Where are the tracks that operate this beautiful modern glass garage door? The beautiful wood ceiling hides them! Can you find the garage door opener in this photo? This is the California full-view garage door, 18' x 8', Black aluminum frame, Clear glass.
Is your garage sad and tired? Does it need a complete overhaul? Or maybe you’re in the process of building a new home and want to incorporate the perfect garage with a beautiful garage door. Whatever your goals, you have several decisions to make regarding your garage project.
How much do you know about garage doors and openers? Do you find the terms confusing? Never fear! You aren’t alone in wondering what these words mean! Garage door professionals are standing by to help you!
Garage door clearances, garage dimensions, and headroom can all be confusing, especially if you don’t understand how one thing affects the other. How does headroom dictate the kind of lift or garage door opener you can install in your garage? Are you looking for the answers to these questions? Let us help!
We will answer 5 of the most pressing questions about garage door clearances, garage height, headroom, garage door installation, and other topics about garage doors that may have you scratching your head in confusion. You want to make an informed decision, and our goal is to help you do exactly that.
Do you have low garage door headroom, or do you have high garage door headroom? We’ll help you determine which garage door openers you need for your situation.
Q1: Why should I be concerned about garage door headroom?
Look at the above image. It shows the measurements you must take of your garage before purchasing a new garage door. This will tell you to ensure you buy the right size garage door and that you leave enough room so it can open.
Have you noticed the area between the ceiling and the top of the garage door opening? That is known as garage headroom clearance. The garage door headroom clearance dictates garage door size as well as door movement. Your garage door won’t open freely if you have measured the garage door headroom clearance incorrectly.
Q2: How do I know if I have low headroom? Can I install a standard overhead door if I have low clearance?
If a standard lift garage door is too large, you have low headroom. Standard lift garage doors are the ones most often used for home garages.
In a standard lift garage door, the extension springs require 8 ½ inches of space above the garage door, and the torsion spring requires a minimum of 10 inches above the garage door header. Low headroom indicates that you have less than those minimum amounts of space for the garage door and the header.
Where are you more likely to find low headroom?
- An older house that has a low ceiling in the garage.
- A brand-new home—ensure that the professionals account for enough space over the garage door.
- Ceilings that house the ventilation systems, a sprinkler system, or other blockages
- Construction such as underground parking that is concrete-based
See this illustration? It’s an example of low front headroom. In this picture, there isn’t much area left between the garage door tracks and the garage ceiling.
Front versus rear low headroom
When we refer to low headroom, we are referring to either front low headroom or rear low headroom. The difference between the two is where you’ll find the spring and drums. Front low headroom means the springs are front mounted.
Are you confused about front and rear low headroom? This image shows the drums holding the cable are located in different spots. Also, the low headroom hardware features two tracks in tandem.
You need special hardware to install a low headroom garage door, but it can be done.
A low headroom garage door installation requires low headroom hardware. The special hardware is called a dual-track or double-track system. Overhead garage doors with low headroom are installed with this specialty hardware that you can view in the above illustration.
The upper part of the door operates on the upper track. The lower track controls the other three sections of the door. The torsion or extension spring system operates in the same manner for both sections. Why two tracks? This configuration allows the upper portion of the door to turn quicker and use less area to open.
Q3: Is there a special technique for installing a low clearance garage door?
You install a low headroom garage door like you would install any overhead garage door. The springs and the garage door opener are mounted in different places with a low headroom garage door than with a standard door. The hardware components, horizontal tracks, top roller brackets, and bottom brackets are the only difference between installing a standard garage door and a low clearance garage door.
Often, when the garage is located in a concrete-walled basement, like the one seen here, the height is lowered to save money on the project. Lowering that height directly impacts the headroom available for your garage door. Look at the embossed look of this Village Collection A Design garage door. It’s a Plank base, 9' x 7', Cherry finish, and has windows with Cascade Inserts. These garage doors have a beautiful wood finish!
Q4: What is a wall-mounted garage door opener? When do I absolutely need one?
A jackshaft is another name for wall-mounted opener. These garage door openers are installed on the garage wall to the side of the garage door. Wall-mounted openers are mainly used with cathedral ceilings, sloped ceilings, and high lift clearance.
These openers don’t use a rail track. The garage door opener is mounted to the torsion bar instead. This system makes a wall-mounted garage door opener a good choice for those garages with a high ceiling or high lift clearance.
Wall-mounted garage door openers are versatile pieces of equipment. These openers work with various types of lift: standard, inclined track, low front headroom, and high lift.
Most of the time, a wall-mounted garage door is used in commercial applications. For people interested in using them at home, the front low-headroom option is not the best choice.
The LiftMaster 8500W model has the best reviews of any wall-mounted garage door opener and is the most popular of this style garage door opener. LiftMaster garage door openers, with built-in myQ technology, are designed to save overhead garage space and allow you to remotely control your garage door.
Get better use of your overhead storage space in your garage.
Not having a central rail or garage door opener mounted to the ceiling opens up overhead garage space. So, a jackshaft is a great choice if you need extra overhead storage space.
Family Handyman provides these great storage ideas using various products to hang your items from the ceiling.
- Install cargo nets and store your lightweight items in them.
- Need to store your patio furniture or boxes? Use garage ceiling storage lifts.
- Install coated garage hooks for hanging anything from bicycles to tools.
- Mount racks on the ceiling to house heavy-duty latching totes
A wall-mounted garage door opener is ideal if you want to create a beautiful living space in your current garage space.
Have you ever thought about creating a family or guest room from your little-used garage? No? It can be worth your consideration if you need extra space for spending time with friends or family.
Create a beautiful new space for your enjoyment by converting your garage.
Symmetry isn’t an issue when you are transforming your garage into a more functional lounge space. Look at how light and peaceful this space looks, thanks to the light pouring in through the garage door! Check out HGTV’s website for other garage makeovers.
Have you heard of Budget Dumpster? They are a company that rents dumpsters to various populations in the US, and they had these garage conversion ideas:
- A place for the kids to play
- A studio apartment for the in-laws
- An extra bedroom for your teenager or guests
- A place to paint or sculpt
- A space for you to work-from-home
- A room to spend family time
Turn your garage into the best pub of your neighborhood! Watch sports, hang out with friends or family, or even enjoy a meal together in your newly converted space. Check out this video for some inspiration!
A wall-mounted garage door opener is more hidden than the visible ceiling-mounted ones. They rest to the side of the garage door and are more pleasing to the eye.
Q5: Do I need a specific amount of headroom when I choose a wall-mounted garage door opener?
There isn’t any need for a specific amount of headroom when you install a wall-mounted garage door opener. Alternative mounting kits have eliminated the need for headroom!
When you are installing a garage door opener, you usually want to have about two inches of clearance above the garage door. If you don’t have that much space, it isn’t an issue.
Install a wall-mounted opener in your garage no matter what kind of headroom you have. An alternate mounting kit allows the placement of your garage door opener below the torsion bar. Isn't that amazing?
This is a picture of an alternative mounting kit. Notice the two gear systems. The opener will be installed on the bottom of this kit, and the shaft will be installed on the top. Using the alternate mounting kit is a good option if you cannot install a jackshaft opener directly on the torsion bar.
You must have 8 ½ inches to play with to the side of the door. The space holds the garage door opener’s casing and shaft collar.
What are the available garage door options?
Now for the fun part! You get to choose the garage door design and color that you want! If you need to improve your house's curb appeal, let your personality shine to make your house stand out from the crowd.
Here at Upper Level Doors, we offer 3 garage door styles: Traditional, Carriage House, and Contemporary. Select from a wide range of garage doors. We have modern or rustic styles available to match your style.
You have a choice of multiple colors. White, of course, screams traditional, but we also have black, deep browns, different beiges, and other colors. Choose the color that works well with your existing property.
Do you like the classic look of Traditional garage doors? These beautiful white doors give a classic, clean look. Here is the Princeton P-11 design, 9’ x 8', Ice White doors and overlays, 8 lite Panoramic windows. We customize our garage doors to match the customer’s exact specifications.
Play with our garage visualization tool, and have fun designing your garage door!
Check out our website’s Design Centre. Mix and match colors and designs to create a unique garage door for your garage. You can add windows and decorative hardware to customize your garage doors to match your preferred look.
You become your own designer when you use our tool. Using a picture of your house, you can visualize how the colors work with existing colors on your house. Choosing your designs and colors this way allows you to see what the finished product will look like.
Are you ready to get started?
If you are ready for the installation of your overhead door and garage door opener, contact us at 613-547-4566 and 613-966-5655!
Our skilled, dedicated professionals are ready to assist you if you need professional installation or repairs.
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