# Garage door opener mount loose in ceiling



## bigbearbear (Dec 1, 2010)

Need to add: My garage ceiling is a finished one with no expose joist or beams etc. Thanks.


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

Post a picture.
Why not just use a longer lag, or a larger one?


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## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

bigbearbear said:


> Need to add: My garage ceiling is a finished one with no expose joist or beams etc. Thanks.


If it is finished with drywall then the drywall is most likely attched to the joists. Locate the joists and secure your angle bracket. 

My opener was wobbly because it only had vertical angle bracket supporting it. I located the joists. Attached a small piece of angle bracket on the ceiling on each side on the opener and then ran pieces of angle bracket from the new pieces on the ceiling to the existing vertical supports to tighten everything up. 

Now there is no movemant at all when the opener is in operation.


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

Longer and/ or larger lag *screw* with lock washer. 2nd less favored option;Make hole smaller by pushing glue coated wooden skewer in it. Insert old screw with lock washer. Put lock washers on all lag screws.

hammer, you didn't mention turning the leaf blower other direction. Constant wind on opener was making it sway in breeze. And how do you stay on that bike? Ropes or belts?


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## joecaption (Nov 30, 2011)

That's a special bike made for astronauts to ride in zero gravity, silly.


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## bigbearbear (Dec 1, 2010)

My thanks, hammer, john.

Here's what the opener and the mount looks like now, notice the lag screw on the left is coming out slightly. It'll come up a little each time I open or close the door, due to the vibration I think.


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## epson (Jul 28, 2010)

use this type of anchor and you should have no problems.


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## bigbearbear (Dec 1, 2010)

epson said:


> use this type of anchor and you should have no problems.


Will these work if the existing screw is threading through the joist and not hollow dry wall?


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## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

bigbearbear said:


> Will these work if the existing screw is threading through the joist and not hollow dry wall?


 
If a joist is there use LARGER lag screws


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

Even easier, if you can get up there and place a 2x6 to attach the opener, it would be the better route. If there is a floor above, that would mean cutting out the gypsum, installing the 2x6, then put back the gypsum, finish, and reattach the opener.


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## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

gregzoll said:


> Even easier, if you can get up there and place a 2x6 to attach the opener, it would be the better route. If there is a floor above, that would mean cutting out the gypsum, installing the 2x6, then put back the gypsum, finish, and reattach the opener.


 
How is that easier than USING A LARGER LAG SCREW??????


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## gregzoll (Dec 25, 2006)

hammerlane said:


> How is that easier than USING A LARGER LAG SCREW??????


HOW ABOUT DOING IT RIGHT!!! See, I can yell also.


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## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

gregzoll said:


> HOW ABOUT DOING IT RIGHT!!!


With a finished ceiling in the garage, I have never seen the angle bracket of an opener attached to a "2 by" where the "2 by" is cut into the ceiling. I may have lived a sheltered life in what I see but have never seen that.

To say that is the right way of doing it as opposed to securing the angle bracket to a located joist I just don't know.


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## hammerlane (Oct 6, 2011)

Unless Im interpreting incorrectly what someone has said to do with a "2 By", I have not been able to find such an installation on a finished garage ceiling


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

You boys play nice or I'll take your shift keys away.
bear, if I may be so *bold* as to call you that, just screw a longer and/or larger lag screw in the same hole and let me underline the fact that using lock washers will prevent it from vibrating and unscrewing itself. I am repeating myself, I _emphasize_ the point that I don't think weren't paying attention. Its just that with all the yelling and screaming, I thought you might not have heard me. is that a screw drive opener? The torque of opening, besides vibration, puts more stress on one end of bracket pulling on screw. Not as much stress in closing but lock washers on every screw and bolt of hanger good idea.

I think greg is trying to say it is better, more secure, to mount to a solid 2X than molly thru gypsum. But just screw it to joists over gyp. 

Now you two KNOCK OFF WITH THE YELLING! Don't make me have to come down there with this 2X and lay it upside your heads. Hammer, what are all these openers doing in here? Put your toys away. Greg, stop cutting holes in the ceiling, you're getting everything dusty. All right who's been playing with the lag screws? I want those put away, and each size and length in its own properly labeled jar, how can anybody tell which are larger and which longer with um all jumbled together like that? Don't get the mollies mixed in with them And I see you lost all the lock washers, it took me years to collect all those. can't leave you two alone for a second.


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## bigbearbear (Dec 1, 2010)

I took the route of putting in a larger lag screw, thanks for the other suggestions too, they're useful but I couldn't adopt them at this time. Right now the garage opener seems to be holding up (see lag screw on left):









I called a highly experience garage door professional here Northern California about this and I was very impressed with his knowledge. As it turns out, the reason why I'm experiencing this issue is that the original installer put the lag screw in at a slanted angle. When I spoke with the professional about this problem he immediately said this must be the problem and he was right. The original screw was screwed in at a slanted angle.

I'm still not 100% happy with this fix, I think it'll be a matter of time before the larger lag screw becomes loose again, and since the garage door opener is fairly old (came with the house when I bought it, not new, 8 years back) I decided to put in a new one anyway. Going to have that professional I spoke with come in and put in a fancier belt-driver opener (the existing one is chain driven) plus fix the support mount properly, the larger lag screw should be able to hold the old opener in place until then.

Thanks again everyone for the suggestions.


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

sigh.....


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## bigbearbear (Dec 1, 2010)

notmrjohn said:


> sigh.....


I'm sure the lock washer will help but with the screw at a slanted angle, I think it'll only be a matter of time before the vibration cause enough movement and enlarge the hole, thus requiring yet another larger lag screw and it'll spin into an endless cycle of lag screw replacement till I can't find a bigger one.

The bigger and longer one I put in now seems to be holding, it only needs to hold until Thur. Right now it looks good.

I'll see what the garage door professional does with this, hopefully he'll be about to do a permanent job on the ceiling mount and prevent this from happening again.


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

OK, I'm just yankin your door opener chain now anyway. The pro knows what to do. :thumbsup: And you say you want him to come out anyway, for other stuff.
But unless that angle is really slanted almost horizontal, I don't think the angle is all that important, a tight screw will hold at a slant. A loose screw will unscrew enough to become a lever and then wobble, cutting a bigger hole making the screw even looser, making longer lever, cutting a... well then it falls out, denting car or your head. Lock washers keep screws from unscrewing. But a severely angled screw is already a lever.

Gotta go, take my truck to pro, 15 cent cotter pin in axle bearing nut came out.


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## bigbearbear (Dec 1, 2010)

Update on this project.

The garage door professional put in a new model LiftMaster 8550 Belt Drive opener. He removed the temporary screw I had in place and used one of the lag screws that came with the box to secure the mount using one of the outer holes in the mount.

Looks like this now:









There is a small issue I ran into however, nothing to do with the installation but the opener is a new model with the fancy "MyQ" wireless technology. Which turns out to be incompatible with the Homelink system in my Lexus (anything older than 2011 seems to be incompatible from what I saw on web searches). Took me a while to figure out why the Homelink isn't programming properly.

Looks like I'll have to live with the clip-on visor remote for now, or buy one of those repeaters that will bridge the older Homelink in the Lexus with the newer code in the opener.

Something to keep in mind if you're planning to install a new garage door opener.


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## notmrjohn (Aug 20, 2012)

Oooooh, shiny, pretty. 
"... if you're planning to install a new garage door opener." or buy an older car.
I can see the lag screw, while he was installing it did he...um... just happen to casually mention anything about, uh....


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## firehawkmph (Dec 12, 2009)

[IMG said:


> http://www.bigbearbear.com/popphoto/opener-mount-fix.jpg[/IMG]
> 
> The original screw was screwed in at a slanted angle.
> 
> .


If the lag was in at an angle it means the idiot who put it up missed the center of the joist. The lag will start in and deflect because its just catching the edge of the 2X above. The main piece of angle against the ceiling can be moved over and new holes started. There are a series of holes on the brackets attached to the top of the opener. I would use a small drill bit to locate the joist centers and move the angle accordingly. I install doors and openers all the time and none of them will stay up if you don't hit the centers of the joists/trusses above.
Mike Hawkins


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