Removing an Overhead Garage Door

Dear NH,
I want to uninstall and dispose of a 16 ft. wide by 8 ft. high paneled steel overhead garage door and opener. I want to replace it with atrium doors and make the garage into a family room. The attached garage is well insulated and finished inside, and just cries to become our family room. What is the best way to go about taking the garage door down? I've called garage door installers, and none of them any advice, except that I advertise giving it away for free in exchange for taking it down. The pros would probably take it down for a price, but I'd rather spend the bucks on materials for my project.
JP

JP,
First, get a strong friend to help. Then, disconnect and remove the garage door opener. Disconnect the opener body from the ceiling first, and let it pivot to the floor. Then disconnect the garage door track from the bracket located above the door.

Raise the door manually. Push the door up as far as it will go… right to the stops! Put C-clamps on both tracks to hold in position. Disconnect all springs and cables. And be careful… even with the door in the up position, there may be some minimal tension in the springs.

Starting with the topmost panel, remove all hinges between the doors so that the door panels swing downward from the rollers and hang on the track. Do all panels this way.

Remove the clamps that you put on the tracks. Slide the panels one at a time to the ground. Disconnect the roller brackets to free up the panels from the track.
NH

COPYRIGHT 1998 G.G. ALONZY

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