Garage Door Opener Installation in Los Angeles

Households press this button more often than almost any other in the building, several times a day for fifteen years or more. Chosen well, an opener is entirely unnoticeable. Chosen badly, it becomes a running domestic complaint that somebody raises at breakfast. Choosing between them is mostly about drive type, horsepower and where the motor is going to live.

We supply and fit openers of every common type across Los Angeles from $265 including installation, programming and removal of the old unit, and the job takes two to three hours.

Belt, Chain, Screw and Jackshaft

Belt drives run a reinforced rubber belt along the rail and are quiet enough that a bedroom above the garage stops being a consideration. They are what we fit most often now and they are worth the modest premium in almost every household. Chain drives pull the door with a steel chain, cost less, last a long time and are noticeably louder, which suits a detached garage perfectly well. Screw drives use a threaded steel rod, sit between the two on noise and dislike temperature extremes, which matters more in Chatsworth than in Santa Monica. Jackshaft units mount on the wall beside the torsion bar rather than on the ceiling, which frees the entire ceiling for storage and suits garages with very low headroom or exposed beams.

Horsepower and Door Weight

Half a horsepower handles a standard uninsulated single door and not a great deal more. Three quarters is the sensible default for most Los Angeles double doors and for anything insulated. A full horsepower belongs on heavy timber, full view aluminium and oversized doors, and on any door where the household cycles it a dozen times a day. Buying more power than the door needs is not the answer to a door that lifts badly, and where a customer asks for it we will check the springs first, because an underpowered feeling door is nearly always an unbalanced door.

Battery Backup and Power Cuts

California requires battery backup on residential garage door openers sold and installed in the state, and it is one of the more sensible pieces of regulation we deal with. Anybody who has sat in a driveway during a grid outage with the only exit from the property behind a dead opener understands why. Every new unit we fit includes it, the backup will run the door a number of cycles on its own, and our technician will show you where the release cord is and how to use it safely anyway.

Smart Features Worth Having

Wi-Fi connectivity has become standard rather than exotic, and the genuinely useful part of it is not opening the door from a restaurant but being told the door has been open for an hour when you thought it was shut. Camera equipped units, timed automatic closing, delivery access and integration with the usual home systems are all available and we will configure whatever your unit supports before leaving. We will also tell you which features you are unlikely ever to use, since paying for them is optional.

Installation and Programming

The old unit comes down and leaves with us. The new rail is assembled and hung square to the door, the header bracket is fixed into structure rather than drywall, the motor is suspended on proper struts, and the door arm is set at the correct angle. Then the travel limits and the up and down force settings are dialled in against the actual door, the photo eyes are mounted at the correct height and aligned, the reversing force is proved against something solid on the floor, and remotes, keypads and any phone application are paired and handed over in working order. Where the door itself needs attention before an opener willbehave, our tune up covers it.

Units, Fitting and What Each Costs

A chain drive supplied and fitted starts at $265. Belt drives start at $325. Wall mounted jackshaft units start at $465. All figures include removal and disposal of the old unit, full programming and a safety test. Fitting a customer supplied opener is $185 labour. Units carry the manufacturer's warranty, which on a good belt drive is usually generous, and our installation carries a year. Where the unit you have is worth keeping after all, our garage door opener repair page sets out what saving it involves.