Garage door buckling

[annieo05]

Our old garage door buckled and broke, so we just bought a new one and installed it ourselves. Now the top panel is buckling under the door opener... help!

[Phelps]

Before yo do anything, make sure that the problem is a result of the opener itself and not due to a hangup in the travel of the door when it gets near the bottom. Disconnect the opener and operate the garage door by hand to make sure the door operates smoothly and feels balanced. A properly balanced garage door should remain in the half opened/half closed position all by itself without trying to fall or rise by itself. If THIS is in order, rehook up the garage door openers 'arm' to the garage door and proceed with what I say next:

Don't you have a newer style auto garage door opener with a safety sensor that will prevent crushing? They are supposed to retract automaticaly before some little kid's head gets crushed, for example.

Even if your 'sensitivity' setting on the garage door opener, is set to minimum sensitivity, it still should STILL not be crushing the door.

But, before giving up hope on this opener, first look for the control for sensitivity on the opener (it will be on one of the sides or bottom where you can see it), and try turning the knob in the direction of "increase sensitivity", and see what happens. It may also be listed as " up force" on one knob and "down force" on another knob, and you turn these in the appropriate directions as they will either list escalating numbers or show a widening arrow band. You are interested in the "down force" one.)

Garage door openers also have an 'up travel' and a 'down travel' adjustment knobs. You should also try to turn the down travel knob so that you get it to where the door won't even close all the way. Then adjust the knob so that it hits just enough to squish down the door bottom weatherseal a little bit. You actually should try to make this adjustment before you even do the sensitivity adjustment.

[HayZee518]

Your problem says the door is buckling. check that the tracks are the same parallel throughout their travel - the tracks have to be parallel from the ground up over head. if they move inward your gonna get bound up or buckle the panels

[gotmick]

Get a top strut

Some cheap metal garage doors don't come with a strut (A V-shaped bar that spans the width at the top of the door). This would cause it too buckle with an opener. You should be able to find one sold separately.

[reLAXer]

I had to take off the top strut to allow clearance for the opener arm/bracket. Now, about 18 months later, the top panel has buckled. Any suggestions?

[pushkins]

The openers "arm bracket" that is mounted to the door itself mount UNDER the top strut.

If this cannot be done then they sell a longer bracket that bolts onto the bottom of the top panel and under the top strut at the top, you then pick a hole to mount the closers arm to.

[gdoorpro]

Do It yourself door openers.

The top section of a garage door should not buckle with adequete installation. Sure a homeowner can get a garage door operator at any of the big box stores and install it himself and save $150.

I actually don't have a problem with this either beacause I get calls all the time to fix problems that developed after a homeowner install. But free of charge on this site here we go.

Pitfalls of door opener installations by do-it-yourselfers.


1. Top section not adequetely reinforced. Depending on make and model of door (cheap house usually = cheap door, but don't count yourself lucky with an expensive house as builders like to skimp on garage doors and openers because that is not as important as living space)

To do this there should be a strut at the top to the section and a operator plate of some sort that goes undrneath strut, and overtop of the doors existing center stile (found in line with center hinges).

2. Do not install the opener any higher than one inch above peak of door travel in the radius of the track, and an inch above the door at open position. This does not always mean the operator rail will be level, in fact in most cases the motor will be lower than the rail attached to the wall/header.

the track for the door however should be level or slightly uphill. If it is going downhill this will strain the door and eventually wear out the top section and possibly other sections as well.

3. Do not use the supports in the box to backhang the opener. They are cheap and just not rigid enough. No respectable garage door company would use them, why should you. You should have one brace from the cieling on both sides of your operator and another one that runs diagonally to prevent sway left or right.

4. When attaching the arm to the door it should not be at a 45degree angle, but almost straight up and down, though not completey verticle (5-10degrees is plenty) depending on the track used a longer arm is usually not a good thing.

I can be reach via email, write with questions

Ryan