brgracer

iTrader: (14)

I called no less than five different garage door contractors, and had only three come out to take measurements, and of those three that came out, only got a quote from ONE after calling them once every two weeks as I didn't hear back from them because they were "busy." With each contractor, I let them know that I was ready to do the project now with money in hand, but even getting a quote was an ordeal. But yesterday they raised my garage door as high as possible, and installed a jackshaft garage door opener. So after many months of persistence after getting the ceiling work done, my garage door is lifted which means there is now room for....a LIFT! Almost there.....

BEFORE


AFTER

shuiend

iTrader: (24)

Does this mean you might actually fix your miata now?

ianferrell

They brought you two acuras? And fixed your garage door?! awesome

jasonb

that is awesome. in for pics w/ lift.

why did i have to buy a house with a bedroom over the garage. duh.

9671111

iTrader: (10)

Jealousy sets in.

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

Supposedly he ordered his lift yesterday.

Splitime

iTrader: (24)

If or when I move back to PA... I know who's house I'll visit alot

Braineack

iTrader: (62)

He has a big TV too.

jedduh01

iTrader: (4)

Nice shots, I need to replace the wood door with my garage, and i have a vaulted cieling like you. I think ill be going the raised route too.. Now just to figure out if the garage door opener will work on it.

Looks like a lift is going to be a tight fit... Post up what you order, and what size everything ends up.

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

You didn't do this yourself why? Looks like a large erector set... i.e. my niece-in-law could have done that.

But hey if you're baller enough to pay some day laborers to do it, more power to ya. Horray! Looks great!! I wish I could fit a lift in my garage too!!!

brgracer

iTrader: (14)

Of course not.


Well, that got put on hold because something else came up that I could not resist.


Any of the mt.net veterans (you know who you are) are welcome to work here after it's installed. Just a few rules that I think are fair: #1 you break it, you replace it, #2 you make a mess, you clean it up, and #3 absolutely no storing your car over here


Luckily, the garage door company that did my job has put in a ton of these, and they came out to measure first. They won't do it, if you don't have the room. They said minimum, you need 125" (10 1/2 feet) to put in a typical 4-post lift and fit a regular sedan on top and bottom. Obviously, if you are just using the lift with one car, you can go lower (just can't raise the car up as high when working), and you'll need more if one of the cars is much taller like a minivan/SUV. My ceilings are 11 feet, and one of the cars is going to be a lowered miata so plenty of space. Fwiw, I'll be getting a 4-post from Greg Smith Equiptment which is near me, but it's similar, size wise, to all the other usual hobbyist lifts like Danmar, Backyard Buddy, etc...

Oh, and that black box to the right of the finished door is a jackshaft garage door opener that would probably fit for you. Rather than a traditional garage door opener, it uses a very short bike chain attached to the roller of the garage door and lifts/closes from the side. Google "Liftmaster 3800" for more details. It should pretty much fit almost anywhere.


I was originally going to DIY, but after spending lots of time on the garage forums reading about it, too many stories of people seriously injuring themselves (i.e. hospitalization involved) when working with the tension spring, or screwing something up so that they had to pay to get it redone anyway.

I know it looks really simple, but it took two guys from a 30+ year old garage door company, over 6 hours to complete, and they didn't even stop to take a break once, even to pee. I figure if it took the "pros" 12 man-hours to complete, it would have probably taken me at least double that, and then some, so worth every penny. It has nothing to do with being baller.

TurboTim

iTrader: (9)

Eh I'm just jealous. I know you shouldn't mess around with garage door springs, especially the coil/torsion type it looks like they used on your new door.

It looks baller, Baller.