Garage door opener / no clearance!?

SHINTON

SHINTON

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 17, 2005
Location
Triad area of NC
Ok, so I was about half way through the assembly of my fancy new garage door opener when we get to the part where you install the mount above the door, "approx 2" higher than highest point door reaches..." or something to that effect. Naturally THIS is now the time to look at the door itself and consider whether or not this will actually fit / work right!?

SIGH...

Ok, so a nice tall door, I am guessing 7' or so, maybe even a bit more, and turns out the rails are built right up 'flush' against the joists in my barn! I got up to look and there is little to NO actual room for this bracket!?

The bar running across the door that has the spring on it is exactly where my bracket would need to do, and there is no room 'above' that bar/spring... I am guessing you cannot mount slightly to right or left because then the tension / pull is not exactly in the middle, liable to pull it off track or something.

I thought I would send a few pictures, see if there was any thoughts from the collective here, I don't want to notch the joists, thinking now this overhead style is just not going to work? Naturally I had JUST finished the step where it snaps the spring for tension on the belt..so I cannot just unassemble this whole thing now and take it back to Lowes either!? Anyone in Walkertown / Triad area want to buy this system, I just paid $269 at Lowes, very nice.

Take a look, maybe you know something I don't. Have any of you used the side mounted style of garage door openers?

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I think you're fine. Just fasten the track directly to your crossmembers and you'll be alright. No need to bring it directly against the springs, the piece that slides in the track doesn't go all the way to the door anyway.

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Edit : I like the video posted above.
 
SHINTON said:
Ok that is pretty ingenious, I can see that working, basically mount the bracket behind the spring on the underside of joist instead and essentially make a longer J bracket to the door itself.
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All the rest of the hardware is off-the-shelf it looks like; the hinged roller brackets on the top section are from a flush mount kicker kit. If you want add wood siding or whatever on your garage door, those are the brackets to use to make the extra thickness clear the door opening.

Actually, you already have kicker tracks on your door, so that's already a low headroom track kit.

It's really hard to tell how far out that beam is from the door header, but if there's enough of a gap between the two then a jackshaft opener may be a really good solution. I think that may be the "side mounted" type you're talking about.

I think those are the two solutions: If they're really close together, the offset arm on a standard opener may work if you mount the end of the track to the beam and then make the bracket arm longer. If they're father apart, a jackshaft opener may fit.
 
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Hmm. Apparently it is possible to reverse the curved and straight sections of the bracket arm, to get the track really close to the door presumably.

https://www.dasma.com/PDF/Publications/TechDataSheets/CommercialResidential/TDS166.pdf

Also, if you want to buy a Sommer EVO+ opener, they have a side mount track kit for it. The Sommer stuff is pretty nice (full of German-ness) and is a direct drive setup where the motor moves along the track instead of driving a chain/belt/screw.
Side Mount Kit
I'm likely going to have one with that side mount track, but mounted on the wall instead for a different type of door.
They also have cool things like optional double-lock pins that are solenoid operated. Sommer's US HQ is in Charlotte.
 
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Seems more options have come along, from when I mounted my first one. I Did notch my open joist, but it was like 3/4 ". Redrilled a hole in the J bar, & it worked fine. When I had my doors installed at my present house, I asked about the sidewinders. Installer assured me I didn't need them or wanted to know the Cost of them!
 
rodney eppes said:
Seems more options have come along, from when I mounted my first one. I Did notch my open joist, but it was like 3/4 ". Redrilled a hole in the J bar, & it worked fine. When I had my doors installed at my present house, I asked about the sidewinders. Installer assured me I didn't need them or wanted to know the Cost of them!
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The nice Liftmaster 8500 jackscrew openers are about $350, so they're expensive compared to a normal-ish residential opener but still a cheap solution to a problem.
 
I will never have another kind of garage door opener. These are well worth the money. Plus, liftmaster makes automatic garage door locks that work with the openers.

BTW, you can find these cheaper online than most garage door companys can buy them for. Thats why they never recommend them.
 
NCJeeplover said:
I will never have another kind of garage door opener. These are well worth the money. Plus, liftmaster makes automatic garage door locks that work with the openers.

BTW, you can find these cheaper online than most garage door companys can buy them for. Thats why they never recommend them.
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I feel like I am missing some info in this post?
 
NCJeeplover said:
I will never have another kind of garage door opener. These are well worth the money. Plus, liftmaster makes automatic garage door locks that work with the openers.

BTW, you can find these cheaper online than most garage door companys can buy them for. Thats why they never recommend them.
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liftmaster 8500 or the evo+?
 
jeepyjman said:
liftmaster 8500 or the evo+?
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I think the Liftmaster, from the context of the other posts.

I doubt most door companies have heard of the EVO+, because it's not a common product in this country compared to Chamberlain, Liftmaster, Genie, etc. Although, some company named Edison is selling the EVO+ as a sliding barn door opener without actually saying what it is (it's easy to spot).
 
I have an ancient Genie mounted to the garage door in my basement .... probably original to the house, so here when I bought it.
The rail is mounted directly to the floor joists, so it is just like you would have to do. Works fine.
They did double a couple of feet on the header and cut a notch for a bracket, but your may not need that.
 
Lizooki said:
I have an ancient Genie mounted to the garage door in my basement .... probably original to the house, so here when I bought it.
The rail is mounted directly to the floor joists, so it is just like you would have to do. Works fine.
They did double a couple of feet on the header and cut a notch for a bracket, but your may not need that.
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My old house had the middle drive rail mounted to bottom of the joists (were actually notched an inch-ish)... worked fine for the 15 years I was there
 
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