In which we get dead lucky

[unixronin]

As previously mentioned, we've been doing much maintenance lately, not all of it planned.  (The contractor is scheduled to start work on the front entryway Saturday morning, by the way, and be done in about a week.)  One of the more recent repairs was to the garage door.

Quick:  What's wrong with this picture?

Here's another view:

(OK, "these pictures".)

These are the bottom corner brackets from our garage door. Don't look too good, do they?  The bottom pair of rollers were totally shot too, and the bolts were badly enough rusted that we had to split one of the nuts with a cold-chisel to get it off. The sharp edge on that worn-down bollard had also cut more than half-way through the lift cable.

The garage door is original to the house, making the door 35 years old.  It's a Stanley Strapline door.  That entire line of doors was discontinued, oh ... about 30 years ago.  Replacement parts?  It is to laugh.

Fortunately, we happened to ask just the right guy at Lowes after replacement parts, who happened to refer us to a particular overhead-door company in Laconia that might have parts.  And, when we went down there, the door installer for the company just happened by sheer chance to have two disassembled Stanley Strapline doors in the back of his van that he'd taken out and replaced that morning.  They were headed for the dumpster.

Between the two doors, we were able to salvage two almost- bottom brackets and two serviceable rollers.  A new pair of lift cables (which are universal), a handful of new stainless-steel nutes, bolts and washers (since those bottom brackets live in a fairly hostile environment, exposed to salt splash in winter), some lithium grease, a lot of struggling and muttering and some minor adjustment of the garage door frame trim, and we have a mostly-restored garage door that can now be lifted with one finger.

Of course, the next time we need parts for it, we're screwed.  But at that point we'll almost certainly be looking to just tear out and replace the entire door.

---

Just as an extra freebie, this is the re-hung gate on the main deck.

This gate previously sat not even in front of, but next to the bottom of the stair it now guards the top of, accomplishing nothing except to progressively pull over the inadequately-anchored post it was hung off of.  Notice that it now has a rubber-tired caster wheel under the free end of the gate, so the entire weight of that heavy gate is no longer just cantilevered off its hinges.  It opens and closes freely, stops where you put it, and folds flat back against the rail when fully open (thanks to that oak spacer providing top-rail clearance).

Comments

[lebo-superman.livejournal.com]

Nice job! Congrats on the repairs!

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

if you keep the contact info for that guy your scrounged parts from, you MIGHT be able to score more parts if he gets anymore dumpster babies.

it probably wouldn't suck to obtain a whole door panel, if they are the same?

and good job on the repairs!

#

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

We thought about that, but didn't have a way to tote an entire door panel home at the time. I think the existing panels will last until we're ready to scrap and replace the entire door anyway.