any new install auto garage door tips?

[charleskieffner]

yep today is the day i receive instant spendy gratification. been dealing with the same crap manual garage door for 27 years now! pain in the butt. dust comes in, rattlesnakes scorpions meeeezzez,rats walapai tigers etc.

been spending my 50th summer in hell sweating profusely while stucco patching all (3) buildings,painting same with big buck dunn edwards paint, building doors,rebuilding interior framework on (1) building to house (7) vintage spendy dirty bikes and a quad, replacing doors, new roof on (1) building, adding security doors, updating swamp coolers, new thresholds, wasting old tools and buying new all the while making the lowes racing teams bank acct. soar and general LIFE CLEANUP of all the crap i dont use landing into the dumpster. so much so i have had to call waste mgmt to come and dump dumpster earlier than normal on a number of occasions.

and a FRICKING NEW HIGH BUCK OFFEN(wolfgang puck) convection oven for girlfriend.

my beer expense has skyrocketed! obvious minimal puter time here!

so my question as we install a 16 x 7 door that we finished wiring for tuesday night..............any tips on security?????? things to look for on install???? things to avoid!

all i know is by tonight there had better be a lil clicker in my p-car when i pull up to the BAT CAVE and this damn door better go UP and better go DOWN when ordered to do so!

went with reliabuilt door from lowes in stock with praire windows(had to have ambient light), chamberlin 3/4 horse full race opener with lazer beam, belt driven, lifetime warranty on mtr, 10 yr warranty on belt. belt simple to install, 3 clickers, exterior keypad, interior switch with 200 watt light. new header to be installed along with new 2x6 beams on sides. obvious drywall repairs to do also.

[Danny_Ocean]

Originally Posted by charleskieffner

...any tips on security??????

I installed automatic door locks on one of my garage doors. These are solenoid/spring controlled locks that bolt the door shut (at the side rails) when it's closed. When you click the opener the locks retract and door opens normally. These prevent someone from prying open your door from outside with a long prybar or a car jack.

They are expensive new, but if you look on E-Bay, you'll find a used set eventually. That's where I found mine.

On my shop door (steel rollup), I use a bolt/padlock at the bottom and trailer hitch pins in the rails.

[3.2 CAB]

Be sure to install the security and protection devices that will reverse the door it something breaks the "beam" in the "photo sensors" that mount on the bottoms on both sides. Hopefully it has them, being it is required by law, to have these safety features, and they do work for their intended purpose.
There is also a manual release feature, that can be added to just about any door system, to allow for opening of the door from the outside, when there is a power failure, or circuit tripped. It allows you to be able to access the door/lifter release feature from the outside, in the event of power failures.

[rusnak]

hang a tennis ball from the ceiling on g friend's side of the garage, so she knows to stop when it hits the windshield, ha ha

change the factory settings on the remote too, so you have a more secure freq.

[cgarr]

Don't drink until the door is up!

[TerryH]

The door I bought, came with an opener and an installer. One stop shopping.

[dad911]

If the ceiling is high enough for a future lift (over 10'-6") get high tracks.

And torsion springs instead of coil springs.

[charleskieffner]

hey thanks for the tips. install went fairly smooth. new header was needed for TORSION BAR springs. everything went pretty smooth. about 4 hour install while 111 degrees out. beers broken out for celebratory door opening /closing.

inside open/shut switch has neat photo eye that detects any movement and switches lights on automatically. also has lock out switch. found out the BEST ANTI THEFT DRILL is to UNPLUG UNIT and ADD A PAIR OF FLOURESCENT ORANGE VISE GRIPS(so you can see 'em) to rails when going away for any period of time. also take emergency rope and shorten to about 3" WITHOUT A LOOP so bad hombres cant break window and use coat hanger to release mechanizm.

geeeez im showing my age when i get a WOODY over a stupid freeking garage door! but all kidding aside the ambient light and the added space make the garage into a whole new room that now isnt a condo for the dezerts creepy crawlies and a receptecle for a the dezerts freeking DUST being dumped onto my p-car.

total cost about $1400 bucks. plus beer.

caulked exterior with textured stucco caulk all around top and sides and this morning at 430am pulled 3m blue tape off to a TOTALLY SEALED EXTERIOR!!!!! YES!

just vizualize a totally bent/dented/pellet/BB holes manual door that had been repainted umpteen times over the last 27 years with saggy springs and sunlight coming thru top/bottom/sides along with critters and dust and rain. should have done this improvement years ago. money well spent!

[billybek]

I installed a wall switch to break power to the plug for the opener. Mounted it kind of out of the way. Turn it off as long as the car is in the garage, only left on while out for a drive.
Locking off on the rails is a great idea too!

[charleskieffner]

being an avid fanatical reader of all sorts of magazines books internet newspapers , if ya read the CRIME REPORTS for burglaries YOU WILL BE AMAZED at how many burglaries of garages are committed. pretty obvious that everyjuan keeps all their tools/camping gear/car parts / ammo/etc. in their garage. all easily fenceable items and VERY ATTRACTIVE TO BAD HOMBRES!

cant count how many burglaries committed in local cookie cutter subdivisions(sea of red tile roofs and stucco exteriors) that happen around here. thats why i asked about security angle.

if you have to have ambient light like myself and opt for windows, you need to cut safety cord to 3 inches and not leave a loop for bad guy to break glass and use coat hanger to release mechanism to open garage.

disconect power cord and use BRIGHT ORANGE VISE GRIPS OR SCREWDRIVERS to pin/clamp rails so door cant move. orange to remind you to REMOVE them before you hit clicker button and completely BOFFO entire door by movement against screwdrivers or visegrips.

going to tint all windows so interior cannot be seen.

[3.2 CAB]

Charles, the windows were not even considered for my new garage, when I built it. It has doors on each side of it, in case I need to drive through, while pulling something that is DOA into the shop. My doors do not have windows. I have several, dual lamp, 8' long fluorescent fixtures suspended from the ceiling if I am working at night, or if I am painting or doing bodywork(lot of light needed) plus the same type of lights mounted on the sides, about 1' off of the slab, so I get really nice lighting, to see the wheel wells and rockers when painting or bodywork. But NO windows, anywhere. If I am doing work during the day, when both doors are opened, there is as much light as is needed, without turning on any lights. The new garage, is free standing, with the doors facing due north and south, so plenty of light will enter through the door openings when raised, so will plenty of fresh air. I have the openers on both doors, so I can stop the doors at any position I wish, and the security and protection devices are also installed(photo-cells) Good luck!! Tony.