Combining panels to make tall door??

[Robster2u]

I am in the process of closing in my newly built garage. I need a 12' wide by 14' high door. Due to a small budget, I am looking at building my own garage door. I can buy used garage doors pretty cheaply. Main question is, can I combine panels to make a tall door? If so, what kind of spring system would I need? Would a heavy duty garage door opener travel the full cycle to open that tall of a door?

Thanks for the help!

Rob

[mrcaptainbob]

Garage door..

Yep. You sure can combine panels. But....check out the hinges on any existing roll up door. They progressively stand out further from the door panel on each panel nearing the top. That makes it necessary to have the door track at an angle away from the garage door frame. This allows it to break free almost instantly and track away from the door frame. As for spring, it has to be sized to the wight of the door as one would expect. Weigh each panel, then weigh the hardware and add them all up. The springs are based on the weight and also the number of cycles of opening/closing. All the hardware is available at HD and I believe they have the program there to figure which springs you would need. There are many differences in wire gauge, spring length as well as diameter. Even the material is an issue. They come in ranges to accommodate cycles in the tens of thousands, from less than 50K to well over 150K. A word of caution on those springs: if you've never worked on them before, they are VERY dangerous! Winding them up to tension is not all that difficult, but be REAL cautious!

[stampdoorparts]

When you make a taller door you need extra/different:

-rollers
-hinges
-springs
-cables
-operator rail size (if you have an opener on it)
-drums (possibly)
-track (horizontals /verticals)

It is often times cheaper to just buy a completely new door and try to sell the existing door off as a scratch and dent. Keep this in mind...

Mike
Stamps Garage Doors
Garage Door Parts