Garage Door Repair &
Installation on Mercer Island, WA

Many of the original mid century doors here run extension springs, stretched beside the track, and they are decades past their rating. When one lets go the door will not lift and, if there is no containment cable through the coil, the spring travels. We replace them correctly rated, with containment cables, and where the headroom allows we offer a conversion to a torsion shaft, which balances the door better and keeps everything contained above the opening.

On later doors it is torsion work, both springs replaced together on a double, sized to the measured weight of the door and balanced by hand. Galvanized springs make sense on the damp lakeside lots. Our guide to broken garage door springs explains what to do first, and the cost guide explains the price.

On a mid century house the door is an architectural element, and we approach it that way. Flush steel, modern aluminum and glass, and clean horizontal profiles all hold the line these houses were built with, and we bring samples to hold against the facade in the actual light. On the newer and remodeled houses the choice is wider, and a full view glass door on a contemporary facade is a legitimate option.

New tracks, springs and usually a new opener come with the door, since the 1960s hardware was sized for a lighter door. On lakeside and hillside lots we specify galvanized hardware. Old door removed and hauled. Weighing a repair against a replacement? Our repair or replace guide walks through where the line sits, and the installation page covers the process.

An opener on a 1960s garage is frequently the third or fourth the door has had, and the one on the ceiling now may still predate the 1993 photo eye rule or have sensors that were bypassed long ago. That is the first thing we check. The units we fit comply with the current entrapment rules, and the reversal is tested on the spot.

On a low mid century ceiling a wall mounted jackshaft unit is often the cleanest answer, since it needs no rail and leaves the lines of the garage alone; on an attached garage under living space, a belt drive for the quiet. Battery backup matters on an island where a windstorm outage can last, and where a garage may have no side door. We confirm Wi-Fi reaches the garage before specifying a smart model. The full list is on the opener installation page.

Cables and rollers are where a damp lakeside garage shows its age. Cables corrode at the bottom bracket where they sit closest to the wet floor and let go without much warning; rollers with open bearings seize until they drag rather than roll, which is the grinding sound that carries into the house. On a hillside drive the water under the door makes both worse.

We replace cables as a pair, galvanized where the garage is damp, inspect the drums and bottom brackets, and reset the door square in the tracks. Nylon rollers with sealed bearings are the upgrade that quiets an older door and stops the bearings seizing again. To match the sound to the cause, see what garage door noises mean.

On an original mid century door a yearly tune up is what keeps it original. Springs lose tension, rollers dry, brackets loosen, the bottom seal hardens, and a damp lot accelerates all of it. Catching that drift is cheap; replacing a door that could have been kept is not. It is also the visit where the safety items on an older opener, the photo eyes and the reversal, actually get tested.

Expect a hand balance test with the opener off, spring tension brought back, hinges, rollers and brackets snugged up, tracks aligned, correct lubrication, the weather seal checked, opener force and limits reset, and the reversal tested against an object and against the sensor beam. On houses near the water the lubricant is one that protects against salt air rather than one that washes off. See the maintenance page for what is included.