Dan's Garage Door Blog

Meteorological Spring made its glorious arrival this past Monday, and Daylight Saving Time will kick in next Sunday the 14th.  What kind of winter has it been around your house?

With garage doors getting a workout all winter in the “car protection” mode, it is possible that you may find a few pieces of hardware (screws, nuts, bolts) strewn on  the front half of your garage floor.  After picking them up to avoid a flat tire, have a look around on the door to see where they came from.  If you can’t make out from where, how is the garage door functioning lately?  Run a cycle on the door and watch.  If you observe buckling or strange noises while in travel, you may need a low-involvement repair.  Call Dan at DDM and get confidence, with knowledgeable advice.

This advice may necessitate a repair, or simply a lubrication.  But if you get it addressed now, you can save trouble and expense down the road.  Have a GREAT spring!

(Warning:  As always, be careful around garage doors and their parts, and call a professional for the work if you have any doubt about your ability to service them safely).

Greetings!  DDM Garage Doors owner Dan Musick has been busy for some time, and this accounts for the absence of posts you may have noticed.   But I’m ready to get writing to keep you abreast of Dan’s thoughts, ideas, tips, and happenings, and so put the DDM blog on a consistent stream again.  Stay tuned for more on a weekly basis.

I am Jim Quattrochi, the support contact for DDM.

I have published numerous articles discussing garage door ideas and garage door-related service at sites like ezinearticles and eHow.  Feel welcome to navigate the full DDM site for the wealth of information Dan offers from his storehouse of more than thirty years’ experience in the industry.

I will be posting to this blog on a regular basis.  The aim of this journal will be to keep the community posted on stories, events, and ideas.  Always, there will be a view to convey their import for those who desire to maintain and repair their own garage doors, buy quality parts, or obtain the best professional garage door service possible.

Sincerely, Jim

We frequently get calls from people around the country who have been swindled by dishonest garage door companies. Richard Kinch has exposed the tactics unscrupulous door companies use to rip off customers.

If you have been a victim, or if you would like to check out one of these companies before doing business with them, I suggest you check out www.ripoffreport.com.

DASMA, the garage door industry trade organization, also exposes unscrupulous door companies at times. You can search door companies in their search engine.

Another way to check out a company is to check with the Better Business Bureau.

One final way to check out a company is to do a Google search, including the city or state. If a company has been charging exorbitant prices or performing shoddy work, comments about them will often show up on message boards.

This blog has been moved to the tutorial page.

This blog has been moved to the tutorial page.

This blog has been moved to the tutorial page.

Please see our Using Torsion Springs with Different Lifts Tutorial.

This blog entry has been moved to the tutorial page.

This blog entry has been moved to the tutorial page.

Other web sites have calculators for determining your door weight to help in selecting the correct garage door springs. The most important part of the program to remember is that the door weights given are only approximations. In other words, they are not reliable for ordering garage door springs.

Here are two examples.

First, how much does a 16 X 7 Wood Panel door with 3 struts weigh? Some of the newer doors with 1/8″ or 3/16″ panels, narrow rails and 22 ga. struts weigh 240-250 lbs. Some of the older doors with 1/4″ panels, wide rails, several paintings and 20 ga. struts weigh 350-360 lbs. I’ve replaced garage door springs on both.

Second, how much does a 16X7 steel insulated sandwich door with steel on both sides and one strut weigh? Clopay has a 2″ sandwich door that weighs 260 lbs. I’ve replaced garage door springs on several of them. Just recently I replaced springs on a newer Wayne Dalton garage door that weighed 126 lbs.

At DDM Garage Doors we go to great lengths helping customers find the right garage door springs that will balance their garage doors as nearly perfectly as possible. We don’t apologize for asking you to jump through hoops to order from us.

We have records of hundreds of garage doors with their weights gathered from 28 years of replacing garage door springs. Any information you can get from your garage door will be helpful.

If you can’t identify the make of your door, and if you are not sure your spring measurements are correct for the door, we recommend that you weigh your door, identify your cable drums, and measure your track radius. More information on how to do this is available at http://ddmgaragedoors.com/residential/torsion-springs.php.