MegaSack DRAW - This year's winner is user - rgwb
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My house has an integrated double garage (I bet you're all swooning with envy), with a Big F-Off up and over door that was installed when the house was built.
You can't see the whole thing, but this is it (with gratuitous retro Lava Dome):
[url= https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7064/7131978029_942365034b.jp g" target="_blank">https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7064/7131978029_942365034b.jp g"/> [/img][/url][url= https://flic.kr/p/bSefAr ]Seven Speed Hero[/url]
It's an old Westland Garador, so is aluminium skinned with sizeable steel bracing across the back. It works on vertical sliders with bloody great concrete counterweights.
Now, I can open this, but Mrs North has no chance. Not only is she not tall enough, but she doesn't have the strength to lift it. So I got to thinking (steady now) that we could keep the door but install an electric opener.
A quick Google shows me [url= http://www.garage-door-automation.co.uk/re-hang-double.htm ]these chaps[/url] but TBH I have no reference as to whether what they propose is the best or even the right way.
Any experiences/suggestions? What sort of price is this endeavour?
(Yes, I am aware of the gunge growing between the block paving, but I blame the previous owners for installing a high maintenance driveway is a north-facing position.)
Oh, that sort of electrifying 🙁
When I read this I thought 'that's a bit of an extreme way to deter thieves' ...
If I were you I'd get a new sectional door. Easy to fit and way more secure than up and overs. Can't see prices on the page you linked to but our single door in basic spec complete with opener, remotes and all was £800 - me and my Dad fitted it in a fairly relaxed afternoon.
Hmm. Don't especially want to replace the door (I understand their security flaws, but the area is v low crime), mainly because there's nothing wrong with it and it's an original feature of the house.
Get a bigger stronger wife?
Lol
Give your wife some kind of stick, or some cord?
Can you get some sort of pneumatic assist (for the door, not your wife) like you get on car boots and bonnets?
Why don't you start with looking at what Garador themselves can do:
[url= https://www.garador.co.uk/garador-range/accessories.aspx ]Garador openers[/url]
No experience myself with them but I do occasionally hear the neighbour shout and swear when his auto one fails to work. He treats the door like it can hear what hes saying. Very amusing!
do the pulleys work freely?
Could you add a bit more weight and fit a chord so she can pull it back down?
Oh yeah.. lube makes a huge difference - far more than you'd imagine. When I lived at home ours went from a thrutch to a finger's worth of effort with some grease.
Now, I can open this, but Mrs North has no chance.
Do you WANT her in the garage? Don't tell me it isn't full of MAN stuff and there is room to park cars in there!
Do you WANT her in the garage? Don't tell me it isn't full of MAN stuff and there is room to park cars in there!
Of course there isn't room for a car in there! Actually, the plan is to make enough room for it to be both [s]the dumping ground it already is[/s] an organised storage solution and parking for a car.
do the pulleys work freely?Could you add a bit more weight and fit a chord so she can pull it back down?
It's pretty free running already. I could fit a cord, but the speed it can gather on the way down makes me (seriously) fearful of the damage it could do. I don't let my 4yo near it when the door's open - it's very heavy.
Can you get some sort of pneumatic assist (for the door, not your wife) like you get on car boots and bonnets?
Dunno. Will Google.
Why don't you start with looking at what Garador themselves can do:Garador openers
There's always one.... 😉
Actually, on second thoughts, this would involve a small key fob. Mrs North would lose that within 30 seconds of it being handed to her.... 🙄
Implant.
On the other hand - Hormann (the suppliers of my door) do keypads for entry too.
[i]It's pretty free running already. I could fit a cord, but the speed it can gather on the way down makes me (seriously) fearful of the damage it could do. I don't let my 4yo near it when the door's open - it's very heavy.
[/i]
This makes me think 'add more weight to the counterweights'; easier up, slower down
Does it even have counterweights? Mine just had a spring loaded pulley that gathered the cable, the drop was against the strength of the spring - its only a single though. Replacing those bits was cheap but took a few hours and a few comedy 'Look, the garage is eating Daddy' moments.
This makes me think 'add more weight to the counterweights'; easier up, slower down
Good thinking.
Does it even have counterweights?
Yep. Gert big lumps of concrete, one still housed in a steel tube and the other swinging free (there evidently wasn't enough room for the weight to run freely, so the tube had been stored for 40 years.... I binned it).
See the weight of the steel tube you binned; add that weight to the counterbalance to bring it back up to design spec. Some clever person will have done some sums on that originally.
Job jobbed
Oh yeah.. lube makes a huge difference - far more than you'd imagine. When I lived at home ours went from a thrutch to a finger's worth of effort with some grease.
Advice for life, really.
See the weight of the steel tube you binned; add that weight to the counterbalance to bring it back up to design spec. Some clever person will have done some sums on that originally.
Nah. It's just a guide to keep the path clear for the weight. The binned tube interfered with the counterbalance (even though the thermalite blocks have been beautifully chased with a profile to match the circumference of the weight).
On the other side there's enough room for the weight to fall and rise within the tube, so it hasn't been touched.
I had the same issue and fitted an electric opener from Screwfix. A Henderson I think for about £150. It was easy to DIY and has been fine for about 7 years