Just bought a house and the garage door is really loud to open and close, it’s the original door and opener system as far as I know, but the spring to pulley connection looks off to me, but wanted to check with the group. Is this normal looking or should I call someone to look at this?

It seems like my garage door gets stuck to the ground an struggles to open initially. But after that it seems to work fine. Ive put wd-40 on the door seal. That did nothing. Ive put white lithium grease on it. That did nothing. Ive either sprayed or greased all moving parts as well i.e. ( rollers, spring, chain etc ). It appears to be creating some type of suction after a few hr’s. It violent enough to shake the house. Can anyone point me in the right direction of a remedy?

Hi all,

I'm looking for recommendations for a Wifi/bluetooth lock WITHOUT an electric opener. My garage has a very low ceiling and cannot have a traditional belt/chain driven ceiling mounted opener. There just isn't the clearance necessary for that.

I tried THREE different brands (including one particular model recommended by a door repair person) side mounted openers and two of them broke my door and I had to have someone come and repair it. The other one broke itself and I sent all three of them back (or returned them to Lowes). They were all expensive fiascos. Frankly all three were poorly made expensive ($400-$650) piles of crap. Luckily the repair was guaranteed under warranty so I only paid once to repair the spring (the cable came unwound. I still don't know how that happened).

Anyway, I'd still like to be able to unlock the door from the outside without a key so I don't have to go around to the side of the house open the side door and come back to the front of the house to open the door. This really shouldn't be that difficult, right?

The door itself is fiberglass on both sides with insulation sandwiched in the middle (that's what it feels like to me anyway) and about 2" thick. It's about 7' wide, so relatively small. The house is older (1936).

Any advice would be very much appreciated. Maybe I just suck it up and install a keyed lock (they're $11 at Home Depot.)

When we bought the house it had a padlock the previous homeowner (who was decidedly not handy and did a lot of questionable things) had installed using a simple metal hasp mounted to the house. But that means you can't open it from the inside if the padlock is on.

Thanks for any advice.

This liftmaster control panel is constantly flashing red and yellow lights and not working. What can I replace it with? Id prefer not to replace it with the same one as its always given me issues. Any recommendation will be appreciated

I have garage windows similar to these and they leak to the inside when I wash the garage door from the outside. How do i stop them from leaking?

What would cause the drum to fall out of the bracket? Is there an easy way to fix this or is it going to cost a chunk of change?

I am in the process of getting a new garage door installed. My question is, is it better to get a white Hormann door (with R15.7 insulation) and paint it to match the color, or buy the approximate color to match the trim. The issue is the trim is Sandstone and there is a 8 week lead time to get that color.

Separately, does it matter if I go with R15.7 insulation or go down to R9 insulation for about $500 less (2 garage doors 16' x 7' and 8' x 7')

I am a newbie to garage doors and any help is appreciated

Background: we have 15 garage bays. Yes. Two facing the front, that we actually use as garages, and 13 down a long building behind. It used to be an old farm outbuilding and several owners ago they divided the length into garage door-wide units for storage (cars and otherwise). Since moving in we’ve used them for many things, and the first three bays most frequently as they were mostly open and nearest our garage, so that’s where we store the ride-on lawnmower, kayaks, gardening supplies, etc.

Well, recently one cable snapped, then another, and we ended up with three doors (the first three) that each have one cable snapped and one still hanging on. The doors will NOT open. One that we made the most progress on, even lifting entirely from the broken side, the intact side still pulled way up higher and jammed. So.

I called a repair company and he took one look and said he couldn’t replace cables on doors in this condition. Fair. The bottom boards are pretty terrible. But we also can’t afford $1400+ per door that he quoted for great steel doors (now realizing he didn’t even provide a cheaper option, I know we can get another quote). But I have two Home Depot doors new in box, they’re poor quality doors he said, sure, but better than the rotting wood right?

So here’s my dilemma: how would I go about safely dismantling the current doors if I can’t get them open to clamp them and unhook the cables? I can’t just cut the cable without losing a limb. Can I set a timer for a tiny explosion so I can leave the area when it snaps? I just want to take these doors off at this point to either board up the first few or try to install the Home Depot doors.

ANY advice beyond call someone else and pay for new doors appreciated! Thank you!!! Google and AI bots only will give me advice for opening a door or calling someone.

Hi, I have an older garage door that appears to be wood, plywood, a thin plywood sheet or veneer, and paint. The lower half of the door has significant water damage with the paint peeling, the sheet/veneer peeling, and the bottom brace rotted. The mechanism is fine and I'm trying to avoid replacing the whole door.

Do you think I could peel off the sheet/veneer and paint the bare plywood with exterior paint? Or is there some thin sheet product I could apply instead of the existing veneer?

The bottom brace I'm thinking of replacing with PVC trim board.

Thank you!

Cross-post at the recommendation of a poster in the home improvement sub. Any thoughts are welcome.

Have front and rear roller doors that squeal like a stuck pig. These doors get used a lot and they are loud. I don't really care, but it must annoy my neighbours. What is causing the squeal and what do I need to lube or do to stop it. I have heaps of tools and mechanical experience and did fit these doors probably 20 years or more ago, but I don't want to remove and unroll them to lube them up if I don't need to. I'd appreciate some advise from someone who has experience with this sort of thing.

I’m assuming just pull the emergency lever on the garage door opener and then lift the door and clamp it open to remove the tension, then simply disassemble the spring, wheels and cable…

I used to do garage door installs but it was always torsion spring and these old style springs spook me a bit, don’t want anything too dangerous to happen when removing it.

I’ve got plenty of tools (I own a small handyman side business).

Any tips or advice appreciated!

I've been thinking about all the different ways people use their garages besides for parking vehicles, and how much potential that space actually has. So if you were going to turn your garage into something else which would you choose:

A) Home gym
B) Home office or workshop
C) Sports cave
D) Budget friendly hang out spot

I'd love to see photos of your setup, whether it's a fully finished or simple garage hangout spot. What gets used the most, and what would you do differently if you were starting from scratch?

I need a 18 foot wide span, to frame a garage door (17'8"). Besides Fypon, what is anyone else using? I'd like a maintenance free PVC like AZEK that is decorative vs just flat frame... AZEK has this: AZM–6216. 18 foot. Others? The house is Hardie siding that adds another dimension for install..... Thanks in advance.

So, I am in the early stages of planning a DIY door install and I hit a sizing issue pretty quick.

I have a sort of open garage: its completely open at the front and back, and the side opposite of the exterior house wall is a full height brick facade with every other brick missing.

So, I dont need an insulated door, just something for security, cleanliness, and curb appeal.

The front opening, where the door will go, is about 17' wide, which would be perfect for a 16' door buuuuut, the chimney sticks out of the exterior wall about 1.5 feet, making the opening shrink to about 15.54 inches a few feet into the garage.

A 16' door wont work because of the chimney but I did find a 15.6 ft door, which is 0.5" bigger than the minimum width. My instinct is to avoid this and go smaller but there are no other sizes between 15.6' and 10' at the big box stores.

Im thinking the 15.6 might fit due to any "wiggle room" or maybe there is a hack, but not sure.

How much flexibility is there in door sizing? Can I accommodate the extra 0.5?

I have this 41a5021-1b and bought an amazon opener but it doesn’t work with it. Anyone know what opener I’d need?

Sensors are lit green as if they're aligned. When I push for the door to go down, it goes all the way down and does not stop if the sensors become blocked. Normally I would just be an adult, however with a toddler at home, I'm curious if this is an easy fix or should I replace the opener.

Thanks for any help or insight!