Garage door mod

[Busted_D1]

Has anyone here had their garage door on the house raised to allow a lifted truck with racks and lights to pull in so you can work on it?

I have invested a lot of time, money and labor to set up a garage that makes working on all my cars and trucks so much better. I don't want to be stuck working on my truck in the driveway, mostly in the winter. I spent money on a forced air furnace in my garage for a reason.

I have a company coming out next week to give me an estimate to cut out the header and raise it. Then they are going to have to put in a rollup industrial style door, the old style panel type can't be put back due to this big I beam in the middle.

 

[bmxer06pa]

Are tall barn doors not an option? I know the industrial roll up doors are not that aesthetically pleasing or quiet to operate.

 

[greenD1]

I have to air down to about 10 psi to get in. how much do you need?

 

[Busted_D1]

Are tall barn doors not an option? I know the industrial roll up doors are not that aesthetically pleasing or quiet to operate.

I was thinking that too. I'm gonna ask about that style of door too. It's the single door on a three stall garage. The other door will still be the same. I just don't know what would be better if I want to sell this house someday.

I would imagine suburb shoppers wouldn't like the idea of barn style doors. I think they would be way cheaper to put in though.

 

[michaels]

i air down a few pounds. barely fits. no rack though.

 

[Busted_D1]

I have to air down to about 10 psi to get in. how much do you need?

I have about an 1 1/4 inch clearance on stock springs, no rack and 245/70/16s. Sooooo a lot!

 

[Busted_D1]

Maybe a set of Camero donut wheels, that would be damn near free!

 

[knewsom]

I wonder if there's any sort of garage-door opening mechanism that will open your door outwards and up.

 

[kennith]

I've got a 12 foot garage door.

It's a roll-up commercial door, as I live in a commercial building. I have some very important advice for you:

If you get a roll-up door, make sure the indoor side is finished (as might be seen on a conventional garage door), and not just the back of bent sheet metal. There is a good reason for this. Those things catch more dust, dirt and spiders than can possibly be believed.

If it's finished, that won't happen. It will make less noise as well, and move about less in heavy wind. As an added benefit, the finished panels are quite often insulated inside.

It's a big present for yourself, so go all the way. Get panels with a finished back.

As for opening it, the spring and rope pull most come with is very simple and easy to operate. There are automatic mechanisms, but they are expensive. The rope, however, is actually easier to operate than a non-automatic conventional door, so it's not an inconvenience.

Cheers,

Kennith

 

[Busted_D1]

Thanks for all the advice on this. I will keep this thread going during the process so others can use it as what to do... or what not to.

The great thing about it is I haven't had an opener on the single third door for over six years so using the chain like Kennith mentioned will be easy. I sure hope they have finished doors like you said I should get!

I can hear my neighbors now..."Oh god, the hillbilly has a warehouse door on his house!" They can talk shit all they want, I will be the one they come to when the zombies or more likely the Red Chinese invade.

Wolverines!!!

 

[Some Dude]

Man, what I would give to be able to park in the garage again... At least I've got one at work.

 

[Ballah06]

Thanks for all the advice on this. I will keep this thread going during the process so others can use it as what to do... or what not to.

The great thing about it is I haven't had an opener on the single third door for over six years so using the chain like Kennith mentioned will be easy. I sure hope they have finished doors like you said I should get!

I can hear my neighbors now..."Oh god, the hillbilly has a warehouse door on his house!" They can talk shit all they want, I will be the one they come to when the zombies or more likely the Red Chinese invade.

Wolverines!!!

Duuude, just paint/put a sticker of a Rover mural on the face of the door, which looks as if the vehicle is parked in the garage...

http://thechive.com/2009/07/15/funny-garage-door-mural-stickers/

I would say go with #10 to prevent any "questions"....

 

[Busted_D1]

I would love to put one of those up. My favorite was the underground garage.

So my door guy came today to look at what could be done. I have been fearing the quote on this for like 6 years. This was the first quote I have gotten for a big ticket item that didn't make me want to tell the guy to leave as there would be no further need for his service.

To remove the old door, cut the header out and raise it 2 feet (it is now a 7' header) then install a non motorized rollup door was under $2500.00. We are looking at insulated polymer doors as well as steel.

My excitement was short lived though as he did mention that H.O.A.s hate these kinda modifications to the front of a house. I swear if some little HOA bastard that grew up getting his ass kicked at recess and is now taking his revenge out on the world is only reason I can't have my dream door I'm gonna go ape shit!

 

[GYM]

My excitement was short lived though as he did mention that H.O.A.s hate these kinda modifications to the front of a house. I swear if some little HOA bastard that grew up getting his ass kicked at recess and is now taking his revenge out on the world is only reason I can't have my dream door I'm gonna go ape shit!

Not trying to downplay your accurate concern about the pain-in-the-ass nature of HOA's; but don't they have a process for reviewing proposed property improvements?

A guy in the development I am in was able to modify one of his garage doors to accomodate a diesel pusher motor home. The HOA simply wanted to ensure that the work was done in a manner that stayed true to the original style of the home as closely as possible. He painted the bottom 2/3rds of the new garage door to match the color (and height line) of the remaining regular garage door and the top 1/3rd of the new door was painted the same color as the rest of the house. He maintained the integrity of the original lines and nobody bitched about it. It actually looks good, IMO.

 

[az_max]

If you would have said it was an HOA controlled development, I would have given you a quick answer of "NO". I've never met an HOA that will approve changes to their perfect utopian society.

 

[Busted_D1]

Nice. Maybe I will get lucky and get the approval by doing something like that. I don't really care about the extra work to get it to pass. (I get the Disco to pass emissions every two years).

Our HOA bastards even give out fines for oil stains, even faded ones, on the driveway. How much hell has that been? I'm pretty sure I'm paying the salary of least two employees at the Tidy Cat head office!

 

[knewsom]

Fuck HOAs.

 

[Some Dude]

Fuck HOAs.

Indeed. I'll take my no-HOA neighborhood and all the cars parked willy-nilly up and down the street over that kind of dictatorship any day.

 

[Ballah06]

Indeed. I'll take my no-HOA neighborhood and all the cars parked willy-nilly up and down the street over that kind of dictatorship any day.

x2, except my neighborhs park their cars in their front yards.... Somehow there is a tendency to leave everything you own on display in the front yard...

 

[Errant]

Thanks for posting up your estimate. I've always been curious. More so with the new house, as it USED to have a taller door. I can see where the old tracks were hung, and where the opening had been dropped lower. Who would do such a thing??