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Videos on Door Installation, Repair & Maintenance


1 - GARAGE DOOR TIPS & CONCERNS

2 - GARAGE DOOR ASSEMBLY & COMPONENTS

3 - STEEL DOOR CONSTRUCTION, INSULATION, HINGES, ROLLERS & SPRINGS

4 - WINDING SPRINGS

5 - TROUBLESHOOTING GARAGE DOOR OPERTIONS

6 - BASIC INSTALLATION OF DOOR & SPRING ASSEMBLY

7 - GARAGE DOOR OPENER CONCERNS & INSTALLATION

8 - COMMERCIAL DOOR INSTALLATION

9 - RESIDENTIAL GARAGE DOOR REMOVAL

10 - RESIDENTIAL GARAGE DOOR INSTALLATION

11 - ROLL SHUTTER OPERATIONS

12 - INTRODUCTION TO LOCKSMITH VAN, SERVICE CENTRE & RESIDENTIAL HARDWARE AND KEYS

13 - LOCK SURGEON SHOP OVERVIEW

14 - DOOR HARDWARE

15 - DOOR REINFORCEMENT & REPAIR

16 - PUSH BUTTON ENTRY SYSTEMS

17 - SAFES

18 - SECURITY KEY & HARDWARE

19 - WEATHER STRIPS AND SCREEN DOOR PARTS


Scroll down to view videos or select one from the list below. All videos are transcribed for your convenience.


Garage Door Tips and Concerns - 5 min

Garage doors, like everything in your home need to be maintained every now and then. Theres a lot of moving, sliding and stretching parts here, working in symphony, with tight tolerances, high tensions and electricity. They need occasional tweaking and maintenance or else... or else what? Your garage door won't open? So what? We count on things to run smoothly and we count on our vehicle, we count on our appliances, we count on our heating and air conditioning, and we count on our garage door systems. If your garage door doesn't work and your car is stuck inside then you can't make an appointment, can't make it to work, can't get the kids to school, then it's an emergency.

In those rare situations when you are unable to get your door to open electrically there is a way to get your garage door to release by hand. Usually you will have a release cord hanging down from your system that releases the garage door from the electric garage door opener, let go of your cord, reach down and lift the door by hand.

The stored energy in the spring counter-balance system combined with the weight of the garage door will be very unforgiving if not approached with the proper tools and knowledge. One thing that we do see frequently when a home owner tries to work on these systems on their own, they do get injured, and we know it because the blood trail starts here and trickles on into the house. So what looks very innocent when the door is closed is actually an extremely dangerous portion of the garage door. Anywhere up in here where the spring mounts together with it's mounting plate or on the other end where you apply the actually tension too, both of those areas are very dangerous, so to let you know about those we apply these caution tags or warning tags to let you know you to stay clear it can hurt.

GARAGE DOORS AND CHILDREN: - Children need to be taught to keep their fingers away from section joints and their hands away from the door. They need to know not to play under or near a garage door, also that the transmitters in the car or the buttons on the wall are not to be touched, not to be played with. In general what you want to teach your children is that the garage door is not a toy.

In 1993 there was a change to the garage door opener industry and a requirement to have a photo electric sensor installed with all garage door openers. If you've ever had a problem with a garage door closing it could just be the photo sensor. These brackets can easily be out of alignment and adjusted by hand and an easy adjustment by hand may be all you need to get your garage door working again and save you the cost of having someone come out and look at it.

Another little tip for garage door openers, the manufacturers provide for up to 100 watts of lighting capacity, why not put in a 40 to 60 watt appliance grade light bulb save a little energy and it will light up the garage just as well.

For those of you that have an older garage door where the springs stretch vertically or horizontally along the side a very important thing to have is a safety retention cable within the coils of the spring, when these springs break, and the will a lot of damage can occur. We've seen them embedded in the front walls of your house, pushed up in to the attics of your garage and even having done a lot of damage to your cars. So it's a very important thing to have a professional door dealer taking care of is to ensure these safety retention cables are secure and properly installed.

One of the most common concerns that people have is that the garage door is getting noisy, and some of this stuff you can take care of yourself. Some of this stuff you can take care of easily yourself, and just with a regular aerosol can of lubricant we recommend about every 6 months or so to go through and spray the rollers and the hinge points, that in itself can reduce a lot of the noise that may develop and is something that you can easily do yourself.


Garage Door Assembly and Components - 3 min

Today we're taking you on a tour behind the door, we're going to see what goes into making Canada's premium residential and commercial garage doors. We're inside Steel Craft Door Products manufacturing plant in Acheson Alberta Canada. Now if you think it's just a warehouse full of parts that have been shipped from over seas, well, you're wrong. Steel Craft Doors are 100% Canadian made, 100%. Built by experts who know the extreme Canadian weather that these doors will face.

Believe it or not Steel Craft employees manufacture almost every component right on site. This gives Steel Craft total quality control, which ensures their products operate with a precision you won't find in any other door. All parts are built to exacting specifications and every Steel Craft door is computer balanced - hinges, tracks, springs, weatherstrip even the garage door rollers are all made here at entirely at Steel Craft. Steel Craft exclusively buys the highest quality of Canadian made steel, in fact there's 1000's of pounds of raw steel on hand at all times.

Now this is where the real magic happens, Steel Crafts innovated door panel manufacturing process creates a unique wood-grain pattern, a distinctive design available in many stylish colours. Steel Craft doors are injected with the highest quality polyurethane foam, resulting in the most thermally efficient insulated door on the market. This innovated process makes the door stronger and lasts longer by locking the inside skin to the outside shell. Steel Crafts high-tech, continuous in-line manufacturing process is guided by computerized and optical controls, this ensures a completely uniform, top quality precision engineered panel, each and every time. Optional windows are installed in many models for a high-class look.

Finally it's all packaged up and shipped to distributers all across the country. It's been awhile since Steel Craft first opened their doors, almost 50yrs ago. Today, innovation, dependability, quality craftsmanship and a commitment to a 100% Canadian made product continues to set them apart. Now that we've peeked behind the scenes you know why Steel Craft is the door with more.


Steel Door Construction, Insulation, Hinges, Rollers and Springs - 8 min

STEEL - is the most prevalent used in garage door manufacturing. Steel does not breath like wood although it can rust if not protected. The paint and galvanizing systems of today have been developed to provide protection against rust. An advantage of steel is that its weight is constant and shape is consistent. Steel doors are generally lighter in weight making them easier to handle and operate. Most recently, plastic has entered the stage because of the unique properties it can offer.

PVC, one of the most available and lowest cost plastics has good properties for door construction: dent resistant, impervious to water and is the same colour throughout so that scratches will not alter its colour. PVC is a thermal plastic that softens with elevated temperatures so dark colours in direct sunlight should be avoided. You should also know that doors constructed of plastic require reinforcement to prevent sagging, fortunately these reinforcements can usually be hidden within the door so that the appearance of the door is maintained.

DOOR APPEARANCE - The appearance of doors continues to be heavily market driven. Even though many garage doors are made from materials other than wood, many garage door owners want doors that look like wood. Steel construction offers limited variations to imitate wood appearance largely because the cost of imitating wood material requires dedicated, expensive equipment for each shape. Plastic door products excel in this area, tooling to shape and texture plastic is less expensive and therefore more variation is possible. Wood doors are available in many varieties of appearances. The panel door construction offers a range from the plain flat panel to raise panels. The raised panels can be basic or rounded for custom appearance, they can be nearly square or long and rectangular in shape.

DOOR INSULATION - For a garage door, the ability to insulate is the ability for material to retard the flow of energy in the form of heat. Energy will always flow from a high energy source to a low energy source such as heat flowing to coal. Heat that flows through a material is measured in BTU's. BTU's is short for British Thermal Units. One BTU is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of one pound of water one degree Fahrenheit. R-Value is a measure of a materials resistance to heat flow and is the most commonly used measure for determining the performance of an insulation product.

R-values are presented in numerical form with a high number indicative of good performance and a low number indicative of poor performance. Expanded polystyrene, commonly referred to as EPS is one common form of insulation used in doors today, unlike some foam insulation products, EPS will not lose it's R-value over time. Polyurethane is the most common form of insulation used in energy efficient doors today. This type of insulation is much heavier than polystyrene and requires stronger springs.

SECTIONAL DOORS - Now that you've seen some of the more common materials used in the manufacturing of garage doors, let’s take a look at the different sections you'll be assembling in the installation process. To most people there doesn't appear to be any difference in the sections used from the top to bottom but this isn't the case. At each lower corner of the bottom section is a bottom-bracket this plate holds the weight of the entire door. The bottom brackets purpose it so cradle the weight of the door, it also is the attachment point of the cables of the door, the bottom brackets rollers are also held in place via the bottom brackets.

The next section up from the bottom section is called an intermediate section. There will be a number of intermediate sections attached to the first intermediate, the number of intermediate section is directly related to the garage door's height. End-hinges or roller carriers are usually numbered from 1 on up, the reasoning is quite simple, most sectional doors employ a slope along the vertical track approximately 1/8" per foot. Roller carriers are designed to keep the roller shaft at an increasing distance from the door opening as the door travels vertically.

The slope of the track ensures that the door will pull away from the tight fit along the jams, hence roller carriers graduate in measure from the jam as intermediate sections are added. After the proper number of intermediates a top section is installed. The top section can be identical to the intermediates except for the hardware attached to it. This section is fixed with an adjustable top bracket or "fixture" that carries a roller, this rollers location must be adjusted to bring this section tight to the jam.

COUNTER BALANCE SYSTEMS - The torsion spring power unit is comprised of shaft, tubular or solid depending on the load requirement and springs. This shaft is usually 6" to 8" longer than the width of the garage door. Before torsion springs are installed on the shaft they must be equipped with spring fittings. One spring end is wound onto a stationary sleeve or dead-cone, this end of the spring will not turn or wind. The other end is wound into a winding sleeve or winding-cone. This aluminum casting is identified by its 4 holes. Winding bars are inserted into these holes and the spring is then wound to its pre-determined tension. The winding sleeve is fastened to the shaft by set-screws. Cable drums must be incorporated which will transfer the shafts torque to the door. This transfer is accomplished by the cable, these drums must also be fastened to the shaft using set-screws.

In order to properly create torque in a torque spring it must be wound in the direction it was coiled. A left hand coil-spring must be wound to the left to develop torque, a right hand coil-spring must be wound to the right. On garage doors the orientation is to wind springs upward, therefore a left hand wound spring must be installed on the right hand side of the door, inside looking outside as a universal reference. A right hand spring must be installed on the left side of the door. As wire size wire size increases in diameter, its capable of increased torque. A door needs a given amount of inch pounds at the cable drum lever or moment arm to be balanced. Lever arms or moment arms of cable drums determine the amount of torque required to balance a garage door.

The necessary total torque will determine how many times the spring must be turned, normally a torsion spring is wound a quarter of a complete turn at a time. This is accomplished by inserting a winding bar. The installer utilizes two bars one bar is inserted into the winding sleeve casting hole and spring is turned one quarter of a revolution, at this time another hole in the casting is accessible and the second bar is inserted and a quarter turn is made. This process is repeated until the number of rotations to achieve the correct balance is achieved. In the case of extension springs it is necessary to select extension springs that will stretch to a proper length while delivering proper counter-balance or pull. This type of spring is directly attached to the door via cables that travel through the sheaves. Cable drums or spring fittings as previously described are not used in these applications.

We've just given you a brief overview of the materials, sections and other major components of a residential garage door. You've seen a preview of some of the installation skills you will learn, as you proceed through the series you learn many additional details and receive instructions regarding installation procedures.


Winding Springs - 3 min

WINDING SPRINGS - Okay, we've installed our door and hung our torsion bar, now it's time to wind our spring. This is a relatively straightforward process but once torqued a torsion bar can be dangerous so be sure to use an extra amount of caution. Before you begin tensioning, notice the line painted along the spring, this line will let you count the number of winds you have made. To prevent the door from inadvertently opening fasten locking pliers or C-clamp just above the third roller.

In most cases, wind the spring by pushing up, winding the spring counter-clockwise, if you're unsure of proper winding direction however, just look at the springs last coil. A good rule of thumb is to always wind in the direction the last coil is pointing. Check your manufacturers specification sheet to determine the correct number of turns, tension will be determined by the height and size of the garage door.

To tension the spring insert a winding bar into the winding cone and push up, then insert a second bar, push up and repeat until the proper number of turns has been achieved. Notice as you wind that the spring grows in length and shrinks in diameter. After the spring has been tensioned you'll have to add some stretch or space to the spring so that it doesn't become spring bound. A spring is designed to lift with specific pounds per inch and if the spring is rubbing on itself it will decrease its lifting force.

Here's how to keep a spring from binding, once you’ve finished winding tap the upper part of the winding bar, this simple action will stretch the spring and prevent binding. Now tighten the winding cone set screws and remove the winding bars, then remove the locking pliers form the torsion bar shaft and check the door to ensure it is moving properly. Move the locking pliers from just above the 3rd roller, to just below the same roller, then slowly open the door until the number two roller gently touches the pliers. Now lower the door until it is approximately one foot above the door.

The door is considered reasonably balanced if it doesn't jump above the ground or fall to the floor. Another common test is to place each of the sections in the radius, each of the top three sections should rest in the radius and the bottom of section should coast to the full open position. To achieve reasonable balance the spring may need further adjustment. If the door is too heavy off the floor, increase the tension by increasing the number of turns if the door is hard to pull down, decrease the number of turns, and remember when you are doing either of these adjustments wind in quarter turn increments.


Troubleshooting Garage Door Operations - 7 min

When we train we look at a typical garage door installation, but what about the jobs that have a variation from the norm? Problem solving is a critical skill for an installer, you must find a safe and effective solution to the problems that confront you from time to time. You'll learn from experience and from others how to remedy certain types of installation problems, but we can show you some of the problems you might encounter.

Your first step is to take an ounce of preventive care at the conclusion of every installation and check for proper installation by slowly opening and closing the door. performing a simple post installation check of the door is an absolute essential part of the job, it doesn't take a great deal of time but does enable you to check for problems while you are there and avoid a costly return to the customer to troubleshoot problems.

IMPROPERLY INSTALLED BEARING PLATES - Lets say that when you go to open the door the top section hits the drum on both sides, what can you do? Check the side bearing plates. Manufacturers have different mounting systems that can cause confusion, if the bearing plates have accidentally been installed in the wrong hole it can cause the whole section to be an inch or so too low causing the door to hit the cable drums.

LOOSE CABLES - If during your post installation test you notice your door is too heavy or you notice one of your cables is too loose and could fall off, here's what you do. First check to see if the garage door is sloping, if there is a slope and you didn't compensate by ensuring that the bottom section was level you'll have one cable longer than another. The bottom section must be level in order for for the cables and door to operate properly. Next check your spring tension, if you have insufficient sprint tension the spring will loose all of its preload prior to completing the opening cycle, as a result the cable can become loose or even fall of the drum.

DOOR IS HARD TO OPEN - You have a door that at first is difficult to open but after it's been lifted about 4" above the ground it works perfectly. Let’s see if we can find the problem. First see if you have attached the stop molding properly, stop mold should be installed so that there is a half inch between the wooden part of the molding and the door section. If it's too close the door will bind as it starts to open or as its about to fully close. You want a good seal between the molding and the door but it can't be so tight that it prevents the door from opening.

LOCATING A BIND - If you find a bind during the doors operation, stop the door as it begins to bind and check how each roller fits into the track. When a door is fully closed you should be able to turn the shaft of each roller, if you can't spin the shaft thats where the bind is. To remedy this situation, loosen the vertical track and back it away from the door.

SPRING COMPRESSION - If you're lowering a garage door and it won't completely close or it wants to raise back up as it gets to about a foot above the floor, you have a problem with spring compression. As you close the garage door the torsion spring winds and grows longer, this spring growth is necessary. If a spring slips off the centre cone or the winding cone then spring growth is prevented and the door won't close. When you do experience spring compression it has a very unique feel. Here's how you fix it, clamp the torque tube in place with locking pliers, place your winding bar in the winding cone and carefully undo the set-screws. Now, tap the winding bar this simple action will stretch the spring and eliminate binding, retighten the set-screws and remove the locking pliers.

LOW HEADROOM - exists when the space above the garage door opening is insufficient to allow for proper operation of the door. Some low headroom spaces require the services of a veteran installer but there are a couple of devices out there that anyone can use to complete a low headroom install. They are called quick turn fixtures. These devices are designed to more rapidly turn the top section allowing the door to clear the drums and operate the way it’s supposed to. Any time you end up a couple of inches short of where you need to be, installing a quick-turn device could just save the day.

UNSAFE WORK CONDITIONS - We've emphasized the point throughout this series that safety is your top priority, as an installer the most common safety concern you will encounter is a cluttered garage. Most companies have a standard procedure whereby they instruct the customer to provide a clear space to work in but many times the customer fails to understand what this means. If you arrive on-site and encounter a cluttered garage make sure you get the home owners permission prior to moving anything from the garage and then do so with great care. If the customer doesn't want you to move anything then instruct them how much room you will need and allow them to clear the area. If the customer doesn't want you to move anything and they don't want to move anything then you will not be able to install the door, but don't expect that to happen very often. The main thing to remember is to not proceed with the installation until you have created a safe working environment.

Experience is the greatest teacher, you'll learn many ways to solve problems and troubleshoot in the process of developing your skills. We've looked at only a few of the common problems that you might run into but many other variables exist and potential challenges will find you. One cautionary note, never take a risk, if you are unsure how to handle something call your trainer or your supervisor and explain the situation this is especially important in your first year. You won't be criticized for asking the questions while you are learning. In the vast majority of cases the problems you face will be resolved and as you gain more experience you'll gain more ways to troubleshoot.


Basic Installation of Door and Spring Assembly - 8 min

As we begin our examination of a demonstration installation of a residential garage door we'll be repeating a number of things that you have already heard in earlier portions of this training series. The first repetition of this explanation is that the manufacturers instructions must always be followed. This is especially important because manufacturers produce products that are safe and dependable but variations on their installation may affect their operation and you don't want to be responsible for a defect that results in an accident or in a loss of customer satisfaction.

INSTALLATION METHOD #1 STACKING AND NAILING - We are going to look at two popular methods of installation, stacking and nailing and installing track and holding sections in place with rollers. We'll look at stacking and nailing first. Temporarily but securely nail stop molding to the wood jams, adjustments to the molding can be made later but the molding should overlap the inside face of the jam by approximately 1/8". Now it’s time to stack our door sections, you should realize that all of the sections look the same except for section 1, the bottom section. Section 1 differs from the rest because it has the vinyl floor seal. If your installation requires a lock section, you'll want to pre-drill section two for that at this time.

Now, centre the bottom section in the door opening, level the section with a carpenters level, using shims if required. It is imperative to have the bottom section level, tap in a nail on each side and bend over to temporarily hold the section in place. Stack the second section in the opening and secure with nails, next stack the remaining sections into the opening in the proper sequence and secure with nails. Now it's time to install the hardware. First fasten the bottom brackets and secure into place, next attach the end and centre hinges starting with the bottom and working your way up. Ensure that your hinges are not installed upside down, when installed properly the single round hole or smallest vertical slot is at the bottom of the hinge, also make sure that you install the proper hinge to the proper door section, the number one hinge should be installed on the bottom section and in the centre of each remaining section.

The number 2 hinge goes in the top corners of the second section and so on. This is extremely important because each hinge is constructed differently. Now install the top fixtures then loop the lift cable over the bottom studs on the bottom bracket and install rollers into all the fixtures. Tilt the vertical track laterally and slide it over the rollers. Raise the vertical track 3/4" to 1" above the floor and a half inch away from the edge of the door. To prevent splitting the wood jam, pre-drill the holes for the jam bracket with a 1/4" drill bit then secure the brackets with 5/16" x 1-5/8" lag screws.

Fasten the vertical flag bracket with lag screws making sure the track and angles are plumb, then repeat the process on the other side of the door. Ensure that the tops of the vertical tracks are level with each other. At this time you can remove all the nails that were holding the sections into place. Next install the horizontal track and side bearing plate. The horizontal track will be supported by angle-iron brackets. Begin building the support by fastening a piece of angle-iron across two ceiling trusses, then drop a second piece down to the horizontal track, with a third piece construct a diagonal brace between them then attach to the horizontal track.

INSTALLATION METHOD #2 - In this method just about all the garage doors hardware and tracks will be installed prior to stacking the door sections. Now I say just about because our door tech specialists have found that its best to leave off a few components to make sure stacking goes as smoothly as possible. Here's what I mean: Attach all hardware to bottom section... including rollers. Attach a left and centre hinge, and left roller to sections 2 & 3. Attach the top brackets, rollers, and truss bar to section 4. As with our 1st method always ensure you are using the correct hinge and that it's not installed upside down. Now assemble the vertical and horizontal track. With the bottom section already in place install the track.

Pre-drill and lag the track in place working from top to bottom, you can check for plumb by using a level or by measuring the distance between the vertical track and side wall of the garage, this can also be helpful in squaring the horizontal track. As with method number 1 secure the rear of the horizontal tracks with angle-iron. Now, repeat the same steps to erect the track on the opposite side of the door, and as in method 1 you'll want to ensure that the tops of the vertical tracks are level with one another. Now it's time to place our torsion bar but before you do so I need to point out that the steps you are about to apply also relate tot he stacking and nailing method of install.

You also need to know that torsion spring assemblies are designed for the size and weight of the door and that the assembly will consist of at least one or two colour coded springs. Red indicates left side, and black indicates right side. Okay, lets move on. Slide the left drum, centre bearing, spring assembly and right drum onto the torsion tube and then pre-drill and lag the centre bearing support to the spring pan. Raise the shaft into position and slide it into the end bearings. Position the shaft so that an equal amount extends past the end bearings on both sides of the door. And connect the spring to the centre bearing plate. You can now carefully set the number two section, install the roller into the left side hinge and then swing the section into place, next install a roller into the right side hinge and swing into place, repeat for the remainder of the sections.

Now working from one side to the other, align the sections, fasten the remainder of the hinges and place the last roller into the top bracket, feed the lift cable up to the right drum making sure to keep it between the roller stems and the right wall. To prevent the shaft from turning attach a pair of locking pliers to the shaft and rest the end against the wall. Place the stop end of the cable through the slot in the drum, with the stop on the shaft side of the slot. Revolve the drum until the cable is taught, then tighten the set-screws. You'll install the left side in the same manner.


Garage Door Opener Concerns and Installation - 5 min

As recently as 10 to 15 years ago a residential garage door opener was considered to be a luxury, today most home owners consider them to be an essential garage door item. Garage door openers are virtually everywhere. For this reason it is necessary for the professional garage door installer to understand the steps to proper opener installation. Over then next few minutes we'll take a look at the residential garage door opener, it's safety features and correct installation procedures. Let's get started.

Understanding UL 325 and preparing the job site - Underwriter laboratories is a non-profit organization that specializes in the development of standards for many different products. The standard that applies to door opening systems is Ul 325. In its earliest stages openers were tested by UL as electric motors but in 1973 UL recognized that openers were more than just motors and required that if a motor contacted an obstruction within 2" of the floor, that it automatically reverse within two seconds. In 1982 a second reversal feature was added to UL 325 stating that the opener must automatically reverse the door to its open position, if the close limit was not reached within 30 seconds. In 1993 UL 325 was again revised to include another feature: external entrapment protection devices, such as photo detectors and safety edges, are required.

Whether or not you installed the door there are some things to consider when evaluating the site conditions. First in order for the safety features to work correctly and the life of the opener to be maximized the door opening must be properly constructed and the door opener must be properly installed. Understand what type of door you will be attaching an opener to, the opener installation will be different for different door types.

OPENERS - there are 4 types of openers they are: Chain type, screw type, belt type and direct drive. The chain, screw and belt types are all installed in similar fashion and will be covered in this training video. The direct drive type requires specific manufacturers instructions. Determine if there are any gaps between the floor and the door, gaps across the top of the floor might cause the automatic reversal feature to operate incorrectly. Make sure there is an electrical outlet close to the opener, if there isn't one remember that electrical codes may require that a licensed electrician perform any wiring required. Some electrical code may even require wiring the power source through conduit. Most important, never use an extension cord as a method of providing power.

INSTALLING THE OPENER - Before we begin its important to mention that installation procedures vary from garage to garage, low ceiling or finished or not finished ceilings all come into play when installing an opener, with that in mind today we'll address common ceiling heights for finished or un-finished garage ceilings. With the door at it's high-rise point, the point where the top edge of the door is highest above the floor, measure the distance from the top of the door to the ceiling, then close the door and at the centre of the header make a mark 2" above the high-rise point you just measured. Now mark the bracket, pilot drill the holes and attach the bracket to the header.

Once again open the door, place a 1x4 board on top of the door section, centre the opener and rest it atop the 1x4 this gives you the correct clearance for operating the door. At this time you'll also want to connect the opener rail to the header bracket, too do this you'll need to reach between the bottom of the door and garage header. Fasten angle-iron to the two closest joists above the opener, then cut and fasten angle brackets from the ceiling angle-iron to the opener, always use locking nuts or washers as provided by the manufacturer. Now, close the door and attach the opener arm assembly. Be sure to position the trolley so that it's about 2" back from vertical. Next attach the emergency release cord, the cord should hang about 6' above the garage floor.

Now manually open and close the door to ensure smooth operation. Next assemble and mount the IR safety system so that the sensors are between 4" and 6" above the floor, checking with the manufacturers instructions for exact mounting procedures. Run the low voltage wires back to the motor assembly in a neat fashion, make sure to use insulated staples, metal staples can short the wires and the opener will not operate properly. At this time you can also connect the wall control station. Make sure the wall station is mounted 5' from the floor so that children can not play with it. Also, ensure the control is mounted within line of site with the floor and finally plug in the opener to the ceiling plug.

OPENER ADJUSTMENTS - Now that the opener is installed we can adjust the settings and up and down travel limits, obviously different manufacturers have different adjustment methods so be sure to refer to the manufacturers instructions for specifics. With that said here are some basic guidelines: Set the up and down force to minimum activate the opener to open and close the garage door stops during the up and down travel the up or down sensitivity setting will need to be adjusted according to the manufacturers instructions. The opener is adjusted correctly when the garage door can travel to the fully open or fully closed position without encountering any difficulties.

Now let’s look at travel limits. The limit adjustments control how far the garage door will open or close. Up travel should be set so that the bottom edge of the door is no lower than the bottom edge of the garage door header and no higher than 2" above the bottom edge of the header. Down travel should be set so that the door closes gently in the closed position. If the door stops and reverses upon hitting the floor or stops before hitting the floor the down travel limiter will need to be adjusted as per the manufacturers instructions. Our next step is to check for proper operations of the safety reversal features, we'll begin with door force. The door force mechanism must be in proper adjustment at all times.

This ensures that the garage door will reverse its motion if it encounters any obstruction on its downward travel and stop its motion if an obstruction is encountered on its upward travel. With the door open lay a 2x4 or similar obstacle flat in the centre of the garage door opening, when the door hits the obstacle it should reverse and go in the opposite direction. If the door does not reverse after hitting the obstacle then the downward travel must be adjusted.

Now, let’s verify the IR reversal function. Place an obstacle in the path of the IR beam, if the opener will not activate at this time, the IR system is working correctly. Openers have one other IR safety feature, if the IR system is not functioning the homeowner can close the door by pressing and holding the closing button on the wall station, but here's the catch... if the door does not reach its' fully closed position while the button is pushed the door will automatically open as soon as the button is released. Keep in mind this constant pressure override system can not be triggered from the remote openers, only from the wall station.

FINISHING THE INSTALLATION - Okay, here are a few final simple tasks you'll need to do to finalize your installation. Install the opener lightbulbs, making sure the bulbs have a wattage equal to or lesser than recommended by the manufacturer. Apply the warning labels, each opener is provided with one or more labels to warn or instruct homeowners in the safe operation and regular testing of the opener. These must be installed according to the manufacturers instructions. You must be sure to affix a label by the wall mount button, this is a required label and is not subjective to the customers preference. If a customer asks you not to apply the label by the wall button explain that it is a safety requirement and you must put it there.

Next help the customer program the remote controls, each manufacturer has different programming sequences so refer to the manufacturers manual for specific instructions or details. Finally be sure to review the main operation and safety features of the door opening system with the homeowner, including the manual release, wall control, IR System and safety labels, discuss the warranty and leave the homeowner the installation manual. You've now completed the installation of your customers new garage door and opener, but remember the example we've shown you is a typical installation and not all of your assignments will follow this process so the most valuable tool in your ongoing training is the manufacturers instructions.


Commercial Door Installation - 1 min

Demonstration of door operation after complete installation of door and door openers.


Residential Garage Door Removal - 10 min

We're here today to install a new garage door for a gentleman. This is JJ just pulling in with his overhead door truck with all the tools he needs to accomplish this task. What we're going to do is get this old door raised up, its in really bad shape you can actually see holes in it and the bottom edge is rotted out. Its a perfect example of a door that needs replacing, an old wood door.

So JJ has gone ahead and setup his tools inside the garage and we're now going ahead and pulling off the components that are required to assemble the new garage door, most of which the assembly will be done inside the garage. He has some saw-horses setup, his tools laid out and he's made things safe for himself that no one is going to get hurt from anything poking out somewhere. It's always a good idea for the customer to cleanup their garage - a little bit more than this one - but we've seen a lot worse, we've seen garages with things stacked right to the outside, we really appreciate when things are moved out of our way because safety of course is a major concern.

These panels are heavy and awkward and take a little bit of balancing to get where they need to go, and we want to do a good job so we don't want any panels that are going to be a problem because something has happened during transportation. The panels come packaged in cardboard and we have what's called a "dunnage" sheet on top of the truck to stop the garage doors from being damaged while on the truck rack, we're just bringing them in now and putting them on the sawhorses which will give us a nice workstation to work from.

So besides the panels themselves and the track then there is the hardware components that are created for each and every door, not every door is made the same so these are very specific hardware that are going to meet the components that we are putting in place for you. This particular one has whats called a "torque tube" so it won't have the spring pack like the old door had, but there is weatherstripping to go on after so we'll just leave that by the truck for now. We have everything arranged in here now so if there is a weather condition, should it rain or anything then we're all set because everything is inside.

The next thing to do after we have all our tools and setup done inside is to bring down the existing door that we had raised up earlier and begin disassembling that unit from the inside. We have to be really careful here as that door is heavy. The door is old the springs are old, the cables are old, the hinges are old, for sure the brackets are old so J's going to start disassembling this door, we've got our tools like I said inside here theres a number of very specific tools we use for garage doors and winding bars the things he has in his hands now are among those. Now we're going to take that spring and make it so that the tension is no longer on it.

JJ said "Someone really tightened this down too hard when they installed it and the spring is binding on the shaft and it's not releasing the pins for us, that can be very dangerous when you are doing this..." - Pat interjects, and that's one of the things about these garage doors, the spring is a very integral part of the door, it takes the weight and transfers it to the spring so that the door doesn't take the poundage that it could be, that spring is taking the weight.

Very dangerous if it comes unwound too quickly or springs towards where J is working it could take a hand off or smack a guy in the head you have to be very very careful, this is typically not a do-it-yourselfer project, there are a number of installation issues that could have happened prior to our arrival, someone could have adjusted it themselves and created a dangerous point for us to work with. Its not something we can know ahead of time, we just have to get in there, get started and take note of issues as we work in that area.

while very dangerous, J's just giving me the opportunity to video this spring coming unravelled in an inappropriate manor, we do not normally do this, this is just for example to show the torque that is on this spring. Wow! Yeah, we don't want to be in the way of that or have something come flying off and hit us when thats going on.

So we're going to go ahead and remove the bracket that holds the garage door opener in place and then start removing the hinges, the top ones first and working done. We're taking the top bolts out of the hinges and J's going to remove the door one panel at a time, then we'll start the additional track removal. It's a blessing when you've got the right tools and process and a guy like JJ here on our team that is very well trained and has a process to follow on how to take the doors apart. JJ has been in the industry now for 14 or 15 years and he's an expert at what he does, he can recognize a situation or problem very quickly and then find a solution to that problem. Here we have got a something where someone has doing a patch-up repair and that nut didn’t want to come off but we got it and it's out of the way.

Here JJ is removing the bottom part of that bracket, hinge-bracket, so that he can start taking these door panels out, one at a time. So here we are, the rollers and hinges have been disconnected and we're ready to pull the panel out, you have to be very careful because we don't want to end up with an avalanche of panels coming down, take one out at a time being conscientious of our environment to not damage anything or hurt anyone. And J will just continue that all the way to the bottom.

While the installation is the main concern of clients and for ourselves there is a good deal of prep work that has to be done before we even get to the point. So we have the door panels removed and we're going to load them onto our truck because we'er going to remove and dispose of these panels at a dumpsite and some of it will be recycled, some of the metal panels, individuals will come by and take some for a project they may have on the go at the cottage or shed. These rotted panel are for sure wood and will go to a wood chipper and be recycled at the dump.

While our garage door technician is doing this himself, it’s a heavy job, something that he has built up the muscle for over the years. It's not a job to be taken lightly, it's a lot of work and at the end of the day he deserves a good meal. So J is going to go ahead and cut the cables here, which would normally go up to the springs and just put that out of the way and then we're going to pull the track off of one side so that we can get that last panel out of that channel, get the rollers out, this particular door was really well rotted, it's an old wood door that certainly needs replacing. Again, knowing which parts to take apart first is very important, we have to get this door disassembled.

There are companies that will just slap up new face as the call it and leave the old track there but often times there is something that may have been done wrong, or the tracks are bent or well rusted and not all doors require the same hardware components so we want to make sure we get the right track to match the new door face, springs, rollers and hinges. You can bubblegum anything together but it doesn't mean that it's correct and it may even work for a couple of years but doing the job from start to finish with all new hardware is the correct way to do it and every manufacturer will make that recommendation as well.

We're just going to get the horizontal tracks removed and get them off the shaft that is holding the springs. Like I said we want to make sure we're putting up all new hardware that's going to match the new garage door correctly. The last part to come down now is the shaft and spring and we're going to get that centre bracket taken off and get it all loaded onto the truck, all this metal is going to go to the metal recycling, everything gets disposed of and we take care of that for you.


Residential Garage Door Installation - 20 min

A lot of what we hav done up to this point is remove the existing door, now we're starting to get the hardware and the panels ready to go into the opening. There are some issues involved with that of course, with the hardware sent, we have to ensure that all the hardware sent is correct and prepare the hardware for assembly. I'm just going to show you something that's interesting with these garage doors it's something that you can look at too, often time's there is a crack right along the middle of the garage floor, typically in an older home that's a heave mark where the floor has heaved up in the middle and the two sides will be what I call fractured so the floor may have concrete tore apart there or the concrete may be raised on one side, just something to look at, we're always trying to seal up that door as best we can so we will review and discuss it with you while we're onsite as well.

Once we've sorted out our hardware its just a matter of doing some preliminary assembly on our workbench. The doors that we put together for you can be from a variety of manufacturers and are going to best match your garage door needs. The door is going to have clips that snap in place and then we're going to assemble the additional components that are going to hold the horizontal track in place. The fun part, the assembly of components on the door. We had to do some prep work, sort out our brackets, hardware, nuts and bolts. This component that is going on here is actually going on the top panel it's a strengthening bar and in a little bit we're going to put the garage door motor mounting plate on as well and then we will be working on putting the brackets on the garage door framing.

Now we’re going to put that mounting bracket on for the garage door arm to attach to, with a separate, reinforced component so that we're not tearing the door apart. We've got one panel in place now and our garage door technician is going to start assembling the components, now we're putting the vertical track in place with the brackets and start stacking some of the panels on top of there and tagging them into place. Again there is specific hardware for each step along the way and we're going to make sure that things are level and square. This particular panel is sealing that bottom nicely as it has a nice big bottom strip of rubber that keeps that seal and helps keep out the weather and eventually even the mice out, that's something that is important that you might not think about, a garage door that seals is a valuable garage door.

So we've got three of the four panels stacked and no JJ is securing the track along side the door. The rollers are in place along the door and we're just going to make sure that the track is tracking the door properly vertically so that the door operates correctly and theres no binding. Prior to taking this shot we also levelled the door to ensure that the door was level from side to side and that everything will align with our future brackets. With the vertical tracks in place and now secure with the bolts, we're going to assemble the horizontal tracks that move the door from the door opening position up to the ceiling area. Sometimes we'll talk to our customers about having something called low headroom which is the space above the track, there has to be a certain amount of space there for the door to function and the brackets to work and then most importantly the door opener has to have the room to work in that space above the door.

We're just preparing to put the final panel in place, J is removing some of the packaging material then we're going to stack this fourth and final panel in the track the vertical and horizontal tracks are in place and secure at this time and things are moving along nicely. It's a great looking door, certainly nicer than the rotten wood one that was falling apart. This is a nice secure galvanized steel and insulated door, so we're going to get some insulation value out of that and some security and we won't have the wind or mice flowing through here.

Next step, put the cables in down along the side of the door to the bottom bracket. Often time that bottom bracket will rust out on the old garage doors and that cable will come loose and just snap or the loop will rust through and come apart. Nice new door everything is in great shape, why does it rust out down there, well you've got your vehicle coming in and out and it has salt along the bottom and it's carrying in from the road and it's getting along the bottom and it's going to rust out whatever is along the bottom of the door. Now these cables are galvanized and the track is galvanized so they're certainly going to last a long time but not forever.

JJ interjects "And one more point too is if you have poor weatherstrip along the side of the door, right now we don't have any and you can see the opening you have there so if it's poor it's going to let the elements in and you'll have rain and snow and whatever coming in". We're going to make sure that the weatherstrip is nice and snug and this particular one, since it's a new door, will be good but over time the doors loose its weatherstrip contact and need to be replaced.

This particular door has a torque tube, which is a different type of spring operating device recently developed. It's a newer way, I particularly like the spring pack better, this torque tube does the job though, and anything that is maintained properly is going to work for you, and installed properly. We've got that torque tube up and now we're going to install the cable drums, there is some concern that the wood above the shaft was going to be in the way but it drop down into place nicely. It may not be very service friendly but we didn't have to modify that section where the 2x4 was retrofitted in place by someone else.

JJ - Going to tighten up the cables now that are seated on the drum, make sure our tension is out of there, make sure our shaft is positioned properly and tighten that number 2 screw that holds our cable in place. A lot of people over-tighten things sometimes but that is not the case with this particular instance you want to make sure this is good and tight and we want to set our shaft. This is a very odd shaped shaft, I'm going to have to take several attempts at this possibly. This door, you don't want to pick up either cause you can pick up the door and throw off your whole level. Pat - If you didn't quite catch what happened there it's in the instructions in 3 different languages.

It's a good thing to know, something I like to talk about around the counter is how to assemble springs as it is a dangerous part of this door and it has to be done with absolute correctness to ensure we get this door functioning properly. So, what we have done there is use a specialty tool to wind the spring to give the spring torsion so that it will lift the door. The garage door opener is made to open the door but it's not made to take a lot of weight, it's the springs that lift that door.

Another issue that we’re dealing with here is called "back hanging" it's the support brace that we're going to put in place that's going to hold your horizontal track, has to be done right and put in securely because it's going to take the weight of that door eventually when it opens up. JJ - I've seen old doors let go and fall onto cars and it's not fun. Pat - yeah it's a mess, you want to make sure that those screws are going up and into solid studs, because this particular roof is sheeted, often times they are just drywalled and if you just screw up into the drywall it will let go and fall on top of the car, maybe not on day one but eventually they will.

We have to get this cross bracket in there as well, it stops the wobbling in the door, and stop the track from bouncing side to side. Everything has to be aligned properly, and not everyone is taking the time when they are assembling a garage door are making sure that all these things are aligned properly. Door Surgeon staff have been trained to do ensure all of these things are done as your door is going in. We want to do business with you again we just don't want to do business with you over the same thing again within a month or two, we want to make sure we're getting that up for you and giving you no trouble at all for the length of the time you own that door.

So our overhead garage door technician has prebuilt the components of the garage door opener, a LiftMaster belt drive, it's our preferred opener to install, they are nice and quiet and J's just getting ready to install the bracket on the header so that the garage door opener has something to attache to on the wall. He has the right tools and he's centred that on the wall so that the garage door opener is going to track properly. We don't want things twisting so he's taken the appropriate measurements and checked with a level to ensure that placement is correct.

He's also gone ahead a little while ago and placed the photo eyes, this is a safety device that goes across your door to prevent the door from trapping someone in the path of the door, it automatically changes direction. Then we have the LiftMaster wall control mounted on the wall at a very specific height, if you're ever wondering why its' up so high, they do recommend that height it's part of the regulations to prevent people from playing with it or bumping into it with maybe an elbow or their bum or a knee or to prevent a child from opening it up so because we don't want that to happen it's at a very specific height.

Now we're just getting the tip of that closers operator into that bracket JJ just mounted and aligned reasonably straight with that we're going to do some double-checking in a minute then we're going to open up that door and let that opener rest atop of the garage door while we get some other things into place. J's going to get this door opened up and the door closer is going to rest up there on top of the door, you have to be careful because the door can open too quick and run off the end of the track. So just like the garage door horizontal brackets track we had to make sure the track had brackets to hold it up this door closer is going to require brackets to hold it in place as well. Brackets have been created and attached to the motor head and now it's a matter of getting that secured against the ceiling of the garage.

So now we have the motor mounted and the brackets secured and the beam for the motor track is now attached tot he door itself with this J-bracket. JJ is going along and attaching the cable that will run to the motor and thats for the safety photo eyes and the remote opener for the motor itself, often times we've got a channel to run that through, in this particular case there is not a lot of room above the door so JJ is choosing to do the contemporary way of doing things which is simply using a u-type stapler.

We've got the wires all run to the head of the motor and JJ is going to insert those wires into the connecting points then after that we'll give the motor a try. Point of note we have also installed a surge protector here and we're going to plug the operator into that just to help it out if there is a lightning strike or an electrical surge of some sort. Now we're going to test that motor and you can hear some noise coming from the door opener but it's pretty quiet compared to a chain drive and the rock and rattle of a garage door that has been poorly installed. We will set the limits on this as well so that the door only opens the distance it should and then when it comes back down its going to close to a specific point without the motor doing an over-run or pushing longer than it should.

Another feature we want to be concerned about is the battery back up the comes with this particular opener, so not all openers are created the same, this unit we've installed a surge protector and is outfitted with a battery backup, why? Well what happens if the power goes out and you can't open the door, that's going to become an issue. So with the battery backup that's going to allow for the opener communication to open that door or if the door is open it may be even more important if there is a storm on the way and you need to get that door closed, or needing it to close so that the contents are not exposed to whoever is walking down the alley or the front street.

JJ - the nice thing with this garage door opener is that it has a number of special features along with the battery backup it has an indication if your battery is charged, charging or empty and also has an time and temperature display on the unit as well as an ambient light sensor on it so if you're opening the door and it's dark it will turn on the lights for you so that you're not left in the dark trying to find the light switch. This unit also has other features like wifi so that you can have the MyQ app and run the opener with your cell phone from anywhere in the world. It also has a timer feature so you can have the door automatically close after a certain time, or has a lock-out feature so if you are going away on holiday you can lock-out the remote openers and you can do that all from the touch of a button right here.

Okay, so what we're doing now is finishing off the weatherstripping on the outside of the door, making a nice seal all the way around to keep the general weather out, at least that's the idea. This garage isn't heated but it's always nice to keep the weather out, and bugs out as well, a great benefit to having a garage door installed properly.

So there it is a completed garage door, wow what a difference, looking sharp and running nice it's going to be sealed up. You can run that remote from your vehicle run it on wifi we can set it up so that it has a timer on that remote you can run it from inside, fantastic. Thank you for joining us on an install that has gone really well. Door Surgeon looks forward to helping you with your project.


5 min - Roll Shutter Operations

Window and Door Security with Roll Shutters.

Roll Shutters Canada provided by Door Surgeon, the ultimate window security solution when you want to protect your home or business. Door Surgeon ensures that your Roll Shutters are built strong, secure, durable and provide maximum window security. Roll Shutters can glide easily into place when you need them and retract into a convenient overhead box when you don’t. Door Surgeon's Roll Shutters come with either manual or motorized controls which ensure a smooth and secure operation.

Roll Shutters Canada and Door Surgeon can work together to match the exterior of your home or business. Roll shutters can be matched to your home or business needs. When Roll Shutters are closed, they protect exposed glass, prevent forced entry and provide a strong barrier against crime. When Roll Shutters are retracted, you will enjoy a fully unobstructed view to the outside. Roll Shutters Canada and Door Surgeon provide custom built and installed Roll Shutters to meet all of your Roll Shutter security.


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4 Min Push Button Entries - 4 min

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Safes - 1 min

Safes To Secure Your Valuables and Documents

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Security Key & Hardware - 3 min

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