Outdoor Projects

Replacing the Garage Door

Replacing the garage door is not something we wanted to DIY. We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door for a few reasons…

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

When we moved into the house, we knew we would eventually have to replace the old garage door that was there before.  In fact, the opener didn’t work, and there was a lot of damage to the exterior frame, and some weather-stripping was missing (all which was brought up in our home inspection).  For a while, we just opened the door manually every time we needed to get in (at the time I wasn’t parking my car in there, so we didn’t need to open the door too often); but that was a hassle since the door was heavy, and was one of those non-folded ones (ie the whole thing is one solid piece of metal).  Thankfully, the Husband’s grandparents gave us their old door opener, so we were able to install it and use the door properly (and by we, I mean he, the Husband, installed it).  That worked for a long time, until a couple of weeks ago when the garage door broke and we needed to have it replaced… soon (considering it was the middle of winter and we could no longer close it, which left all our stuff exposed).

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter! We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter! We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter! We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

We are planning on doing some updates and renovations to our yard and exterior this summer, but the broken garage door needed to be addressed right away.  We weren’t that picky about the type of door, we just wanted something white, cheap, well insulated and had the proper weather-stripping and such.  I got quotes from three different companies in the area, and they all seemed to be a similar price; so we decided to go with the guy who came to our house to measure the door and assess the damage (the others gave quotes over the phone or through email).  He was also had a door in stock and was able to come and fix the door a couple of days later – we definitely didn’t want to have our door open for weeks.

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

These photos (above and below) show the damage the old door caused each time it was opened, because it kept rubbing against the frame.

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

Now, let me tell you, I have no idea how the door broke when and how it did.  Well, other than the fact that it was very old and heavy, so the weight eventually gave in and broke.  Basically, I was closing the door on my way to work one morning, and the left side fell/broke off the tracks, which then caused the metal door to contort and twist (because it was still trying to move and close but it couldn’t).  Because the track broke, we weren’t able to close the door and had to leave it open, hanging there for about a week.

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

This is where the track broke off the frame (above), and here is where the door fell off the tracks (below)

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

The door was still attached on the right side, which caused it to twist around and contort the metal construction.

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

The Husband was definitely amazed/impressed (well, not impressed) at how the door had broken.  He didn’t understand when I called him and said “I broke the garage door” until he actually saw the damage.  He thought I meant that the opener had broken, and that we just needed to get a new one.  No no, the door was literally broken.

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

So the guy came in, removed and installed the new door in a few hours (all by himself too apparently, don’t ask me how!).  And our old door is now just a pile of scrap metal.  I should also mention that a while ago the Husband was doing an oil change on his truck, and he left the oil in a bucket in the garage.  Which is fine, except that when the garage door had closed, it knocked the bucket over causing a huge oil spill mess in the garage.  We were able to clean the floor properly, but the oil had wicked up onto the garage door and there was a permanent oil spill/stain along the bottom 4-6 inches of the door (which was also a hassle when we had to open it manually, because your hands would get oily when you had to open and close the door).

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

Anyways, the new door was installed with the proper weather-stripping, and it looks great!  It’s also insulated properly (not just a 1 foot x 4 feet random section of foam, like the old door) and I can say, helps to keep the garage about 10 to 15 degrees Celsius warmer than the outside (judging by my car’s thermometer of course).

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

There is still the original damage left to the frame, which we will be able to fix when it’s warmer outside (yes, it’s still -20°C outside everyday for some reason… even though it’s almost March), but a lot of the new weather-strip covers it up.  Apparently you can get some sort of cap installed to cover up and protect the wood on the sides and top, but for now we will just plan on patching up and painting the damaged spots.

We had to call in a professional to remove and replace our garage door... this was not a DIY project for the middle of winter!

So thankfully, the door is fixed, works and all is well!  But doing this project has gotten me antsy to plan and actually start our other outdoor projects (along with fixing the frame of course).  We just have to wait for all this snow to melt and the temperature to warm up… so until then!

replacing-the-garage-door

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2 Comments

  • Reply
    J-François Morin
    September 23, 2015 at 11:30 am

    Hi Nicole,
    Just curious to know who made the installation of your new garage door? Seems to be a GARAGA door, but not sure at 100%.
    J-F
    Mkt Dept @ Garaga.com

    • Reply
      Nicole
      September 23, 2015 at 7:02 pm

      Actually, it is a GARAGA door! And it was installed by a local company here

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