Any garage door gurus around here ? Need more space
 

I'm trying (unsuccessfully so far) to find out if there are alternatives to the traditional Overhead garage door system, with the same convenience but not the major inconvenient of taking vertical space!

My problem: I have a garage that is tall enough so that and I could stack cars with one of those stacking lifts (under $2000), which is much cheaper than getting my garage extended and dealing with unreliable contractors, city permits etc...

The overhead garage door rails (and the door itself when opened) are in the way right now, 1/2 of it sitting horizontally above my car. A door that opens outward would not work since you could not park there, obviously. I need a door that either "rolls up" like commercial ones, but does not look like crap (probably a tall order), or maybe the same type of overhead door that we all have, but that goes up vertically on its rails a lot higher than traditional, before it curves horizontally right under the ceiling. Not sure that can be done with the traditional systems ??? Or a plan C, like one that rolls open to a side - but I've never seen one and it might be up to hurricane code and require a floor rail...

Any ideas ?

Get a roll up, something like this.

http://www.americandoorsupply.com/CatalogMenu/RollingDoors/rollingdoors.html

A common solution is to raise the garage door rails to the ceiling. Others back the car onto the lift prior to raising. Then the car hood sits under the raised garage door as opposed the roof of the car (in some cases).

Cool, I did not know you could raise the rails to the ceiling without causing issues...
Rolls ups are great if you live in a warehouse, won;t pass the wife test... Thanks guys.

To clarify, the rails can be raised much closer to the ceiling.

What you need is high-lift tracks for your doors. They will have to change the springs also.

Greg,

Funny you should bring this up. I just got done doing exactly what you are talking about. I purchased a 4 post parking lift and installed it two weeks ago. I have a 3 car garage that is only 2 and 1/2 wide but double deep on one side. It is also heated, so the heather hangs from the ceiling towards the back of the garage. This meant I needed to put the lift towards the front of the garage, and the door was just barley in the way because of beams etc.

I have a friend that works at a very reputable garage door company in Fort Collins, and she came out and took some measurements. My door used to hang almost 3 feet off the ceiling, and had a traditional (loud as hell) opener. They installed new door tracks, springs, and a side mount opener. It is much quieter, and the door is about 3 inches from the ceiling now.

I am very pleased, and is my wife, since she got her inside parking space back.

I have a Volvo XC90, 1966 Mustang, the 911 turbo, a Harley Davidson Electra Glide, and both a Honda CR250R and CRF50F in my 3 car garage, along with a nice big workbench, and all the associated kid stuff as well.

I am off to Home Dept today, to get some additional lighting, as I did I have to take down a light fixture to get the Mustang to the ceiling.

I can give you measurements etc. if you would like, and I will post some pictures this afternoon (I forgot the camera at home).

Bill

I have seen people cut a slot in the ceiling and run the garage door into the attic rather than along the ceiling.

If your trusses are running the right way this is an option as well, although much more expensive. Its a really clean look too.

OK here are some pictures, not the greatest, and I haven't organized anything yet. They were predicting rain, so I just wanted to get everything in the garage.

Before (does a good job showing how low the garage door is from the ceiling):
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1190690264.jpg

After of the Garage Door
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1190690291.jpg

Of the lift
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1190690366.jpg

Lift from the back. The turbo isn't going to be parked all the way under the lift, so I can get the HD out.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1190690418.jpg

The garage full.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1190690449.jpg

B,

how high is your garage ceiling?

I have the side mount doors in my rebuilt house

Available from the local genie rep

My plan (if I can afford it) is to install at least one four post lift. I need to shave off some of my debt before that can happen.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1170906145.jpg

Taht's not what I meant by side mount, but no matter ;-) I now know I can have the tracks raised to the ceiling or even through the ceiling... Now I have to figure out if we can put a wood door to satisfy the Mrs, ir if I'm better off sticking with metal because of hurricane regs... Maybe faux wood finish (but generally fake-wood paint is lame) !

My vote is for a longer door as pictured above with either a side mount or an Idrive system to get rid of the lump in the middle.

http://www.wayne-dalton.com/DirectDrive.asp

I'm going with tall ceilings and an install similar to the pic.

My house was built in the '40's and has a garage door that slides open to the side. No floor rails required....the door hangs from a barn-door-type rail above the door. A couple of 2" dia wheels on the floor guide the door's lower edge and keep it from being pushed inward when closed. I rigged a standard screw-drive opener for opening & closing. My door is solid wood (heavy) but this set-up will allow for just about any type of one-piece door to be used. Obviously, this will only work if you have sufficient room alongside your opening for the door to slide into.

I've also seen a vertically segmented door that opened sideways along a curved track that allowed it to turn 90 degrees and park next to the garage's inside wall when opened. This application works well when the door opening is too close to the side of the garage.

Greg - the issue you will probably have - unless you do it yourself is the windstorm code.

No windows - no wood (at the time of our building there were no wood garage doors that satisfied the wind rating) Steel reinforced.

Anyway - it was frustrating.

Rick, they are 10 feet, but there are a couple of beams that drop down...

Bill