Blog Archive: March 2011
Spring Into Action
If your garage door opener isn’t in operating properly, you could be setting yourself up for an expensive repair down the road.
Examine your spring for a break in the coiled metal. Another sign of a broken spring is if the steel cables that run along the wall near the door jambs are loose.
Is your garage door operating at full capacity, or is it poised to malfunction? It’s recommended that you regularly check the real muscle of your automatic garage door system: the spring.
Few homeowners realize that it’s the spring (or springs) that do 90 percent of the lifting when an automatic opener lifts a garage door. The garage door opener’s motor is only designed to handle 10 percent of the lifting.” Over time, the metal coil that makes up the spring becomes weak and loses some tension, causing the motor to work harder than it should. If the motor becomes overtaxed, the plastic gears inside may break and you’ll be facing an expensive repair.
How to Test a Garage Door Spring
To check to see if your spring is no longer doing its fair share, conduct the following test.
First, disengage the J-arm (the J-shaped lever) from the carriage by pulling on the [more]
A Buyer’s First Impression: The Garage Door
Folks in the remodeling mood often consider many parts of their homes for overhauls, but they might overlook one change-out that could increase curb appeal significantly. The garage door is becoming one of the main focal points of the house. Garage doors often make up more than one-third of the front facade of many homes and should be considered in home-improvement plans.
A recent study released by Remodeling Magazine found that homeowners who replace their garage doors are seeing an average of 84 percent return on investment. This means homeowners can expect to recoup about 84 percent of the cost of the new garage doors in selling price should they place their property on the market. This ranks higher than a kitchen or bathroom remodel. It’s one of the least-expensive home-improvement projects, and it can greatly improve curb appeal that can affect buyer first impression.
One door style in particular has become very popular. Carriage-house doors are big right now. They’re a design that comes from an older time period. Carriage doors, often compared to barn doors, come in both wood and steel and often have windows on the upper section. They can simulate the swing-out style with decorative strap hinges added.
Consumers [more]
A Story: A Day in the Life with a Non-Licensed Contractor
This is a true story and the names of the individuals have been changed to protect the innocent.
XYZ Garage Door Service isn’t a store or office-based business. It’s really just a man trying to earn his living via service, repair, and installation of garage doors. I believe he works out of his home with his wife. When we hired Mr. Johnson, we knew there was an element of risk involved. He wasn’t licensed, but he had the price we wanted. When he came out to do measurements, answer questions, and give us options, he was extremely nice.
He seemed just like a really good guy. We hired him and he installed our garage door. He did an okay job, though probably not as good as a licensed contractor would have done.
Our issues with XYZ Garage Door Service, however, were with the follow-up. Part of our agreement with him was that he would haul away the old door and its remnants. He also said he’d be coming back to do a check after a week, to make sure everything was fine. Unfortunately, there was no follow-up.
Numerous, and I do mean numerous, calls were never returned. He did not come and pick up [more]