WTB: bids on a garage door opener install

[DNeinstadt]

My Aunt-in-law needs a garage door opener installed at her Townhouse in Columbia Heights. I am not comfortable doing it and not the handiest guy around. She is currently unemployed and is trying to find a reasonably priced install.

Anyone on here qualified and available to do this work? What other information is necessary in order to determine a rate for this?

Dan

[OrangeCrush 86]

I've always done them myself. All you need is a measuring tape, a drill, and some hand tools. You would probably be fine doing it yourself. The first thing to check is the clearance between the door and ceiling when the door is open to make sure you can get an opener in there.

[HAULNSS]

Dan,
I have used Aker Doors in Ham Lake. Kevin Aker is a friend of a friend and he did join us for one of our track days @ BIR.

Randy

[DNeinstadt]

More info:

The door has an existing opener. Allegedly, the door will open but it stops every few inches on both opening and closing. May just need a new motor, IDK.

I think she's looking for a "Can I make someone dinner to install this for me?" brk fgt. Not sure how much $ is an option.

TY for any suggestions.

[CleanLX]

I would call a garage door repair dude, and tell him the issue. He may very well tell you that it just needs an adjustment and no actual repair.

[LES]

Sounds like the "STOPS" Or electric eyes need adjusting. Dan go check it out before calling a repair dude. And Sears is really reasonable. I think mine was only $100 extra with installation.

[DNeinstadt]

Sorry for the updates, getting E-mail as I type. She did, he charged her $50 and said it needed a new motor. He had a 3/4 hp one in the truck and wanted $300 for it. She declined and he left. That's when she asked me to put up a Menards $99 opener, which I declined to do. I told her I'd try to find someone that know more than I did, so naturally I turned to TCS for help!

[LES]

Sorry for the updates, getting E-mail as I type. She did, he charged her $50 and said it needed a new motor. He had a 3/4 hp one in the truck and wanted $300 for it. She declined and he left. That's when she asked me to put up a Menards $99 opener, which I declined to do. I told her I'd try to find someone that know more than I did, so naturally I turned to TCS for help!

No disrespect, but if she has a $99 opener keep this thread open, you will be needing it again in about a year.

[MetallicPony]

wrong forum section n00b

[DNeinstadt]

She didn't buy the $99 opener. She just thought that would be a cheap way to get it fixed. )

[Scorpner]

Disconnect the opener form the door (the red handle on the rope) and see if either the door is binding or if a spring broke. I know of a GDO repair place that set the springs wrong and ruined a freinds GDO because it put too much weight on it.

If it's an old Sears/Chamberlin you may be able to replace the gears (designed to fail before the motor) for $15.

The motors rarely go out because the drive train (ie. gears) is designed to fail first, so it's probably not the motor unless the tension of the springs wasn't set correctly. (Extra load over a long period of time) Something like that can also overload the output transistors and require replacing the electronics as well. (What happened to my friend.)

Plus trying to sell a $300 motor to someone when you can get a brand new one for $200 is ridiculous IMO. The cost sounds more like a spring replacement.

You can buy a top of the line belt driven Chamberlain for ~$200, otherwise you'll be spending $150 anyways so the $50 is worth it. mine even has a 10 year warranty and they actually did replace the motor assembly on a three year old unit.

Replacing an existing GDO is a no brainer, half the time you can reuse the brackets and wiring etc.

I think this is what I have: >Link

[01darkblueTA]

if she buys if from home depot i think they are only charging 99 dollars to install as well.

[tim]

I agree with scorpner. Pull the handle and release the door. You should be able to stop the door half way and it should balance pretty much on its own. If it takes very little effort to raise and lower the door the springs are working properly.

Next step would be to run the opener without the door hooked, if it moves freely you probably have an issue with the arm that goes from the track to the door, binding due to the angle of the arm. Should be able to watch it and see where it binds.

Also make sure the track sections are aligned and tight on the opener, same as the hangers/hardware for the opener, if it isn't solid it will cause problems.

Last thing to check is the pressure settings, if it is too light and you have some slop anywhere in the system it will stop and not work properly. Lube the track also, another simple fix.

Garage door openers do very little work when set up properly, which is why they don't fail often.

My friends dads opener was doing the same thing as you listed and all we did to fix it was what I listed above, literally took 30 minutes. Need a small wrench set for loose hardware, a small flat screwdriver for pressure settings, and a can of spray lube. If the springs aren't set right you'll need two 1/2" steel rods to adjust tension, really simple to do.

[Drunko McMoppo]

14teen

[taank]

Is she good looking?