A new garage door can add curb appeal and modernize the exterior of your home, boost your return on investment, improve your home’s overall safety and increase your everyday convenience. Although you can receive full-service garage door installation from most garage door retailers — which includes disassembling and disposing of your old door and delivering and installing your new door — doing it yourself can save you money on garage door installation costs, especially if you have the necessary skill and experience for the job.
How to Install a Garage Door
For a safe installation of your new garage door, you’ll need to gather the required tools and follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions. These installation instructions will assist you in completing your own DIY garage door installation. In preparation for installing your garage door, gather the following tools and equipment:
Level
Safety glasses
Adjustable-locking pliers
Drill
Drillbits
Socket bit
Phillips driver bit
Open-ended wrench
Hammer
1/2-inch diameter rods
Once you’ve collected the proper tools, you can easily install your new sectional garage door by following 10 simple steps. With sectional garage doors — the most common types of residential garage doors that feature three to eight panels that slide upward and downward along a track — installation is performed by inserting each section one at a time, working from the bottom up.
1. Release the Garage Door Tension
For this first step, you’ll want to practice extreme caution, as garage door springs are under a great amount of weight and tension. When improperly handled, they can cause personal injury and damages. Before working on the garage door, you’ll first need to release the tension of the torsion spring. To do this, follow these steps:
Use your adjustable-locking pliers and clamp the torsion spring shaft, then wedge your pliers against the header wall above the garage door.
You’ll notice four holes in the spring winding cone, which loosens and tightens the spring. Insert a steel rod into one of the holes. Holding tightly onto the rod, loosen the screws that hold the winding cone in place.
Loosen each spring one-quarter at a time, alternating the two rods. Use one rod to hold the cone steady and the other rod to turn the cone.
2. Disconnect the Current Door From the Garage Door Opener
Once you’ve released the tension of the garage door, you can now disconnect your garage door from the opener. To safely disconnect the door, simply pull on the red emergency release handle. This will move the trolley arm into a vertical position, allowing you to raise or lower the door manually.
At this time, you can begin removing the sectional door panels:
Starting at the top panel, remove the hinges connected to the garage door panel.
Disconnect the panel from the track by loosening the bolts from the doorframe.
Continue removing the hinges from each panel and loosening the hardware of the remaining sectional panels.
3. Install the Sectional Garage Door Panels
Now you can finally begin installing your new garage door. If you need to replace a two-car garage door, put a reinforcing bar along the top panel to prevent bowing in the center. Then, drill pilot holes — if not already drilled by the manufacturer — and use screws to secure the bar to the panel. For successful installation and assembly, begin by:
Attaching the hinges to the top of each garage door panel
Attaching axle supports to the bottom and top panels
Placing the bottom panel into the opening and checking that it’s level
Installing each new panel onto the previous one, ensuring the groove of the upper panel properly sits on the ridge of the panel below it. Repeat this step until all panels are properly in place.
4. Secure Hinges and Install the Tracks
Secure the top half of each hinge to the panel on top of it, place the wheeled axles into the side hinges, and install the top and bottom axle supports. This will help you with installing the garage door track yourself. Next, install the track and ensure the wheels lie correctly in the track to ensure proper functionality. Finally, attach the door cable to the hook on the panel axle support located on the bottom, then attach the bottom bracket to the wall.
5. Attach Spring Assembly to the Track
At this time, assemble all pieces that support the spring and attach to the track. Then, using the previous door’s ceiling supports, rest the curved section of the track on the vertical piece you crafted earlier. Attach the other end to the ceiling bracket.
6. Bolt the Tracks Together
Line up your horizontal and vertical tracks and attach to the door, then bolt the tracks together.
7. Install Springs
Connect the spring anchors to the springs and attach the spring locking cone, then securely bolt the two springs to the header bracket.
8. Install Torsion Rod and Pulleys
To install the torsion rod, slide it into the holes located in the side header brackets, and then attach pulleys to each end of this rod.
9. Attach Cable
From beneath, attach the cable to the pulley wheel and turn the wheel so any slack is pulled taut over the pulley. Slide the wheel to the header bracket and tighten all parts securely. Now, attach a pair of locking pliers to the rod located on the outside of the bracket — this will deter the rod from spinning when you tighten the garage door springs.
10. Tighten Springs
Using your steel rods, tighten the springs and use your manufacturer’s manual to help determine how many turns are likely required to properly tighten the spring. Once the spring has reached the correct tension, tighten all bolts to lock the spring in place and remove the pliers from the torsion rod.
When in Doubt, Call the Professionals
As you may have gathered, installing a garage door can be a tricky and potentially dangerous business to do on your own, especially if you lack the required experience and skill to complete this project safely and properly. If you feel at all uncertain about installing your garage door safely or hanging your garage door safely and without error, calling in a professional garage door installation company can save you many headaches, big and small. Some reasons to have your garage door installed professionally include:
Proper Installation: Garage doors have many parts, and installing just one part incorrectly can cause the entire door to malfunction — which can cause damage or require you to start from scratch. Garage door installation professionals can correctly install a garage door with ease.
Garage door weight and tension: Garage doors are notoriously heavy and held together by a significant amount of tension, which can create safety hazards for yourself and anyone else nearby. Garage door professionals are trained in proper techniques to handle garage door weight and tension safely and also have specialized equipment to help the installation proceed smoothly.
Safety inspections: Let’s say you have completed all the steps to install your garage door. To your eye, everything looks as it should, and the garage door opens and closes when you use the opener. However, given the many safety measures added to garage doors, it can be easy to forget about them as you install the door. A garage door professional will perform a safety inspection to ensure all safety measures work properly to prevent future damage or injury from the garage door.
Warranty: Depending on the manufacturer’s warranty specifications, your garage door may not be covered for damage incurred during the installation process. Most garage door installation companies provide a warranty for the garage doors they install.
Furthermore, you do not need to purchase a garage door from the installation company to receive their installation services. Given the current state of the garage door industry with extended lead times, it makes sense for customers to purchase their garage doors from big-box stores where they can get their garage doors quickly.
Even if you purchase your garage door elsewhere, you can still count on Cornwell Door Service to install it for you. When you work with our professional garage door installers, you know that your garage door is installed correctly.
For Garage Door Installation Assistance, Trust the Professionals at Cornwell Door Service
Installing new garage doors can be hazardous for homeowners that don’t have experience with this type of project, and to ensure proper safety and garage door installation, you can always trust one of the professionals at Cornwall Door Service. Since 1972, we’ve been the leading and most trusted garage door installation company serving communities throughout central Pennsylvania, including the Camp Hill, Lebanon and Harrisburg areas.
To learn more about our garage door installation and maintenance services, call us today at (844)-821-5359 or contact us online.
