[btp76]

I have a 12 foot ceiling in my new garage. The doors are standard size 16'x7'. I want to maintain my ceiling height to clear a two post lift. My idea is to use a standard garage door but run the vertical rails up and extra 4' (high lift). That way you can open the door 7' to clear the opening and have it only interfere with about 3' of ceiling. On my side I can live without an opener, but she has to have one. I've gotten quotes for industrial openers to the tune of about $1000. Does anyone have any better ideas?

[propaniac]

I have a customer that has one that is attached to the door. It uses a rubber wheel friction type drive that runs against the outside of the wheel trac. It is attached at the bottom of the door and is about the size of a 1/2 drill motor.

He said it is from Europe. I will try to get ahold of him for you if you want.

John

[dinger]

Tell her to park outside. J/K..check this out After being a weisenheimer I figured it was the least I could do. Dan

[roger1]

Originally Posted by btp76

I have a 12 foot ceiling in my new garage. The doors are standard size 16'x7'. I want to maintain my ceiling height to clear a two post lift. My idea is to use a standard garage door but run the vertical rails up and extra 4' (high lift). That way you can open the door 7' to clear the opening and have it only interfere with about 3' of ceiling. On my side I can live without an opener, but she has to have one. I've gotten quotes for industrial openers to the tune of about $1000. Does anyone have any better ideas?

I had a high lift kit installed on my door for my 11ft ceiling and just open/close manually. I don't believe they make a door opener that will work for these for residential use. Don't go the industrial opener route. For everyday residential use, there is a danger factor not having it auto-reverse when hitting something. Also, if you sell your house, an inspector will note that it doesn't meet code and you would probably have to uninstall it. I also wouldn't be suprised if a professional would refuse to install an industrial opener in a residential application.

If someone knows otherwise that there IS a residential opener for this application, please let us know.

Roger

[btp76]

I did find this. http://www.aaaremotes.com/miracleinstruments.html
Propaniac - It may be the same thing your customer has.

Roger - Good point about the inspector. I'll wait til after we get our green tag to install one - if I go that route.

I found another opener that looked perfect, the name escapes me, but it was a persons name. Anyway, it installed in the torsion spring rod and drove the door from there. After an hour or so of research I came to the conclusion that it is an inferior product and most users were dis-satisfied.

Dinger - In case you are ever in this situation, a standard opener will not work. They are designed to only pull the door back. In my case it has to be raised first, then move back.

[1ownerT]

There are industrial openers that can be used in residential aplication. I am the project Supt. on a detail building addition at a car dealer. I was talking to the overhead door installers last week about this exact subject. The industrial openers used in this application have a reversing sensor in the bottom seal and they also have "eyes" that attach to the rails to reverse the door.
These doors are on a high-lift track, the doors are 10x10 with the horizontal track at 15'. The openers are mounted to the wall at the end of the torsion spring rod.
I do not know the price of the openers, but I can get the manufacture info on Monday.

[454me]

Im not promising this is right but I think you can go to Sears and get a regular opener and they have a kit for taller doors. Seems like they go up to 12 feet. Check this out and see if im right. I didnt need this so I didnt research it when I bought mine. I did think I saw the extension kit right beside the openers.

[roger1]

454me,
You absolutely cannot use a regular opener on a door that has a high-lift track. The top of the door must move straight up before it can be pulled back.

1ownerT,
Thanks for the info. I will be interested to hear more info on the opener you are describing. I have a feeling it will be very expensive however.

Roger

[M&M CUSTOM]

I am going to be having these exact same problems when I build my new garage.

I know my neighbor has an electric opener for his 14 foot overhead door and it was installed a few years after he had the door installed.

I will have one 8 foot door that will need to open straight up, one 10 foot door that will need to go up nearly 6 feet before being able to go back along the ceiling joists, and a 14 foot high door that will need to go up slightly before going back along the joists again like the 10 foot door.

I am thinking about adding balancing counterweights to make the doors lighter, and possibly using a chain drive opener mounted just above the door in the joists to do this.

[1ownerT]

I checked the openers that were installed on the addition, they are Chamberlain Liftmaster model J commercial openers. As I mentioned in my earlier post these doors are 10x10 and raise straight up to approx. 15' before the horizontal track starts.
The dealer here is a residential/commercial door company. I called the salesman to see about the price. He is going to check and call back.

[btp76]

Thanks for the info and the PM.

[senor_limpio]

Hey, I'm not sure if this opener will work for you application or not. I don't have a high lift track in my garage, so I olny open the door half way when I have something up on the lift, but it is a wall mounted opener that mounts right above the door. It is made by wayne dalton and is called the idrive. You can check it out here and I think I might still have some pictures of it in my photo album. I hope you find what you need. I really like this opener. It's really quiet too!

Rock on and God bless...

Señor

[1ownerT]

There is a I-Drive for torsion springs, looks like an idea worth checking out.

[btp76]

The Wayne Dalton I drive is the one I referenced earlier in the post. The majority of Idrive owners I've found have nothing good to say about the product or the customer service. It's a shame because it looks like a fantastic idea. I have found pricing on the liftmaster jackshaft openers closer to $500 - $600.

Unfortunately all the garage door companies I've talked to have separate residential and commercial divisions, so no one person can answer my questions.

[senor_limpio]

I haven't had any problems at all with my iDrive. It works great! After having this one, I wouldn't go back to an old chain drive opener. I'm not trying to influence your decision. I am just telling you that I am satisfied with mine. I am interested to hear what problems other people were having with theirs? Good luck on your quest to find your opener.

Rock on and God bless...

Señor