garage door broken, loose screws

[swang54]

my garage door just broke after 5 years. the metal piece that's holding the door came off, all three screws was loose, i tried to put them back and found the whole is broken.

what i found is the original installation was wrong, so the bracket was not flat on the door.

i am planning to just move it down about half an inch and re-attach the screws with new holes. it will also place the position correct.

do you guys see any problem with it?

thanks,

S

[HayZee518]

self tapping screws in a metal door can be a problem if the door's counter balance springs are not adjusted properly. the springs allow the door opener to see "zero" weight to operate. try using quarter inch bolts through the door with nuts and lock washers.

[gdoorpro]

Top section reinforcement

The top section needs to be adequitly reinforced. This means an operator bracket that typically goes from top to bottom of door along the center stile (where the hinges are). Over top of that is mounted a strut (aka u-bar, or c-hannel) that goes from left to right side. The strut prevents the top section from bowing and also helps hold the operator plate to the center stile. If you have a steel door, absolutely do not drill though the section with through bolts (It will void any warranty and destroy the section faster).

Merely moving the bracket that mounts to the door will work in the short term, but will probably happan again especially if you have one of the most common type of plain steel doors.

This I might add is the reason paying more for a garage door pays off, as long as you get all the reinforcement along with the door from the dealer. And while installing a door yourself may save you a few hundred dollars. Unless you know what you need, that cheap door from the big box store may not include reinforcement necessary to attach that garage door opener you were planning on reconnecting.

You can find a reputable dealer in many cases at doors.org. Just search for your area code.