Hello,

Has anyone here either built or repaired their own overhead garage door?

I've got an 8' X 7' overhead garage door with 4 horizontal sections, the bottom one of which is rotting away. (BTW, there are actually two doors on this garage.)

As a temporary fix, I just tacked some spare scrap boards across the back of the section in question, in order to help keep it square and stop it from racking. It's been holding up so far, but its looks leave a lot to be desired.

I know that the doors can be replaced with steel ones from one of the big box stores for around $300 - $400 each. And I suspect that it would probably cost as much, if not more, to build my own door replacement in Markham. That said, I was wondering if it would be possible to only rebuild the one bottom section for now, until new doors could be afforded. Has anyone here done so or know of any plans available?

I had read somewhere about using 2 X 4 PT wood to make a frame and then routing a groove around the inside to house a plywood panel. Unfortunately, I can't find where I saw that, so I'm looking for some pointers.

Thanks in advance to those who post a reply here.

 

First of all the golden rule is to use your garage door regularly. Our garage doors just love to be opened and closed. Many problems you will see on the forum come from people leaving their garage door in the closed position all the time. Secondly you always need a good strong battery in your remote. So many electrical gremlins can be traced to a battery on its way out. Many people use a battery tender on the remote to keep it in tip top condition. Thirdly, get the codes read. Finally, its your throttle body.

Best of luck and keep us posted.

 

It is also worth noting that when our garage doors are open, that we should use disgression as to when we should go ahead and put them in their service position. I keep a couple of bolts handy for that. Nobody wants a strong puff of wind or a suddenly broken spring to force the door into compromising any components, especially our vulnerable throttle bodies.