Weight of a garage door

[Dave Cullen]

I'm helping my brother with an overhead garage door that's 16 ft long x 7 ft high and we can't move it on the tracks without a hydraulic lift. I keep cranking the springs up but it's not helping much and I'm wondering if there's a jam somewhere or if it's just really heavy.


Can anyone give me an estimate of what these things weigh? It's frame and panel, uninsulated, and particle board panels with fir or pine frame.


TIA

[eugene thomas]

Wood doors way heavy.
.

[Dave Lash]

The old wood doors are very heavy, and if it has torsion springs, there are usually two. If one spring breaks the second spring can't overcome the weight of the door. I had one spring break on my old wood garage door, and I had to use a floor jack and 4 by 4s to get the door open.

[Dave Cullen]

We replaced the lower panel because it was rotted and falling apart. I had to loosen the springs to facilitate that. But like an idiot, I didn't count the number of turns that I unwound them. If this thing is 400 lbs, it means I probably just have to keep winding them up.

The door is also warped and sagging, so I'm afraid that the hinges may be binding. Snow is coming, and bro needs to have this thing fixed.

Why do I get involved with these projects? <sigh>


Here's what it was:

[John TenEyck]

I have a door that size and it weighs a LOT, I think more than 500 lbs. I've replaced the torsion springs at least 4 separate times. They have to be wound exactly the same on both sides or the door will rack and jamb. Start with the door dead on the ground. Take up the slack on the cable drums, make sure their set screws are tight, then add a couple of turns to each spring. Go back and forth adding a couple of turns. Look to see where the old set screw marks were on the shaft - and keep adding turns to each spring until the springs are at those marks. Adjust as necessary so the doors stays up when you raise it.

John

[Matt Day]

It cost us like $1500 to get an insulated door that size, installed with motor. Well worth the cost!

[Peter Quinn]

If you google "weight of 16' garage door" there are a few calculators on line to help you select the appropriate springs. Depends on the exact make, thickness of the panels, width of the rails, glass, water weight in the case of the one whose pic you posted. Average for a flat panel wood door is 250-350 lbs depending on the particulars. That one looks like a wreck. I helped my bIL replace his this spring, the only answer to why we do this is they are family, they need the help, and we love them. If my BIL had $1k to spare I would have insisted he hire somebody and spare me the headache. As it turns out he didn't, I found a clopay steel unit (customer return) for $99 at the Borg, add to that a 6 pack of beer....much cheaper option.

[Larry Frank]

Torsion springs are DANGEROUS.....be careful and stay out of the way in case something breaks.

[Larry Edgerton]

Get two bathroom scales, put one on each side of the door, let it down, add up the two weights, now you know what springs you need.

Larry

[Dave Cullen]

Well, we were able to get the door to operate somewhat normally by cranking the springs. My replacement panel is a pretty close match, though I could have done a better job at measuring the spacing between panels - I assumed they were symmetrical. Notice the gaps at the ends between the lower 2 panels - the door is really beat up and sagging. But it's installed and working, just in time for the snow...

[Ole Anderson]

7' x 16'? how about mine, 8' x 18' and it is full thickness, Masonite both sides. Seems I replace one of the two springs every three years. They have 22 quarter wraps on them. I have the number written on the header above the door as well as the number of the spring.

[Josh Morgan]

If the weight of the door hasn't changed much from stock set up, you should put about 32-34 quarter turns for each spring. When you exceed about 40 quarters it will start shortening the life of the spring. Also, go to a hardware store and get some "garage door lubricant" and spray the hinges, rollers, and spring. Never use grease.
When you wind the spring up, before you tighten the set screws, take one winding bar and tap the other while in the spring cone away from the spring just until it moves a tad. This will keep the spring from binding on itself.

[John McClanahan]

I used to have a door like that. It had 2 springs, and when one broke it was all I could do to lift the door with the help of the opener.

On my 7x16 door, the formula was 1 turn of the springs for each foot of door height. One of my springs was longer than the other, so I gave it an extra turn.


John

[Josh Morgan]

John, the correct formula for most residential doors is approximately 8.25 rounds no matter the length of the springs.
When you see two different size springs on a door they are different wire diameter and length. Raynor and Windsor does this sometimes. One spring is to balance the door from closed to halfway open, the other from half open to fully open.

Everybody, please be careful when you play with the torsion springs and bottom fixtures/rollers. I've seen many a bloody garage after people tried to work on them without knowledge of the dangers.

[John McClanahan]

I went by what the person at the Overhead Door Co. told me when I bought a replacement spring.


John