House Hacking Project: Garage Door Tips

The garage: a boon; a bane; parking and storage one in the same. We love our garages here in San Diego. One of the most important features of the garage is the main door itself. Without it, we couldn’t park or store anything inside easily. They provide years of painless service. That can be a shot in the foot though when that faithful service is interrupted by a broken spring or faulty door opener.
Roll up garage doors have been replacing old style “tilt up” models for at least a decade. One of the main features of a roll up door is the torsion spring assembly. Doors gain moisture over time, and torsion springs fatigue. It is sometimes necessary to adjust the spring tension, which happens to be a very easy task with the right tools. Needed are a ladder, 1/4″ wrench or cresent, and torsion spring tool bars.

One of two bars used to tighten the torsion spring. Adding 1/2 to 3/4 turn can make a large improvement in your garage operation. Saved us $700 a service provider was trying to upsell! DIY’s abound online from this simple operation to completely rebuilding the entire mechanism with new parts.
Another add on that can be done for security is to add locking latches. These can come in very handy if the opener breaks, and you need to secure the door closed. They can be ordered online in the $10 range.

Latch open, they don’t interfere with normal operation. They can be installed either side or both for extra strength.

Latch engaged. You can add a lock if desired to prevent operation on an extended vacation for example.
Changing gears completely now. Did you know that certain models of garage door openers can be equipped with a battery backup for operation in a blackout? A really cool feature! Here is one in action (unplugged for dramatic effect):

If that isn’t cool I don’t know what is! Here is a Google search of models.
If you have any questions, post a comment, send a text to (760) 814-1850 or email info@1850realty.com