrote:
MikeB wrote:
...
At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.
...
When the torsion spring broke, it apparently jammed somewhere. You'll
have to find where that is and release it. Be careful to not get caught
anywhere there's still tension/compression in the spring, obviously.
--
I doubt that's the reason, the door should be able to be move up with
one or both cables slacked.

The OP didn't describe the size or material of the door, but it's likely
just too heavy for him to lift by himself. He should get a few strong
friends and give it a try.

My single width garage door exerted a downforce of about 250 pounds when
almost closed and resting a scale with both cables disconnected. I
probably could have lifted it by myself but didn't want to risk a
hernia. (I made that weight measurement to determine what strength
expansion springs to buy when one of them bust. No color coding on the
original springs.)

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

I always forget to mention something crucial to my problem, don't
I?

It is a double-sided garage door made of wood with foru windows along
the top. The door is quite old, if it is as old as the house, it is
upwards of 25 years old. We were actually thinking of replacing it,
since it is starting to rot through at the bottom.

I checked and the rollers seem free in their tracks and the cables
don't seem jammed anywhere.

If the door weighs 250 lbs, then that would explain why I can't open
it. My one neighbor recently moved out and the other one is disabled,
so I can't count on them. I've found a guy on CraisgsList that said
the'd come out for $99. Hope he's good.
Hi,
Sure the opener is disengaged? If it is, when you operate opener it'll
free run.

jeff_wisnia wrote:
dpb wrote:
MikeB wrote:
...

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

...
When the torsion spring broke, it apparently jammed somewhere. You'll
have to find where that is and release it. Be careful to not get
caught anywhere there's still tension/compression in the spring,
obviously.

--

I doubt that's the reason, the door should be able to be move up with
one or both cables slacked.

The OP didn't describe the size or material of the door, but it's likely
just too heavy for him to lift by himself. He should get a few strong
friends and give it a try.

My single width garage door exerted a downforce of about 250 pounds when
almost closed and resting a scale with both cables disconnected. I
probably could have lifted it by myself but didn't want to risk a
hernia. (I made that weight measurement to determine what strength
expansion springs to buy when one of them bust. No color coding on the
original springs.)

Hi,
Just measuring the size of spring can tell approx weight of door.
(wire gauge of spring, no. of turns, diameter) Some times it is color coded.

"MikeB" wrote in message
...
On Sep 27, 3:00 pm, jeff_wisnia
wrote:
dpb wrote:
MikeB wrote:
...

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

...
When the torsion spring broke, it apparently jammed somewhere. You'll
have to find where that is and release it. Be careful to not get caught
anywhere there's still tension/compression in the spring, obviously.

--

I doubt that's the reason, the door should be able to be move up with
one or both cables slacked.

The OP didn't describe the size or material of the door, but it's likely
just too heavy for him to lift by himself. He should get a few strong
friends and give it a try.

My single width garage door exerted a downforce of about 250 pounds when
almost closed and resting a scale with both cables disconnected. I
probably could have lifted it by myself but didn't want to risk a
hernia. (I made that weight measurement to determine what strength
expansion springs to buy when one of them bust. No color coding on the
original springs.)

--
Jeffry Wisnia
(W1BSV + Brass Rat '57 EE)
The speed of light is 1.8*10e12 furlongs per fortnight.

I always forget to mention something crucial to my problem, don't
I?

It is a double-sided garage door made of wood with foru windows along
the top. The door is quite old, if it is as old as the house, it is
upwards of 25 years old. We were actually thinking of replacing it,
since it is starting to rot through at the bottom.

I checked and the rollers seem free in their tracks and the cables
don't seem jammed anywhere.

If the door weighs 250 lbs, then that would explain why I can't open
it. My one neighbor recently moved out and the other one is disabled,
so I can't count on them. I've found a guy on CraisgsList that said
the'd come out for $99. Hope he's good.

Make sure the tension cable on the side where the spring seems to have
broken isn't catching on something. If you can lift it an inch or so and
then it stops solid, it isn't a case of it just being too heavy. Something
is catching and jamming. It could also be that it isn't lifting straight
and is binding up as you lift it and it tilts to one side or the other.

In article , MikeB wrote:

It is a double-sided garage door made of wood with foru windows along
the top. The door is quite old, if it is as old as the house, it is
upwards of 25 years old. We were actually thinking of replacing it,
since it is starting to rot through at the bottom.

Don't spend a dollar on repairs in that case. Just replace the
doors. Wooden doors suck anyway, IMO. They're heavy, they rot,
they sag and they break. Definitely replace the tracks too
although you can probably re-use the existing opener if it's
in good condition.

Replacing our wooden garage doors with some good quality
insulated metal doors was the best thing we've done on
our 20 year old home. It didn't cost an arm or a leg either.

Around here at least, the smaller independent garage door
contractors will do the job better and quicker than Home
Depot et al. Just be sure to check references etc. because
there are some cowboys in that game.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On Sep 27, 5:40*pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
In article , MikeB wrote:

It is a double-sided garage door made of wood with foru windows along
the top. *The door is quite old, if it is as old as the house, it is
upwards of 25 years old. We were actually thinking of replacing it,
since it is starting to rot through at the bottom.

Don't spend a dollar on repairs in that case. Just replace the
doors. Wooden doors suck anyway, IMO. They're heavy, they rot,
they sag and they break. Definitely replace the tracks too
although you can probably re-use the existing opener if it's
in good condition.

Replacing our wooden garage doors with some good quality
insulated metal doors was the best thing we've done on
our 20 year old home. It didn't cost an arm or a leg either.

Around here at least, the smaller independent garage door
contractors will do the job better and quicker than Home
Depot et al. Just be sure to check references etc. because
there are some cowboys in that game.

OK, so as I said, I got this 24/7 guy from CL to come out. He told me
up front that he did not have the right spring and that I would have
to wait until Monday afternoon if he had to get a spring. Anyway,
since I was going to replace the doors, I told him to just come on
over and open the door and we can talk about replacing the doors.

About an hour later he came on over and between the two of us we
lifted the door up and moved it until the automatic opener engaged to
hold it in the open position. Fastest $100 I've ever spent (and
probably for the least effort from another person - oh well.

He quoted me about $1,600 to replace both the 16' and 9' side garage
doors with 24 gauge steel doors. Since that was a lot cheaper than the
original quote from the other guys, I thought I'd take a flyer and go
with this one. The electric opener is quite new and he said it could
be reused.

He looked a little on the cowboy side, just a guy in a truck and he
asked if I could pay in cash, but I figured WTH. Take a chance
sometime. I'll wait and see - he said he'd be back Friday to replace
the doors. I got his DL#, his truck's registration and a business card
(with no business address). I'm kinda wondering how this will work
out. However, he has a US Marines sticker on his truck and he says his
brother is in Pendleton and going to Afghanistan in January. So I'm
gonna give him a bit of a break. If he screws up I'll just get the
other guys back in - how bad can you screw up garage doors?

In article , MikeB wrote:

About an hour later he came on over and between the two of us we
lifted the door up and moved it until the automatic opener engaged to
hold it in the open position. Fastest $100 I've ever spent (and
probably for the least effort from another person - oh well.

Yeah, but it really sucks having your cars stuck in the
garage!

He quoted me about $1,600 to replace both the 16' and 9' side garage
doors with 24 gauge steel doors. Since that was a lot cheaper than the
original quote from the other guys, I thought I'd take a flyer and go
with this one. The electric opener is quite new and he said it could
be reused.

Sounds like a decent price.

If he screws up I'll just get the
other guys back in - how bad can you screw up garage doors?

He might turn out to be excellent. Good luck, anyway!

Some things to check for off the top of my head:

1. Do the new doors appear to be properly aligned in the frame?
2. Are the tracks *securely* attached to studs or whatever?
3. With the opener disengaged, are the springs balancing
the weight of the doors nicely?
4. Does the opener function smoothly, quietly and without jerking?

If those items are okay, it's probably a sound installation.

--
|~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~|
| Malcolm Hoar "The more I practice, the luckier I get". |
| Gary Player. |
| http://www.malch.com/ Shpx gur PQN. |
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MikeB wrote:
On Sep 27, 5:40 pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
In article , MikeB wrote:

It is a double-sided garage door made of wood with foru windows along
the top. The door is quite old, if it is as old as the house, it is
upwards of 25 years old. We were actually thinking of replacing it,
since it is starting to rot through at the bottom.
Don't spend a dollar on repairs in that case. Just replace the
doors. Wooden doors suck anyway, IMO. They're heavy, they rot,
they sag and they break. Definitely replace the tracks too
although you can probably re-use the existing opener if it's
in good condition.

Replacing our wooden garage doors with some good quality
insulated metal doors was the best thing we've done on
our 20 year old home. It didn't cost an arm or a leg either.

Around here at least, the smaller independent garage door
contractors will do the job better and quicker than Home
Depot et al. Just be sure to check references etc. because
there are some cowboys in that game.

OK, so as I said, I got this 24/7 guy from CL to come out. He told me
up front that he did not have the right spring and that I would have
to wait until Monday afternoon if he had to get a spring. Anyway,
since I was going to replace the doors, I told him to just come on
over and open the door and we can talk about replacing the doors.

About an hour later he came on over and between the two of us we
lifted the door up and moved it until the automatic opener engaged to
hold it in the open position. Fastest $100 I've ever spent (and
probably for the least effort from another person - oh well.

He quoted me about $1,600 to replace both the 16' and 9' side garage
doors with 24 gauge steel doors. Since that was a lot cheaper than the
original quote from the other guys, I thought I'd take a flyer and go
with this one. The electric opener is quite new and he said it could
be reused.

He looked a little on the cowboy side, just a guy in a truck and he
asked if I could pay in cash, but I figured WTH. Take a chance
sometime. I'll wait and see - he said he'd be back Friday to replace
the doors. I got his DL#, his truck's registration and a business card
(with no business address). I'm kinda wondering how this will work
out. However, he has a US Marines sticker on his truck and he says his
brother is in Pendleton and going to Afghanistan in January. So I'm
gonna give him a bit of a break. If he screws up I'll just get the
other guys back in - how bad can you screw up garage doors?

A row of red flags like that, and you keep on trucking? No address, and
I bet the phone number was a cell. There are a dozen different ways I
can think of to screw up a garage door install, and I'm no expert. And
with a fly-by-night off-the-books installer like that, forget about any
warranty claims. Is a contractor license required in your state? If he
screws up during the install and gets hurt, does he have insurance to
cover it? What are you gonna do if halfway during the install, he
suddenly says it is going to cost a lot more?

IMHO, better to pay a real installer up front, and be done with it. But
if you have your heart set on going with him, I'd insist on riding along
when he goes to pick up the door- don't just give him a fistful of cash.
Pretty certain he doesn't have a line of credit at the supply house, so
he'll probably want material costs up front. Are the doors double-layer
and insulated, or single skin bare metal? What finish is on the steel?
The price he quoted doesn't sound much lower than Google ballpark
prices, but I don't know how costs run in your area.

--
aem sends...

I'd call a garage company. Those springs have a terrifying
ammount of energy. I'd sure not want to cut one of those
loose. In some departments, I'm a quivvering coward, and
this is one such.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"MikeB" wrote in message
...
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit
of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be
able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our
two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not
working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal
bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with
cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a
counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand
spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on
the left
is very tight.

The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by
more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do
not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our
cars!

Thanks!

I'm with you. I'd sure not want a one man operation, like
that. Too many ways to screw up. Garage door should last
much of the life of the house. Not something to leave to fly
by nights.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"aemeijers" wrote in message
...

A row of red flags like that, and you keep on trucking? No
address, and
I bet the phone number was a cell. There are a dozen
different ways I
can think of to screw up a garage door install, and I'm no
expert.

Stormin Mormon wrote:
I'd call a garage company. Those springs have a terrifying
ammount of energy. I'd sure not want to cut one of those
loose. In some departments, I'm a quivvering coward, and
this is one such.

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

On Sep 27, 3:20*pm, MikeB wrote:
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!

Thanks!

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

"JIMMIE" wrote in message
...
On Sep 27, 3:20 pm, MikeB wrote:
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!

Thanks!

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.

Sanity wrote:

"JIMMIE" wrote in message
...
On Sep 27, 3:20 pm, MikeB wrote:
Hi guys, I hope someone here can help me out. We're in a bit of a jam!

Our garage door is jammed. No amount of force seems to be able to move
it. I have been able to lift it about 18 inches using our two car
jacks, but no further.

I have disconnected the electrical opener, so it is not working
against that.

At the top of to door openeing, on the wall is a horizontal bar with
two coil springs. At the end of the bar are two pulleys with cable
that go to the bottom of the door. I think this is a counter-weighting
mechanism to enable easy lifting of the door. The right-hand spring
seems broken. The cable on the right is slack, the cable on the left
is very tight.

The door is jammed solid, I cannot move it up or down by more than an
inch or so. I checked the rollers on the sides and they do not seem
jammed. Any ideas on how I can free up to doors? We need our cars!

Thanks!

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

"MikeB" wrote

He quoted me about $1,600 to replace both the 16' and 9' side garage
doors with 24 gauge steel doors. Since that was a lot cheaper than the
original quote from the other guys, I thought I'd take a flyer and go
with this one. The electric opener is quite new and he said it could
be reused.
he said he'd be back Friday to replace
the doors. I got his DL#, his truck's registration and a business card
(with no business address). I'm kinda wondering how this will work
out. However, he has a US Marines sticker on his truck and he says his
brother is in Pendleton and going to Afghanistan in January. So I'm

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.

On Sep 27, 8:10*pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
In article , MikeB wrote:

About an hour later he came on over and between the two of us we
lifted the door up and moved it until the automatic opener engaged to
hold it in the open position. *Fastest $100 I've ever spent (and
probably for the least effort from another person - oh well.

Yeah, but it really sucks having your cars stuck in the
garage!

He quoted me about $1,600 to replace both the 16' and 9' side garage
doors with 24 gauge steel doors. Since that was a lot cheaper than the
original quote from the other guys, I thought I'd take a flyer and go
with this one. The electric opener is quite new and he said it could
be reused.

Sounds like a decent price.

If he screws up I'll just get the
other guys back in - how bad can you screw up garage doors?

He might turn out to be excellent. Good luck, anyway!

Some things to check for off the top of my head:

1. Do the new doors appear to be properly aligned in the frame?
2. Are the tracks *securely* attached to studs or whatever?
3. With the opener disengaged, are the springs balancing
* *the weight of the doors nicely?
4. Does the opener function smoothly, quietly and without jerking?

If those items are okay, it's probably a sound installation.



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.

MikeB wrote:
On Sep 27, 8:10 pm, (Malcolm Hoar) wrote:
In article , MikeB wrote:

About an hour later he came on over and between the two of us we
lifted the door up and moved it until the automatic opener engaged to
hold it in the open position. Fastest $100 I've ever spent (and
probably for the least effort from another person - oh well.
Yeah, but it really sucks having your cars stuck in the
garage!

He quoted me about $1,600 to replace both the 16' and 9' side garage
doors with 24 gauge steel doors. Since that was a lot cheaper than the
original quote from the other guys, I thought I'd take a flyer and go
with this one. The electric opener is quite new and he said it could
be reused.
Sounds like a decent price.

If he screws up I'll just get the
other guys back in - how bad can you screw up garage doors?
He might turn out to be excellent. Good luck, anyway!

Some things to check for off the top of my head:

1. Do the new doors appear to be properly aligned in the frame?
2. Are the tracks *securely* attached to studs or whatever?
3. With the opener disengaged, are the springs balancing
the weight of the doors nicely?
4. Does the opener function smoothly, quietly and without jerking?

If those items are okay, it's probably a sound installation.



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.


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...

On Oct 4, 7:44*pm, aemeijers wrote:


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. .


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.

MikeB wrote:
On Oct 4, 7:44 pm, aemeijers wrote:

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. .


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.


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....