After two years of steady progress, we've rehabbed nearly everything in our rental property except for its garage door and the bathroom cabinets (more on that later). Our tenants think we're just the world's best landlords for upgrading the garage door, but we know that it's living on borrowed time-- and when we sell the place a new door would be a valuable "curb appeal" asset.
The current door is about 16'x7', four plywood sheets on a single wooden frame that pivots up & down on side hinges & springs by the hoist of an electric opener. When it's moving, the bottom of the door swings a foot or two out into the driveway as it pivots. The original motor barely handles the load with its fraying automobile fan belt. None of this is worth saving, let alone recycling.
We want to totally replace the old gear with a modern door that rides on side rails (no pivoting out into the driveway), uses an overhead torsion bar with hoist cables, and has either a chain or a rotating screw driven from a new electric motor. From a brief survey of home-improvement stores, it looks like we can easily find steel or aluminum panels with varying degrees of insulation. We'd go with heavy gauge corrosion-resistant metal, and high-R insulation would be a big help when the setting sun beats on the door. Navajo white or beige finish. Silent operation preferred. Remote controls from vehicles. No windows or fluorishes. We don't want to paint anything, let alone deal with wood. We don't care about rain or cold. No issues with basketballs or wayward vehicles-- that'd be a problem for the new owner. A lock would be nice but not necessary. We're willing to pay for quality but we put more value on engineering and reliability than on décor or fashion.
Has anyone converted from old to new garage doors? Any surprises or things you wish you'd done differently? Any recommendations on finishes, insulation, brands, or models?
The current door is about 16'x7', four plywood sheets on a single wooden frame that pivots up & down on side hinges & springs by the hoist of an electric opener. When it's moving, the bottom of the door swings a foot or two out into the driveway as it pivots. The original motor barely handles the load with its fraying automobile fan belt. None of this is worth saving, let alone recycling.
We want to totally replace the old gear with a modern door that rides on side rails (no pivoting out into the driveway), uses an overhead torsion bar with hoist cables, and has either a chain or a rotating screw driven from a new electric motor. From a brief survey of home-improvement stores, it looks like we can easily find steel or aluminum panels with varying degrees of insulation. We'd go with heavy gauge corrosion-resistant metal, and high-R insulation would be a big help when the setting sun beats on the door. Navajo white or beige finish. Silent operation preferred. Remote controls from vehicles. No windows or fluorishes. We don't want to paint anything, let alone deal with wood. We don't care about rain or cold. No issues with basketballs or wayward vehicles-- that'd be a problem for the new owner. A lock would be nice but not necessary. We're willing to pay for quality but we put more value on engineering and reliability than on décor or fashion.
Has anyone converted from old to new garage doors? Any surprises or things you wish you'd done differently? Any recommendations on finishes, insulation, brands, or models?
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