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Near calamity today

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I like reading a "good luck" story.
 
Last winter my 14x12 shop door came off the track. I was trying to get it back when all hell broke loose and I found myself on the floor under 3 panels. Let me tell you, they are heavy.
I've done a little bit of garage door work over the years and yes, the panels are NOT light at all.....especially the ones that are insulated double wall panels!
 
Lucky, Why I have no garage door openers in my shop!
Sounds like the opener actually saved the day. It wasn't what failed.

Aside from that, I have never been a fan of that type of garage door (solid panel type) for just that reason;
when they fail, it's catastrophic, whereas if the typical multi-panel ones throw a wheel or some such, the
surrounding panels and hardware still have a hold and keep things from getting stupid.

Easy to replace a wheel or whatever when one needs it, too - and with this sub-zero weather we've been
having, it reminded me to hose down everything (including inside the tracks!) with PB.
I used to use white lithium, but that proved a bit thick for the purpose in cold weather.
 
Sounds like the opener actually saved the day. It wasn't what failed.
Well it did keep it off the car. Point was, if you open them by hand that **** don't happen in the first place.

Biggest issue with openers up here in the Winter. Open door, pull vehicle in, slush and **** melts and runs back under the door seal and freezes it down. You hit the opener button, door is frozen in place and the top panel of the door gets buckled in half or the door suddenly pops free and jumps the spring drum cables off the cable holder wheels.
 
Well it did keep it off the car. Point was, if you open them by hand that **** don't happen in the first place.

Biggest issue with openers up here in the Winter. Open door, pull vehicle in, slush and **** melts and runs back under the door seal and freezes it down. You hit the opener button, door is frozen in place and the top panel of the door gets buckled in half or the door suddenly pops free and jumps the spring drum cables off the cable holder wheels.
Point was - the thing came down regardless of whether or not it had an opener on it - and in fact, he was lucky it
actually did have one when it collapsed.
 
Awesome it didn’t get the car. The thing with garage doors is behind the sheet metal cover is just wood. One trick I’ve learned to “tighten up” the screw holes is to break toothpicks into 1/2” lengths, dip them in Elmer’s wood glue, put 2-3 in the perimeter of the hole, and reinstall the screws. Usually allows you to get screw to hold much better
 
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A lucky man indeed. A very close call. I got a bit of that kind of luck one week up in MN out in the country where I had stored my X for a few decades. A massive tornado hit and ripped up everything w/I Its spectrum of ferocity. Which means the 3 pole barns on the property and more. The one my car was in was 90% destroyed, roof and walls blown a part - total mayhem. Well in this one little corner, roof ripped off over it and walls trashed around it - terrible damage to everything nearby - except this one 68 GTX that sat there with little more than a light coating of dust on it. My brother had his boat in there so he went up to check on that as well as my X - all were a bit astonished -but it was a 100% unscathed. Living out here in CA I knew nothing about the storm and ensuing damage until he called me a few days later. Or yes I would have bought a basket of lottery tickets……
 
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That was a pretty scary close call!
Garagewise, the closest call I had was back in 2010. A tornado went directly over my house! Fortunately it was at the low end of the energy scale, but still enough to take down a lot of trees and damage roofs.
My garage which at the time was only 2 years old, is in back near the property line. There’s a big crappy Chinese elm tree between my garage and the neighbors garage on the other side of the fence. The tornado broke a trunk of that tree, which fell away from my property not towards it. Right on my neighbors garage doing heavy damage.
Then a day or two later, a spruce tree behind my next door neighbors house apparently damaged by the storm fell on his garage.
My garage was unharmed among all the carnage.
 
I've done a little bit of garage door work over the years and yes, the panels are NOT light at all.....especially the ones that are insulated double wall panels!
Yup insulated double wall. I was pretty sore for a week
 
Someone was looking down on you with favor, glad to hear the R/T was spared the agony of being hit!
 
Would much rather have to man up to fix the door in the cold as to pony up to get the roof fixed on my car. Your lucky day. Fix the door, have a shot of Jägermeister to keep your blood circulating, and buy a lottery ticket.
 
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