Residential Garage Door Openers

Your garage door opener probably runs more often than any other machine in your house, and it has to work on the coldest morning of the year. Overhead Door Company of Albany has been installing and repairing residential garage door openers across the Capital Region for more than 20 years. We are locally owned and based in Clifton Park, and our technicians are factory certified on Overhead Door™ products.

We install Overhead Door™ garage door openers, and we repair garage door openers of any brand. If you aren’t sure whether yours needs a repair or a replacement, call 1-800-688-4312 and describe what it is doing. The office will explain the likely fix and the cost before a technician is sent, and every repair is covered by our One-Year Service Guarantee.

Many garage door opener problems can be repaired. A remote that only works up close is often a weak battery, though the antenna or an LED bulb can also cut its range. A motor that hums without lifting the door often has a broken spring, and a door that reverses before it closes often has a sensor or a setting that needs adjusting. Both can usually be fixed without replacing the garage door opener.

Replacement makes more sense when a garage door opener is near the end of its life. Most last 10 to 15 years. One made before 1993 may not have photo-eye safety sensors, and garage door opener manufacturers recommend replacing it. An older garage door opener that keeps needing repairs, or whose parts are getting hard to find, is another sign it is time.

It can also be worth replacing a garage door opener that still works. Many newer models run more quietly. Many also offer battery backup and smartphone control. If you are replacing your garage door, that is a convenient time to replace an older garage door opener too.

We repair garage door openers of any brand. Before you call, try a new battery in the remote or keypad, and check that the lock or vacation button on the wall control is off. If a remote only works up close, make sure the antenna wire on the motor unit hangs down freely. If programming is the problem, our guides may save you a service call.

If the motor hums without lifting the door, or the door reverses before it closes, our repair page explains the likely causes and what you can safely check yourself. When you need a technician, call 1-800-688-4312.

The main decisions are how the garage door opener drives the door and which features you want. You can see current Overhead Door™ garage door openers working in our Clifton Park showroom and hear how quietly they run before you choose.

Drive types

• A belt drive garage door opener uses a reinforced belt and runs noticeably more quietly. It is the usual choice when a bedroom or living space sits above or beside the garage.
• A chain drive garage door opener uses a metal chain. It costs less and holds up well on heavy doors, but it is louder, which rarely matters in a detached garage.
• A screw drive garage door opener moves the door along a threaded steel rod. It has few moving parts, though it can be more sensitive to big seasonal temperature swings.
• A wall-mount garage door opener sits on the wall beside the door and turns the spring shaft directly. That leaves the ceiling clear for storage and helps where overhead room is tight. It needs a standard torsion spring system and some room beside the door.

Motor and horsepower

Garage door openers are sold by horsepower or a comparable lift rating. A 1/2 horsepower garage door opener handles most standard steel doors. A much heavier door, such as solid wood, may need a stronger garage door opener, but a door that feels heavy by hand usually needs its springs and balance checked first.

Many newer garage door openers use DC motors, which start and stop gently and run more quietly. A DC motor is also what makes battery backup possible.

Whatever the rating, a garage door opener is not meant to lift the door’s full weight. The springs do most of that work, and the garage door opener guides the door. If a garage door opener strains, the springs may need adjusting, which is a job for a trained technician.

Features worth knowing about

Battery backup keeps a garage door opener working during a power outage, which matters in a region where winter storms knock out power. Smartphone control lets you open and close the door from your phone and check whether you left it open. A wireless keypad outside the door lets family members in without a remote.

Every residential garage door opener made since 1993 must reverse on contact and have photo-eye sensors or a similar second safety device. Test yours once a month. With the door open, lay a 2×4 flat on the floor in its path and close the door, and it should reverse when it touches the board. Then pass a broom handle through the sensor beam while the door closes, and it should go back up. If either test fails, stop using the garage door opener until it is repaired.

Mount the wall button at least five feet off the floor, where children can’t reach it and where you can see the door while it moves. Keep remotes away from children too.

Modern remotes use rolling codes that change each time you press the button, so the same signal can’t simply be reused. When you are away, the lock or vacation mode on many wall consoles turns the remotes off. If a car is parked outside, keep it locked, since a remote left inside gives a thief a way into the garage.

Capital Region winters are hard on garage door openers. On a very cold morning the bottom seal can freeze to the ground, and pressing the button over and over strains the motor. Chip the ice away gently before you run the door.

If the door seems to struggle more as the weather gets colder, have the springs and balance checked. A door that is out of balance makes a garage door opener work harder than it should.