How to Properly Set Up a Roll-Up Gate or Door

Most homeowners have indoor garages which use roll-up gates or doors because they enhance the home's appearance and fully seal the driveway from intruders, or thieves. And, while these make for a convenient driveway gate option for homes today, the improper installation of these can cause problems, since these could jam and prevent you from opening the door or roll up gate. Let's take a look at how to properly install and operate roll up doors or gates.

Read Manufacturer's Instructions When Installing

In roll up or overhead gate installation make sure you carefully analyze the product maker's guidelines, especially when placing the weather stripping on the bottom edge of the bottom door panel.  This seal helps prevent outside air and water from seeping or entering into the driveway or garage. The next new gate installation step would be to safely attach the brackets for the cable, to the bottom door panel as the cable will be part of the system that opens and closes the roll up door or gate.

Attach Bottom Door Panels and Hinges

The next step would be to position the hinges on the bottom door panel's top (or to the side which faces the inside of the garage). Make sure you drill holes, where the hinge screws will be fastened and screw these in place to the door panel. In general, roll up doors and gates have 3 hinges, with one fastened on each side and one attached in the middle part.

Piece Together the Door Tracks

The next new gate installation step would be to piece together the door or gate's tracks by carefully following the manufacturer's guidelines. Once completed, each of the gate's tracks will have the mounting brackets, which are used to attach to the horizontal section of the tracks to the ceiling. Next, slide the door track's bottom edge above the wheels, to ensure that you leave an extra gap or space so that the door panel will be able to easily move inside the track. 

And according to residential gate opener experts, homeowners should securely fasten the tracks to the door frame, by firmly driving the screws in their proper screw plates. Just make sure not to firmly tighten them, so that you can easily adjust the roll up gate's tracks when required. Also make sure you thoroughly check each of the tracks if they are vertically straight and adjust if needed. Once you've checked if the tracks are vertical, examine if the screws in the brackets that are attached to the door frame are tight and properly fastened. Always keep in mind that for the roll up doors or gates to properly operate the door panels should be pieced together at the same time as the tracks.