Garage Door Openers
 

Hi folks,

I'm looking to replace my aging garage door opener that's about 20+ years old. It was installed by the previous owner of the house and I feel that it's time to upgrade/replace it altogether.

Any suggestions on particular brands/makes/models? This is for a single garage only. Don't need anything particularly fancy but should have a good warranty etc. Thanks! :)

If the garage is attached to the house with a room up top, I suggest you go with a belt drive. Otherwise Chamberlain (who also manufactures some house brands) is what me and my relatives use. Not sure about the warranty, or the current quality, but some of the units are going strong after 20+ years.

My unit is only 1/2 horsepower and it works great on our single garage door.

FWIW, a couple of years ago I helped my friend install a new belt drive Chamberlain in his garage, it was a fairly straight forward install.

I was looking at the belt and chain driven motors. Most of the reviews mention if the garage is attached, best to go with belt drive but since my garage is detached, I'll be okay with a chain drive.

The Chamberlain units seem to be sold at most of the hardware stores. Costco's website also sells Chamberlain. Do you recall how long it took for you to install the unit, from start to finish?

If you already have one installed and only have to make slight adjustments to the existing bracketry, it should take under an hour. An extra hand is invaluable.

I've done a bunch of troubleshooting but have reason to believe the logic board or motor is actually on its last legs.

Oh, I meant in terms of installing a new unit in it's place. It shouldn't take long.

Ah, okay! :)

When I helped my friend install his new unit, the brackets were a little different shape and so we needed to make some new holes. He only had a crappy B&D drill so it took us a little longer than expected; otherwise one hour is doable.

Thanks for all the advice, everyone.

Upon closer inspection, I think it may be time to even replace the garage door itself. The garage is about 35 years old and parts of it is rusting. I could replace bits and pieces of it as a temporary measure, but there are some other structural issues at hand I am not comfortable with as the garage door and its opener seemed to have been "ghetto rigged" by our neighbour next door (who did the install before we owned the house.)

I'll be submitting a request for proposal to some contractors to get a better idea of what I can and cannot/should not do. Thanks again!

For jobs I don't diy, I use:
Casp Garage Doors Ltd. | Garage Installation Surrey | Home

^
Yes! Jonas is the shit! You're the 5th person to recommend him! :)

Now I know where to go if I need work done on my garage!

Chamberlain belt drive 1/2 HP.

Home Depot Bellingham has them for about 200$. Locally its almost double the price. Easy to install.

^ A couple of years ago for Father's Day, Home Depot had the 1/2hp Chamberlain on sale for $100 (this was a chain drive). I bought one, as I've never seen them that low and my old Sears unit was dead for a couple years. The unit directly swapped in for the Sears unit - I didn't need to install anything other than the new door sensors (which they all have now for child safety). Took about 20 minutes.

Chamberlain builds openers for many other brands as well, including Sears.

I've got a few contractors coming in over the week for estimates.

I'll follow up with more details. :)

I sent out an RFP to 6 contractors. One pulled a no-show. (Edit: Fuck. I should have been specific - the quotes include a brand new door and opener with labour included.)

5 different quotes. The highest quote was $1700 and change for the higher-end stuff. This company was VERY professional and thorough, but I can't justify the additional cost for such premium products (I know, I know - you get what you pay for.) The other quotes ranged from $1100 to $1400.

Jonas from Casp came out top in terms of price, product, availability and workmanship. Plus he was a personal referral. I think I'll make an appointment with him for next week or so.

Follow-up to come. :)

yeah i was gonna say, that unless you ordered your garage door opener off etsy, and they made it using vintage cappucino parts and recycled roadbikes, you are getting ripped off !

LOL fucking dhillon09 :D

I've only had my place for a little under a year but my rule has been to call 5-6 places, usually 4-5 will show up, then I generally go for the quote in the middle.

Jonas was looking at the garage door opener and says to me, "You know, this thing is older than you. Just sayin'."

:pokerface: :D

The other contractors that showed up made their justifications in terms of costs. Where they fell short was insisting on the up-sell and their transparency in how they operate as a business. Two of them would contract the labour to a third-party and that didn't jive well with me.

I liked that Jonas has a dedicated team and has trained them personally.

Just wanted to follow up on this thread.

The garage door re/re job was performed today by one of Jonas' employees. He gave me a 30 minute courtesy call and arrived on time. Went to the garage and I helped him move a few of our personal belongings around in case it got in his way, then he explained in detail what he was going to do and why. Very thorough and very professional. At the very end, he cleaned up nicely, walked me through the final product and explained the workings of the opener etc.

Fantastic job done. Casp Enterprises - Highly recommended 10/10. Price was difficult to beat for the parts/materials and workmanship. 10 x 7 Steel-Craft T12 garage door with a Liftmaster belt drive (2 remotes and key pad) with new weather stripping and removal/disposal of the old garage - $1249 with taxes included. And this is not a cash deal neither.

Honourable mention goes to JMac Garage Doors in Richmond. The owner, Jim, personally came out to see what the job was about. By far, him and his company were the most professional. I didn't go with him because he offered a top of the line garage door panel and it wouldn't sit well with him if I had gone with something else. It would have cost me another $500 more, but knowing Jim's professionalism, I didn't want to make the compromise with him. If I were to build a new home/laneway house for my own personal use (long term) I would probably go with JMac Garage Doors.

Good to hear everything worked out.

Out of curiosity, why would you go with JMac if it was just a question of door quality? Wouldn't it be the same if CASP did it, just a higher quality door?

Also, when you say new weather stripping, do you mean the one on the bottom or all the way around? If you spend a fair amount of time in there or it's attached to the house, I'd suggest investing in a perimeter seal like this: Comfort Plus | Triple Fin Garage Door Top Seal 10' | Home Depot Canada. I got mine as a kit that does all three sides. They also help keep critters out.

Casp primarly sells Steel-Case, not so much Clopay so their buying power isn't as good as JMac. I'm sure there is an equivalent that Steel-Case offers, however. But hypothetically, if I were to build a brand new home and planned to sell it within 5 years, I would at least have a flashy brochure for the prospective buyers to say "Hey, I picked out a reputable contractor to build this garage."

JMac really invested into a sales and marketing strategy, whereas Casp's businesss is solely through word of mouth/industry connections (nothing wrong with that.) JMac simply provides that "peace of mind" for any prospective home buyer. I didn't feel that paying the extra $500 for a fancy garage door made sense for a 30+ year old home (if you get where I'm coming at.)

As for the weather stripping, it was new all around and at the bottom. I don't spend a fair amount of time in there, aside from wrenching on the Corolla or bike maintenance. It's detached so there's no heating. It was weird - some contractors didn't include the weather stripping in their quotes. They said it would be extra. :fuckthatshit:

ICE BOY,

I just checked the garage again - Jonas actually gave me the perimeter seal! :)

Win!

Haha, sweet, $200 bonus. I paid $120 for each of my 7x9 kits -then there's labour.

Even if it's detached, it'll still keep critters out and make it more comfortable to work in during the cold months. It's amazing how much cold can get in from a few drafts.