Tuesday, 16 Apr 2024
The garage door is probably 35 years old. It sags, creaks, doesn’t seal well enough to keep crap out of the garage, and needs replacing.
The garage is also quite dark near the door. The lights are in the back of the garage. When working on my bike I pretty much have to leave the door open to get any light. Since the house faces more-or-less west that means it gets hot with lots of glare on summer afternoons.
Windows in garage doors are a thing again. We ordered an insulated steel door with windows on both sides. And a new opener while we are changing things. Today is installation day.
![Ready for replacement](./t-6371.jpg)
Ready for replacement
![Making room and removing add-ons](./t-6373.jpg)
Making room and removing add-ons
![Old door opener](./t-6374.jpg)
Old door opener
Before the installers arrived I moved the car, my bike, and the bike lift. I also removed my garage related home electronics. Yes, I can ask Siri to open the garage door and she (usually) obeys.
![Make room for new door](./t-6375.jpg)
Make room for new door
After taking the above pictures I moved my bike some more to better get it out of the way. Good thing I did. The crew set up some stands to hold the new door panels where I’d originally parked the bike.
![Removing sections from the top](./t-6376.jpg)
Removing sections from the top
![All gone](./t-6378.jpg)
All gone
![Top and side weather stripping](./t-6381.jpg)
Top and side weather stripping
The old door really was in sad shape. Some of the panels almost fell apart being carried to the truck for their trip to the dump.
![New panels going in](./t-6382.jpg)
New panels going in
![Outside view](./t-6383.jpg)
Outside view
![Windows let in lots of light](./t-6384.jpg)
Windows let in lots of light
The windows let in lots of light. When I step into the garage I keep thinking I left the door open. The installers had some good luck in that the existing rail hangers were in both in excellent shape and the perfect location.
I will have to get used to the fact I now have safety sensors on the door. No more hitting the close button then running out of the garage before the door closes. That’s Ooe of the disadvantages of putting in a new opener. The advange is that new unit is quietly belt driven. The door, is quiet, too.
![All done](./t-6386.jpg)
All done
![Driveway view](./t-6387.jpg)
Driveway view
Installation was about four hours. When they left I programmed the car’s homelink. My unit that allow me to have Siri open and close the garage door is awaiting an adapter that should be here in 3 or 4 days. In the mean while I’ll have to push buttons.
I need to figure out how to use the button I added to my bike to control the door, too. I’ll have to find a small enough compatible opener control that I can wire to the switch.