Garage Door Opener Help

[BrianG]

I'm trying to do yet another home project. I got a garage door opener for my bday and was just doing the "planning" phase, and already came to an abrupt halt.

This is the upper part of my garage. You can see there isn't much room between the cross joists and the door top. I have to install the long chain guide/support bar over the spring, but under the joists.



The directions say I need a minimum of 2" between the highest point of the door and the area above it. Well, I have less than that (~1"), as seen below. The picture is a little deceiving due to the camera angle and amount I have the door open, but believe me, there is less than 2":



So, I was thinking about cutting about a 4" notch out of the 2x8 to be able to mount the opener support bar, but then reinforce it by adding some extra bracing, as seen here:



Any other ideas?

[phatmonk]

The roof joists look like 2x6.I build roof trusses for a living.Plum Building systems LLC in Osceola we are owned by Gilcrest lumber.With a 2 inch notch in the 2x6 that leaves you 3 1/2 inches of joist.Bridge above the notch with a 2x4 about 3 feet long you should be ok.

[Finnster]

Looks like phatmonk has you covered. I would go straight across w/ the 2x4s. that bridge seems a bit..off.

[What's_nitro?]

Did you buy the extension kit? Or is the motor far enough away to clear the door when it's fully open?

[BrianG]

Cool, thanks guys! So, do I just lay the 2x4 on top and use some type of plate to join them together?

The bridge thing I penciled in was just a first idea.

No, I didn't buy an extension kit, but it's good for 7' high doors.

[Finnster]

IDK the "proper" way, but I would put a 2x4 on ea side and put long screws or bolts thru, preferably bolts and washers. I tend to over engineer things, so maybe it could be less, but why go halfway?

[BrianG]

Originally Posted by Finnster

IDK the "proper" way, but I would put a 2x4 on ea side and put long screws or bolts thru, preferably bolts and washers. I tend to over engineer things, so maybe it could be less, but why go halfway?

Yeah, I like that idea. Although, the notch I need to make is bigger than I'd like and there would be only about 2" of "meat" left in the 2X6. I want to attach some U channel metal on both sides, but still makes me a bit nervous.

Borrowing Finn's pic, this is about what I'm looking at:



There is good news though; one of the beams is actually comprised of two shorter ones secured together with about 6 feet of overlap (effectively a 4X6 for that length). So that will be easy to brace by lying a 2X4 (or two) on top and screwing in place. But the other beam is only a single "layer", and securely fastening a 2X4 might be problematic. The beam is fairly "wiggly" so there doesn't seem to be too much stress on it, but I still want to make sure it is solid.

As you can see by my opening post pics, there is nothing resting on top of those beams (the beams at the back of the garage are for that), nor will there be.

I wanted to get this done this weekend, but am getting surgery on Friday and probably won't be in any shape to climb ladders to do the work. Poo.

[ClodMaxx]

it seems you need to take in space from the weakest part of the beam....maybe the roof can be reinforced with a more modern support? that way you can take the material away, but still add the beams to the middle and support the roof. you could still use the illustration you have.

just a thought.

[What's_nitro?]

I was just thinking: "Wait a minute, why do you need to brace them at all, the load is tensile." Then I realized that the weight of the beam itself in conjuction with the tensile load might cause it to break if you were to notch it in the center like that without reinforcement. I suppose you could put an eyehook in the top of it and run a cable to the center beam of the roof to keep it from collapsing, but bracing is a much simpler method.

[BrianG]

Well, I completed this project a few weeks ago. Why is it that I can mod/fab up R/C parts easily enough and it works first time around, but any projects larger end up being a royal PITA and everything goes wrong?

I re-inforced the beams as we discussed. Then, I cut the necessary notches. Beam 1 and 2 went without a hitch, but beam 3 snapped in half as I was cutting. The only thing keeping it from collapsing was quick reflexes. So there I was on a ladder holding up part of my garage swearing up a storm. Luckily, I happened to have a 2x4 nearby that I used to prop it up until I came up with something more solid. In retrospect, I'm kinda happy it broke when it did rather than after I hung the opener on it and then come crashing down after(maybe even on my car).

Anyway, this is what I came up with. Not pretty, but quite solid. Some wiring later (yeah, I know it's not "legal", but good enough), and viola!

[phatmonk]

Dude you need to build gussets to bridge the notches in you joists.I am concerned that those metal straps wont offer enough support.Gussets or headers will work.

[glassdoctor]

BG, I have some 2x4 we could use to scab on the joists. I don't think they need anything special because they are not there as a load bearing support. They are only there to keep the side walls from blowing out.

At the very least, I would tack on some 2x4 right on top of the metal straps... at least 4' long and screwed/nailed off real good.

[BrianG]

I should have snapped a pic of the other side because there is a steel L brace about 6' long each screwed a number of times on the other side. The small bars you see in the pic above were just some extra stuff I had laying around.

After I braced everything, I tested it by hanging off each one, and I'm not a lightweight.

[glassdoctor]

LOL!!! It's probably all good... While it's nice to be able to hang a dead horse from the rafter (or just store crap up there)... really it only has to keep the opposing walls in place. :) A steel cable would do the trick as well.

Looks good... does the door opener work nice?

[jhautz]

you'll find out if its good enough the first time you get a few feet of snow on the roof.

I cant see the other side like you said, but it doesnt look to heavy duty in the picture. and better safe than sorry IMO.