Garage Door reinforcement - InspectionNews

Jeff Gainey · #1 (**permalink**) 04-09-2007, 04:33 PM

I have a question on reinforcement of garage doors for openers. I had one several weeks ago now that I had reported needed reinforcement for an opener attachment. When I went back for a check of some of the repairs done by the seller himself, I found a horizontal brace added across the top of door. I have always seen the vertical bracing and wondered if the horizontal brace he added helps any. It doesn't look as if it will do any good should the door hit something and not reverse as it should.

As always, I appreciate your feedback. A different adventure everyday...Jeff G

Tim Moreira · #2 (**permalink**) 04-09-2007, 05:39 PM

Jeff,

It looks to me like the door pictured is an insulated door and it appears that there is a vertical support at the attachment point in that second picture.

Phillip Stojanik · #3 (**permalink**) 04-09-2007, 06:37 PM

The vertical brace is back there and is an integral part of the door panel; you just cant see it behind the white surface material of the door. The attachment points for the opener draw arm and the panel hinges have to be bolted to something at the centerline.

Unless you are in a windstorm area, the top horizontal brace is typically all that is needed to help keep the top panel from folding when the draw arm is pushing or pulling. Having the draw arm attached right at the top horizontal brace is typically what I see (2nd photo) rather than at a center point on the vertical of the panel (1st photo).

Jeff Gainey · #4 (**permalink**) 04-10-2007, 06:00 AM

Thanx for the replies and comments. The only reason I questioned it was that the 1st photo had some signs of the connection that had to be adjusted or moved down where it possibly pulled loose. The other reason is that the label on the door states that the door "may" need additional reinforcement if there is an opener attached. I took the horizontal brace to be part of the original equipment and they may have been talking about a vertical brace usually seen. Here is a pic of the label although I don't know if it can be read from the picture.
The adventure continues...Jeff G