# How to reinforce this garage door for opener?



## Msradell (Sep 1, 2011)

Almost every garage door opener I've ever seen didn't have any more reinforcing than what you have already. I've never seen a corrector were special reinforcing for the opener to attach to. As long as the door is balanced correctly before the opener is installed the opener isn't going to put much worse on the door at all.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

I think with those large windows in his door, and seeing the opener arm will probably attach to the center panel between the windows...the OP's concerns may be valid.

I just looked at and took a pic of, my 9 ft. wide x 7 ft. tall door and even without windows, it is supported by supplemental bracing.

It has .250 in. thick x 3 in. wide aluminum bars that goes vertically behind all the center hinges and connects them together. At the top, there is a bar from the top hinge that goes up and behind the metal "t" bar that runs horizontally across the top of the door. It top bar is attached to it. 

I do know whether or not the OP wants to go to this much work or expense though. As either my door extra supports bar was done this way at the factory, OR by the installer. 

I don't KNOW which, but I REALLY doubt the door installer went to such efforts. Not only would he lose money doing so, but he could have probably voided the door's warranty by modifying it. .

But the OP's door in my opinion, would probably benefit somewhat over the years by just taking a piece of .250 x 3 in. flat stock aluminum fastened to the top hinge, and then fasten it to the "T" bar that runs along the full top length of the door. Owner's choice, as AL-you-minni-um gets expensive quick.  All JMO


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## Yodaman (Mar 9, 2015)

samguan said:


> I went to Homedepot and they had a bracket made for this purpose but it only supports up to 21" panel. My garage has 3 sections and each section is 32" in height. I couldn't find anything on the market that spans 32".


I would use the 21" support from HD. The horizontal bar in place now is a stiffener to keep the door from sagging while in the up position and has nothing to do with the connecting bar support plate. 
Probably overthinking this a little. The spring is doing most of the work here, the opener is not pulling the full dead weight of the door.


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## Gregsoldtruck79 (Dec 21, 2017)

Yodaman said:


> I would use the 21" support from HD. The horizontal bar in place now is a stiffener to keep the door from sagging while in the up position and has nothing to do with the connecting bar support plate.
> Probably overthinking this a little. The spring is doing most of the work here, the opener is not pulling the full dead weight of the door.



Very True. But if everyone would go out and check the proper "hold back" tension of their garage door as it drops whenever it is unhooked from the opener, I bet they will be surprised.

When we moved in to our present home, I never checked my doors tension until one day I wanted to open the door manually.


The door dropped like a rock. I made some tension spring adjusting dowels, and with a ladder and wrench...I adjusted my tension spring where the door will stay in position where ever it sits, in the track while it is unattached to the opener. 

These improperly "tensioned" springs on garage doors just shorten the lives of these plastic geared openers too, by having to pull the weight of the door up *unassisted *by the return (torsion) spring basically. 

Anyone wanting to adjust their OWN tension spring, HAD BETTER DO SOME RESEARCH ON HOW TO DO IT AND KNOW THEY CAN GET HURT VERY QUICKLY WHILE DOING SO.! JMO


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

Agreed that most people put no reinforcements and it works out just fine. Just about everybody puts an opener on their doors, so you would figure the doors are designed to accept that load. I expect its the opener manufacturer's lawyers that put in that statement --- now their butts are covered if the opener damages the door --- either you didn't follow instructions, or you put in a reinforcement but your reinforcement wasn't strong enough.

Having said that, I once had a garage door, that after about 30 years, the door center rib did start to crack from fatigue. It was just a very cheap 1-ply steel door. I welded in a steel reinforcement and its still going today (40+ years and counting). (Still bothers me --- I am a lousy welder, but that came out really, really nice --- until I decided to perfect the weld and burnt through.)

My current door is two-car wide and no external reinforcement.

Keep in mind also, that if you put that much steel angle on a door, you are adding quite a bit of weight.


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## samguan (Oct 28, 2014)

thanks guys!. I might go with the homedepot brace and then add an extension to connect it to the bottom hinge of the top panel. I went to my friend's house yesterday and looked at his garage door. His house is probably 20 years old and I didn't see any reinforcement, the mounting bracket was attached directly to the TOP? of the garage door.


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## rooster4321 (Feb 25, 2018)

Looking at your door with those windows I would add another horizontal brace like the one at the top below the windows but on the top panel

Sent from my KYOCERA-E6560 using Tapatalk


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

Get one of these reinforcement brackets as others have suggested.
You don't need another horizontal strut as also suggested. Check your door operation manually. It should be easy to lift with one hand, stop approximately half way up and it should stay there. Garage door guy here, simple project.
Mike Hawkins


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