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.