High Lift Garage Doors For 12 ft. ceilings
 

I'm building a house, and it will have a 2 bay garage with 12 ft. ceilings. The community requires 2 doors. I want both doors to have high lift tracks, openers, springs, etc. so I can install a Backyard Buddy (or 2) without worrying about the door hitting the car on the lift.

I thought this might be an option from the door company (Overhead Door), but they have a lot more for folks with low ceilings than for me.

Has anyone been through this, or can you point me to someone who has? I have seen threads on garagejournal and DIYGarage Repair, but they mostly talk about conversions and what you have to replace. I'm hoping to have the builder order all the right stuff from the git-go and get it installed right the first time.

Thanks in advance for any assistance.

Have Fun,
Rick

It seems like any decent garage door company could do this. Its just a longer track and another panel or two...maybe an upgraded motor and spring.

I'm trying to think of the name; but there's a garage door brand who's motor mounts on the wall next to the door. Which means the tracks can go all the way to the ceiling and you have plenty of space for a lift.

The door opening is only 8 ft. high, so an 8 ft. door will be fine. But it seems in order to lift the door higher it requires different springs, drums, cables, etc. The motor is an issue, but the most commonly mentioned type is a jackshaft.

I'm looking to get a head start on this so it doesn't slow down the builder trying to find the solution - they will be breaking ground next week.

Have Fun,
Rick

I have no answer for this but if you do find a solution, please share it with us. :D

I have a friend who did this exact same thing. I'll ask him on monday. If I remember correcty the door tracks go up at a 45 deg. angle and the door spring is heavier to hold the door up.

However I do have a suggestion on your lift. Get a real commercial lift installed. They are less than $5K installed. a 10,000 lb. lift is the standard lift most garages use.

As said, any good garage door installer can do this. They just extend the verticle tracks an extra 3' up or so. I'm sure they also have various ways to adapt it to a garage door opener as well.

this exact thing is done to our garage to accomodate a lift. the tracks just extend uoward a few extra feet. it is no big deal on making it.

I'm beginning to think that it won't be a big deal. Most of the horror stories I hear are about conversions and the cost of getting all new hardware including doors. Hopefully, I'll get it right.

Have Fun,
Rick

This game will be awesome. I had a blast playing the demo.

Huh? :confused2

Back on topic. Rick, please be sure to keep us updated with pics... can't wait to see how your garage build comes to life.

I will - but as of yesterday all I have is a hole in the ground with some water in the bottom. Hopefully this week they can get footers, and possibly foundation forms done - The weather forecast is dry until Saturday.

I go by every couple days, stand in the same place, and take some pictures so I can later watch the house grow. The completion target is late March or April.

Have Fun,
Rick

How long did it take you before you found your home design, contractor to build your house?

The biggest issue was finding a lot - the area we were looking in (Eastern/Northern Baltimore County) is fairly full, and nobody is opening up new land for development with things the way they are. We looked for about 2 months and saw a lot in a small development that could work for us. The lot was committed to one builder. He is a custom builder, and we started from a blank sheet of paper to get the design we wanted. The overall design went very quickly - about a month and a half. We had been looking at plans on the Web and other places, so we had a good idea what we wanted. The details of the kitchen, bathrooms, etc. took about 2 months. The builder is very flexible, and we can do upgrades and change some things like door locations if we need to as construction progresses.

To get back to the OT, the builder talked to the local Overhead Door branch, and they are on top of the jackshaft opener and installation for the tall ceilings, so it all looks good.

Have Fun,
Rick