The electric garage door: 5 tips for installation

Your garage door opening and closing on its own is a serious luxury. If yourself or a family member is dealing with reduced mobility, or if you’re just sick of opening and closing the door every time you leave your house or return home, it's recommended that you install an electric garage door.

Not only will having a garage door that opens automatically make your life increasingly easier, the installation process itself is not too, too difficult. However, as with any renovation project, there are rules to follow. So, if you’re curious to know the steps to take this project on, read on for the important information!

The electric garage door: 5 tips for installation!

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1- Carefully follow instructions

This may seem like an obvious suggestion, but carefully following instructions can save an undeniable amount of hassle when it comes to this project. It’s worth mentioning that garage door installation is not a simple task. Not only is the door itself exceptionally heavy, but this project requires a slight effort in the realm of mechanical skills. Further, dealing with the door springs is a real hassle, and installing the strings themselves can be quite dangerous. This is why it is paramount for you to carefully follow the manufacturer's instructions regardless of your level of expertise.

Your garage door installation kit should come with comprehensive and detailed instructions that will go over the safest and more efficient way to install the door. A common issue when it comes to this type of DIY installation is binding, which is when the tracks which carry the door begin to show signs of wear. As a result, the door will bind during the opening and closing process. This is generally due to improper installation, and one of the main reasons why instructions need to be followed to a tee.

2- Make sure all parts of your garage door kit work

This tip runs in tandem with our first one, as it's important for one to be completed alongside the other. We are recommending that you carefully read the instructions over in full at least once before starting, then we suggest checking out each individual piece to make sure it’s in good working order. This is especially true if you aren’t installing a new door altogether, but are instead replacing a broken part or two.  

As mentioned, there are several sensitive, moving parts in an electric garage door. The ones we're suggesting you look out for are rollers and brackets, as well as the aforementioned springs. If you’re simply replacing worn down rollers, we are recommending nylon rollers over steel. Although they are more expensive, they operate more efficiently as well as being quieter. Another piece to check is the torsion spring. If it’s broken or damaged, you’ll notice a gap between the coils. Unfortunately, replacing a broken spring should be left up to the professionals and in this case, get in touch with a trusted contractor.

3- Be certain that the door is balanced

If you’re working your way through the installation of a new garage door, or you’re replacing parts on an old one, you’ll come to a point in the process where you'll need to make sure the door is level. If the door is already on the tracks, you can check it by simply pulling it up halfway and letting it go. If you find it moves out of place on its own instead of remaining caught, this means the torsion spring is in the wrong place or has deteriorated. As mentioned, this is a crucial piece in how well your garage door functions. Adjusting the spring is quite a dangerous job and thus, we are suggesting that you do not do it yourself.

4- Your garage door opener matters

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Although a specific opener will likely come in your garage door kit, if you are replacing the opener alone you’ll need to choose the right one for the size of the door. If you’re working with a double door, go with a ½ or ¾ hp, while a single garage door should probably stick with a ½ hp. Openers come in three different drive types and these are: chain, belt or screw. Chain drives are the least expensive, and are exactly as they sound; a long chain that works to pull open the door. Screw drives are a long threaded rod that works by driving a mechanism which opens and closes the door.

These will be priced at the mid-range and require less maintenance than the other options listed. Lastly, there is the belt drive which is a rubber belt working to open and close the door. They are ideal if you have a room above your garage, as they make the least amount of noise. With that in mind, they are also the most expensive. If you’re not too sure which one would be best for your garage, ask an expert before buying!

5- Equipment for proper installation not included

Now, you could buy a garage door kit and think everything is included when in fact, some fundamental pieces for the installation process may be missing or not up to par. Sometimes, this is the case with the mounting straps as well as an actual piece of equipment to hold the door up during the difficult parts of the installation.

In place of the mounting straps that will be included in your kit, we recommend purchasing an angle iron from your local hardware store. This might be an extra expense initially, but it will help to provide a stronger source of support for your garage door while also reducing vibration in the door movements. This reduction of vibrations works to extend the lifespan of your garage door. Install the angle iron in place of the mounting straps, while diligently following the instructions.

Another tip is having a ladder on hand to hold up the opener during the installation process. This will help you to take any measurements, which will be especially important when working with the angle iron. Find a ladder tall enough to complete this process, or stack boards underneath to hold the opener in place. This will make it much easier to align the opener with the centre of the door.