Re-affirming my commitment to my customers.

   Well its time to do a little refresher. Doing a search on Google the other day I noticed that most if not all of the other garage door companies that service the Cochrane area aren't actually local companies. And they are paying for their advertising to show up first on Google. While paying for advertising is a great way to get your company out there I'm firm believer in word of mouth and interacting personally with my customers. And that is exactly how I've built up this company. Personally, I have over 30 years experience in the trades and 24 of them by involved with the installation of overhead doors and operators. I have recently brought on another gentleman to help take on some of the service and installation duties after bringing him along on jobs over the past 5 years. He also has over 30 years experience in the trades. I'm saying this because I've heard from other customers that I feel it's important to know that my customers deserve the best possible same day service I can give. And I'm extremely grateful for the dedication from my repeat customers and the smile on the face of my new customers after we finish a job for them.

  I'd also like to thank my customers for their patience with the ongoing pandemic and how it has effected some of our supply of products. While others may get impatient and look for sub quality products for their customers I simply refuse to do that. That's why I work with my customers to meet their needs as best I can. I feel I can only do that using top quality parts and products regardless if it takes a little extra time to get doors and operators in. I will continue to use the best doors and operators you can get for your money in Canada. Whether it's a broken spring, snapped cable or you're looking for a new door or operator. We service and sell what ever you need to get your overhead door working properly.

Good Morning, Day 2 of the company owner's self isolation.

Its been a while since you've all heard from me. I'm currently self-isolating due to this Covid-19 pandemic. and I've been going through a few things here online and decided to bring a couple things up to date.
I will begin publishing instructional posts on this blog to help homeowners do things themselves. If it's one thing I've been made really aware of these past couple days is that now is a damn good time for people to become more self-sufficient again and learn to take care of a lot more things around the house.

  That being said I will begin posting video and instructional posts that will help homeowners deal with garage door issues. I will however not be taking any responsibility for any stupidity. You take on a job and not listen to what I say or something you're not completely comfortable doing and lose a finger..well then it sucks to be you. You will be 100% responsible for your own actions with any advice I may post, basically use at your own risk.

I will even do my best to answer questions that anyone may pose to me specific to their needs. While I specialize in garage door installations and service work,I am also a ticketed framer. My experience includes 10 years of custom framing and years of framing cookie cutters. So any framing required for your specific application can be addressed as well. I do have over 25000 installs behind me so I belive I can help almost any overhead door situation that may come about.

  So, whether your enjoying self-isolation, self-medication or just using this time to get the hell away from a shitty job that you hate I hope you are following good practices and social distancing. Let's kick this Covid-19's ass and get busy recovering and getting on with our lives.

Coppertop. 

Custom Garage Door Applications

A phone call came in from a customer about his garage door. He mentioned that it as a custom garage door application and he wanted me to have a look at it. When we pulled up and I started asking the homeowner questions while we were having a look at the job it became very clear right away that the company that the gentleman bought the doors from hosed him. He paid far too much for little if any real customer service. He told me that he gave all the required information to the salesman and the salesman sold him a pair of doors and operators for a price that should have included installation. And the salesman never came out to look at the job.

Now, first, let me describe a couple things. When we first got there the drum and head shaft assembly was not installed. There were 5 1/2 inches of headroom. The salesman that sold these doors to the customer either knew what he was doing and outright mislead the customer or didn't have a clue as to what the customer had to deal with. Either way, he ripped the customer off. Now, moving forward I knew this would be a little challenging to get working so I just told the customer that I'll do what I can with it. The pic above is actually the end result. I moved the top track over just enough so that the drums cleared the top section of the door on each side. The rollers actually fit behind the drums in the tracks while the top fixture clears the drums by about a quarter inch. Once the operators where installed they pulled the top section back tight along the bottom groove in the track and it maintained the clearance along the track curve. Now for a tight seal of the weatherstrip, the outside jam needed some work. After discussing that with the homeowner he was ok to do that himself.

  Now, I'm a fan of Chamberlain operators for a few reasons,

1. They are easy to install
2. They are easy to service
3. They are easy to customize
4. They are easy to program
5. And they are the best garage door opener on the planet,far outlasting anything else on the market.

The operators this customer had were NOT Chamberlain. They were a "New and Improved" Genie operator. Which meant that the customer might have been happier to return the seriously over priced Genies for a much longer-lasting and more economical Chamberlain. However, he wanted the Genie's installed. This was the first time I installed this version. I was up to the challenge though and soon had both openers assembled and mounted. Programming however took a couple hours. After all was said and done we had both doors and operators working very well.

So when it Comes to Custom Garage Door Applications

  The homeowner was very happy and gratefully paid the bill, which turned out to be more expensive then I would have charged for installing both doors and operators initially simply because we had to pull apart some of what was installed incorrectly to begin with.
The moral of the story is this, when looking for new doors always call a local company, or as local as you can find. when dealing with low headroom or custom applications insist a sales rep come out and have a look at the job and never put up with sub-par work or craftsmanship. At the end of the day, it's your hard-earned money that paid for the job.

Back in the Saddle...somewhat.

I left the garage door industry for a while. I needed a bit of a holiday. However,its time to get back in the saddle...somewhat. I know that it's been a long time since my last post, life has a way of taking your time without you even knowing where it went. One thing I've decided though is that if I completely ignore my experience with overhead doors and send all my business somewhere else, I'm letter people down. I noticed how easily I just start asking questions when an old client calls me and asks me if I can do anything for them. It's a bit of a challenge since I'm in the middle of recovering from hernia surgery...yes..that's right,even I am not a machine. As much as I'd like to think I am.

  I got behind the wheel of a big truck for the last few months until my surgery date. And while driving truck, I was still receiving calls for garage door installs and other service work. And naturally I found myself doing whatever I could over to phone to help these clients out. So while I'm not officially back in the saddle, I am going to allow past clients and even people that contact me through Coppertop Overhead to pick my brain and do the best I can to help them out. Until I'm full tilt right back at it,I'm recommend a decent installer or service tech that can get you fixed up. So check out my Facebook Page or google Coppertop Overhead Doors and you'll be able to get in touch with me.

Getting your garage ready for your door installation.

 

 Some of the challenges installers run into are end walls not being secure,such as the above picture shows. The problem with this is that there is no support under the wall and when adding the weight of the garage door to this is can actually pull the wall away from the other wall. Some contractors will insist that it's ok to install in this situation however on this particular job there was two doors to be installed and none of the front walls were bearing on a solid foundation. And under no circumstances is it ok or even safe to install a garage door on an unsupported wall,no matter what the contractor tells you or the installer. Just think of 300- 500 lbs of steel and material crashing down and you'll get the idea of what can happen. The center wall is right below and the far end wall looked the same as this one.

 Another issue installers run into far to frequently is a mess such as the one below. Right now is the busy season for overhead door companies and installers. When we run into jobs like this it makes it all that much more challenging to do a safe and effective install. It also serves to make for a rough start to any installers day this time of year because he generally has 4-6 other installs to do that day. I will say that the framing was very good and it shows an excellent example of how the backing should be done for a proper installation. The only issue I had with this job was that between the two doors the framer used a 2x6 and a 2x4 instead of two 2x4's leaving no room to run the photo cell wires for the operators into the wall for a nice clean finish when the dry walling is done.

 This is the Calgary Health Trust lottery home. This is an excellent example of how nice and clean the job should be for the installer to come in and install the door. The supervisor was readily available for any issues or questions, he even when so far as to locate backing inside the finished ceiling for the back hang of the door for me when I was installing the door. I've run into absolute nightmare job sites where I have installed a door and it turned out nice and clean however,it does not make for a good start,middle or end to any installers day. The easier it is for him to get the job done the better the job is going to turn out. A messy job site and work area makes it very challenging to so do a job safely and properly.

All in all,the the cleaner the job is when the installer comes to install the door the easier it is for him or her to do a neat and tidy job. Consider for a minute how heavy the sections are on some of the custom doors and you'll appreciate what we have to do to get the job done so that you as a homeowner can have a safe and dependable garage door.

The Busy Season

Now that fall is upon us and winter is fast approaching there is always the "Last minute,have to get it done before winter job". This is where customers call and need work done on their garage doors now.

  One of the problems with this type of job is most if not all of the qualified overhead installers and techs are burning the candle at both ends. Our contractors have started to catch up with building as framers get the most work done in the summer time and usually by this time we're about 5 weeks behind by the middle of September. You see,there are times when our sales teams go and quote a job in the retail market in May or June and the customer will say that there's lots of time before the snow flies and they put the job off. In May or June,we can get to the job in a couple of days or a week at most if we are fairly caught up. If the customer puts the job off till the end of August or the beginning of September then it will take a few weeks for an installer to get to the job. There have been a few retail jobs and even contractors that have said to me that I should have been there weeks ago and they are upset.

  Of course I do what I can to help the customer understand the reasons why this happens, shortage of qualified and trained installers, being swamped to begin with, and then I explain the "put it off till the snow flies" mentality. Most of the time they understand and are okay with it. There are occasions where there is nothing we can do the help the contractor or customer to understand. This leave the installer feeling a sense of failure due to the prevailing attitude.

  They only way for the customer to avoid being caught in this situation is to avoid putting the job off. Or stay on top of maintenance. Lubricate springs,hinges,rollers and any other moving parts of the overhead door every 6 months with a silicone based lube is a great way to stay on top of it. Never use grease or oil and WD-40 is probably one of the worst things you can use for lube. Oil and grease attract dirt because of the stickiness,that in turn creates a situation where parts are moving against each other with foreign object obstructing movement and grinding together. There is also the option of having a qualified technician come in and tune up your door from time to time. This is very cost effective compared to replacing parts and even your door after months or even years of regular use and no maintenance. The average service call will run you around a hundred bucks and a good tech will explain the work he is doing while he is doing it.

  Now,I'm not going to B.S. here. There are some guys out there that will try to soak customers and get what they can out of if and quote prices from a nuclear powered calculator. This is where a bit of research does wonders for the wallet. I myself work for the busiest overhead door company in Calgary. I have worked for a number of them in the area and I can say with all confidence that the one I'm with now is the best I have worked with and some of the best qualified installers and tech in the city with combined experience of a couple hundred years. There's isn't a tech with us with under ten years in the industry,I myself have been installing garage doors and operators since 1996 with over 20,000 garage door installations.
 
 Another thing customers are responsible for is the type of door they choose to purchase. Personally,Steel-Craft are the best you can buy in Canada. I have seen retail customers pay through the teeth for a door from one of the building supply companies and then be left with finding their own installer. Totem in Bowness sells Steel-Craft so if your purchasing a garage door from a building supply outlet then they are the store to go with. Overhead door companies in Calgary that sell Steel-Craft doors are Action Door, Glenmore Overhead and a few other smaller companies. One other thing is that you'll pay pretty much the same with all the above mentioned companies,prices will generally be within $50 of each other.

  During the busy season most of us are working 12-14 hours a day so when we are lucky enough to get a weekend off to spend with our families,we generally don't want to work that weekend. Try to get the number off the truck to call their office to book a time for your install. There are days when I have 5-6 people come up to me or stop me in traffic and ask about having their door installed. While this doesn't bother me,it can be a little tough when I suggest calling the office when the customer wants their work done as fast as possible.

Types Of Garage Doors

  Over the years I have formed some very solid opinions about the makes of some of the doors out there. I have also had the pleasure and learning experience to have installed Everything from SteelCraft (my personal preference), Overhead's 297's (a close second) to Clopay's and Wayne Dalton's. Now this is just my opinion, Clopay and Wayne Dalton should NOT be making and selling doors. I'll leave it up to you to interpret what that means. Almost all of the installers I know including myself will not install these doors. That doesn't means that there isn't people out there that won't though. They don't last as long, are manufactured to lower standards and require more maintenance. So in the long run,they are not more economically feasable. They may seam like a good deal & cheaper to buy at the time however,they are not a door you would want to install in a garage you plan to use a lot.

   Steel-Crafts T-12 and Overhead's 297 are pretty much a standard R-10 door. The number indicates insulation value on the Steel-Crafts standard residential door. I have installed these doors in almost every application from straight installs to custom installations that require low heads room kits and double top tracks with very little to no trouble and most if not all are still working as they were intended.

  The T-16 and 597 are a little heavier and are rated R-16 and around R-15 respectively. These are better suited for insulated garages that you plan on heating on a regular basis. They're even more durable that the earlier mentioned doors due to more material used in their construction.

 If you are looking for curb appeal for a garage on the front of the house then models like the Renaissance, Ranchcraft,Vintage and Carriage Craft doors might suit your needs much better. The come with insulation values from R-10 to R-16. These doors offer more design options,especially with the Ren's and will definitely help build value for your home.

Here are some pics from the Steel-Craft website of the different models the offer.

The first is the Carraige Craft,

 This series is the Ranch Craft

 This is the Thermo-Craft,this is the basic door.