After repairing this failed garage door in Tahoe Vista, I’m now a firm believer that wall-mounted garage door openers are so much better than center-pull.
In this before-and-after shot you can see that the original owner mounted a center-pull off to the side because there wasn’t enough room between the spring and the rafters to accommodate the chain. And, as a result, the opener twisted and ripped apart the door.
Even if this were mounted in the middle of the door, standard center-pull openers pull the top of the door toward the back wall, putting immense strain on the top panel, which can often lead to broken struts (which I’ve also fixed several times). It’s simply trying to open the door in the physically wrong direction.
When my client bought the property, I installed a wall-mounted opener shown on the right. Wall-mounted openers connect to and twist the spring rod, and lift the door straight up from the bottom through tensioned cables on each side. The tensioned cables exists in all panel doors, the difference is in how the opener moves the door: It lifts it up, instead of pulling it away.
They’re also much quieter and have fewer parts that can potentially fail. They often come wifi-enabled and are easy to install by a skilled contractor or handyman. Yes, you can DIY your own installation, but working on garage doors is very dangerous due to the weight of the door and tension in the spring rod.
Another benefit is, they’re harder for thieves to compromise. The garage door at my last home had windows across the top of the door. Thieves smashed one of the windows, reached in and released the emergency evacuation cord, then lifted the door and stole my prized mountain bike. The emergency evacuation cord on wall mount openers hangs below any windows, making it much harder for thieves to pull on to gain access. I’m not saying this is a guaranteed way to protect your stuff and your family, but it can certainly help. A small panel can also be added between the nearby window and the cord, further protecting access.
The only downside with wall-mounted openers is, the electrical source has to be moved from the center of the ceiling to one of the walls next to the opening, a relatively simple task for a skilled electrician. But the benefits far outweigh the cost of adding a new electrical line.
The spring rod also needs to be long enough to connect to the opener. But, if it isn’t, the rod can either be moved or replaced, at nominal cost. Luckily for me, the spring rod in the Tahoe Vista house was long enough that I simply bolted it together and mounted it to the wall.
So if you’re tired of your loud, clanky, center-pull opener, or if it’s starting to bend and break the struts, I highly recommend replacing it with a wall-mounted opener.
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