Garage Door Removal

RobS · Mar 10, 2002

Hey gang, need some advice...

I need to replace the garage door on our house before we sell. It's pretty rotten and generally sad looking. I can save over $200 by doing it myself and being the handy type I'm going to give it a shot. My only concern is the existing door has torsion springs and I've heard they can be very dangerous. The replacement door has torsions with an EZ adjust mechanism making it a lot safer.

Here's my thoughts on removal: I checked yesterday with the door all the way up there doesn't seem to be too much load in the springs. I figure I can use my FEL (thus tractor project /w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif) to hold the door up and disconnect the cables by grabbing the torsion axle with a vice grip and and relaxing the cable load. Once the door is free, I'll use the FEL to lower (I already know it's very heavy from a previous broken spring). Remove door sections then all the hardware. I picked up a length of 1/2 inch rod and cut two 18 inch bars to work with the springs. I could release the tension with the door down, but that's where I get a bit uneasy.

Anyone done this before? Any suggestions? Thanks ahead of time /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Robert_in_NY · Mar 10, 2002

Unwinding the torsion springs is easier then winding, I would keep the door down and use the rods to unwind it. You have to use vice grips to hook the rod the spring is on and let the vice grips press against the wall so that the main rod won't turn any when you loosen the screws to unwing the spring. Just make sure your rods are in all the way before you take the other rod out, also you may want to shorten the rods to 12", if you were to loose your grip on the rod when you start 18" will clock you something fierce whereas 12" has a good chance to miss you. Worse comes to worse hook a chain to the spring and hook the other end to the tractor and drive away and don't look back till the next day./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif

JJT · Mar 10, 2002

You'll need 2 guys and 2 steel rods 36" long to unwind the spring. Insert a bar, brace it against the wall and have the other guy loosen the bolts locking the tension bar. I wouldn't trust an 18" pc of steel, you might not have enough leverage to prevent the spring from throwing you and the steel bar. Expect to spend a full day doing a dissassembly and assembly if there is a garage door opener in the picture, knock off a couple of hours if it's a manual opener. $200 for a pro to do it sounds like a bargain. I installed my 2 12x8's in a weekend with a part time buddy to lift and set the higher panels.

Robert_in_NY · Mar 10, 2002

We have never had any problems with using 12" rods, too big of a rod can get in the way especially if you have a low ceiling. Rob, it is easier to just let someone else do it and for $200 it would probally be easier then risking injury if you do not know what you are doing. We do quite a few of these units and we still have to be extremly carefull around the springs as just one slip is all it takes.

patrickg · Mar 10, 2002

I have a friend who has a very nasty ding in his concrete garage floor where one of his tightening rods hit when it got away from him. This is a pretty savy guy who can do most anything mechanical but "stuff" happens. If it had been his head he would have been dead. Any body part contacted would have been mangled, perhaps beyond repair. If you have any body parts that you have become fond of using and would like to continue, then proceed with great care, either to the phone to call for help or call a trusted buddy to help.

I watched the installer put a door on my mom's new garage. Piece of cake for him working alone. Been doing it for years. Watched a repair guy work on both my shop doors (14x14), piece of cake, over 10 years experience doing it over and over. They both said that once in a while something gets away from them and makes their life too thrilling for a bit.

Patrick

Bird · Mar 10, 2002

RobS, all good advice I suppose; perhaps Patrick's is best. I've installed garage doors and door openers, and repaired a few. And for that very reason, there's just no way I could tell tell you how to do it with just written or oral instructions without showing you on the specific type of door you are going to work with; just too dangerous and I'm afraid there might be something I'd miss or that might be misunderstood. If you are going to do it yourself, the new one should come with written instructions and illustrations. READ CAREFULLY.

ronjhall · Mar 10, 2002

Rob
I have never removed a garage door. But, I have a fiend that is off on medical leave for the 4th time in 2 years because of an accident while repairing a garage door. The cable came loose from door and hit him in the forehead. He was out of work from the original injury for 3 months. The other 3 times is for the follow up surgery. My best advice is, be very careful. There have been many injuries from accidents while working on garage doors.

LGinIA · Mar 10, 2002

I recently had a "professional" garage door repairman replace a spring for me. Although this gentleman had many years of experience, he had the rod swing and hit him in the mouth breaking a tooth off. He told me that this repair should never be handled by an inexperienced homeowner as too many are injured. Its worth the labor charge to hire a professional and avoid an injury or spend the extra hours trying to repair a faulty installation. Good luck and be careful.

bgott · Mar 11, 2002

Down here in Texas we have " Icehouses". They're basically a garage with ice chests to keep the beer cold. One of them that I used to frequent had a door that would spit the cable occationally. I've fixed it a few times three quarters drunk with a tire iron and a pipe wrench.

GlueGuy · Mar 12, 2002

I unwound the springs on a double garage door several years ago when we had to replace the beam over the door. The original beam had a big 'ol knot in it dead center on the bottom, and it had 1.5" sag in it. Bids from contractors to do the job STARTED at $3600. I figured I could do it cheaper (and I did, cost $150 including the new beam and pack of new blades for my brother-in-law's sawzall.)

We (1) unwound the springs, (2) removed the door sections one at a time, (3) replaced the beam, (4) reversed the process.

To unwind the springs, I got two rods, 24" long each. The tricky parts are:

1. inserting the rods ALL the way
2. never take pressure off the rod that's holding the spring
3. Loosening/tightening the set screws while observing #2

All that said, I would pay somebody the $200 to do it. That's darn cheap considering the hazard involved.