It is difficult to imagine owning a garage door without an automatic opener. Many people, however, start each day with manually unlocking, opening, and relocking their garage doors by hand. Installing a garage door opener is not a difficult process, but you may need a second set of hands for a few of the steps. If you are a veteran DIY type of person, you should be able to handle installing your own garage door opener in just a few hours. Follow these steps, and opening and closing your garage door will be as simple as pushing a button.
No matter what kit you have chosen to install, it should come with the same essential parts. Start by aligning the T rails so they are laid out in the proper sequence. Many of the top brands of garage door openings come with arrows on the T rails so lining them up in order should be a snap. You want to then bolt them together so they become all one piece. You want to then take the pulley and place it where it belongs in relation to the T rails and secure that in place, as well.
You want to find the trolley unit and slide it onto the rails. Once the trolley unit is in place, you can go ahead and finish bolting the rails to the opener unit that your kit came with. This next step can be a bit complicated. You want to use a screwdriver and slide it through one of the holes in the rails to hold the trolley in the same place. Begin to attach the belt or the chain to the trolley using the tools that came with your kit. You will want to then wrap the chain or the belt around the pulley and again around the sprocket on the open unit. You'll want to finish this step by attaching the chain to the other side of the trolley unit.
The next part requires some measuring. Open your garage door to the highest possible point and measure it. Add about about 2 to 3 inches and mark it on your wall. Next, find the center of your door and make another mark on the wall. This is the spot where you want the header bracket to be installed. You may need to use a 2 by 4 if there are no wall studs in place at that point.
Next, take the pulley end of your assembly and attach it to the bracket above the door. Use a ladder to raise the entire assembly to near the tracks of your door. Now take care to open the door and lift your garage door opener so it is 2 inches above the open door. Make sure you use shims here.
Use lag screws to attach the molding bracket to the ceiling of your garage. Attach your garage door opener unit to the bracket. At this point, install the garage door controls and the electric eye censors. Finish by installing the brackets by the door. Before you know it, you will be completely finished and opening and closing your garage door with ease.