Garage Door Opener Installation

Installing a garage door opener is not a simple do it yourself job, but the garage door openers made today are much easier to install than those made a number of years ago. If you are handy with tools, then by all means take a shot at installing that opener.

Whatever brand of garage door opener you choose, chances are it will come with detailed instructions for doing the installation yourself. Use those instructions and follow them to the letter. Don't try to figure it out on your own. The fact is, garage door openers can be dangerous because of the springs that are under high tension, and you don't want to take chances with getting hurt.

Before you even start with the installation of a garage door opener, you need to assess how well your garage door works. Garage doors can be very heavy. A garage door opener will be designed for a certain weight of door. Make sure your door is in the right weight range for the garage door opener you are installing. You may need to reinforce the door if it is lightweight.

Next, check the operation of your garage door. If it can't be opened easily, perhaps because the springs are not functional, then you need to fix it before you even start installing the garage door opener. In extreme cases, you might need to install a new garage door. Make sure the framework is sturdy enough to support the new door that will have the new garage door opener attached.

The garage door opener will have a power unit. This should be installed in a place where it won't interfere with people walking around in the garage. There should also be a cord for manually disconnecting the opener. This cord should be accessible to any adult. Be sure to disconnect the electricity when you install the permanent wiring needed to power the opener.

It helps to have two people when installing a garage door opener, although an experienced do it yourselfer can probably get the job done alone in an afternoon. Tools needed include a drill, level, tape measure, hammer, screwdrivers, wire cutters, pliers, stepladder, adjustable wrench, and hacksaw.

There are three types of garage door openers. The screw drive is one of the easier types to install. It requires no belts, no chains, and no future adjustments. Look for a garage opener that has the safety feature of reversing the operation of the door when it happens to hit something. Also be sure to install wall buttons high enough that small children will not be able to play with the garage door. For extra safety, infrared beam boxes should be installed near the bottom of the garage door opening.

Installing a garage door opener is a job for an intermediate or advanced level do it yourselfer. If you install your own, don't skimp on the safety precautions. Garage doors are heavy, sometimes causing injury. In addition to the weight, the tension of the springs involved can also cause injury.

Your garage door opener may be a safety hazard, especially if it's an older one produced in the 1980's. To be very sure, you should test it, or have it tested by a professional. The vital thing to inspect is that it reverses when it the door strikes something.

It isn't worth having a dangerous garage door opener even if you don't have children running around. Current regulations require that openers reverse when something is in the way. If the door touches something on it's way down, it should automatically reverse and start to go back up. If it does not do that, the garage door opener either needs to be repaired or replaced. Never, ever disable this important safety feature.

For a garage door to work properly, it needs to be balanced. This means that the door stays where you lift it to. If it is properly balanced, you can lift it half-way and it will stay. If the door sticks or is difficult to raise, it needs maintenance work done on it. Some really damaged doors need to be replaced, and a new garage door opener installed.

Checking the garage door for balance requires you to remove the garage door opener. It probably is equipped with a mechanism for quick removal from the garage door. If it is not, you will have to use tools to remove it. Any time working on a garage door opener seems like too complicated to do it yourself, call in a professional repairman.

A law was enacted in 1993 that requires every garage doors opener to be equipped with an external system for avoiding the risk of entrapment. Some things that are used as this external feature are electric eyes and sensors. Electric eyes work by creating a beam that extends from one side to the other of the door. An electric eye installed at 4-6 inches above the driveway surface will stop the door from coming down if something is in the way that breaks the beam.

The main thing is that you want to be sure that if a child, or even a pet, is under the door when it starts to come down, it will stop lowering and start going back up as soon as it touches the child. When you're checking out the garage door opener, be careful around the pulley's, springs, and hinges, because these components can easily injure your fingers or hands.

Some experts suggest checking your garage door opener once a month so you can catch any problems with its operation early, before they become problems. A quick check is to lower the door on a 2x4 and see if the garage door opener makes it reverse the direction.

Always put safety first when it comes to installing or using a garage door opener. These devices offer great convenience, but they have been known to cause death or severe injury in children between the ages of 2 and 14. Don't take chances - get your garage opener checked out today.