What great neighbours I have! (long)

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Joined
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What great neighbours I have! This was brought home to me yet again on Monday-

I get home after work, pull my driveway, and hit the garage door opener. I should say in advance that my garage door is the older one piece style, and not the horizontal section type. And it always goes up and down in a somewhat jerky fashion, with the associated stress on the assembly. It's suffered trauma in the past, which I have thus far been able to sort out. Not this time!

So, about halfway open the door jerked and stopped at a crazy angle. It was obvious that something was very wrong!

Upon inspection, it appeared that the angle iron which supported the spring had literally broken off at the attachment point where it swivels. Hard to describe here and I don't have a digital camera, but suffice to say that a chunk of the angle iron had just broken off due to the stress. Just a chunk out of that had twisted off. So now there was no way to reattach the angle iron to the swivel. I should mention that the angle iron was like 2"x2"x 1/8".

That is, without first removing the angle iron and taking it to the local weld shop. (Damn me for selling my welding set-up, since I could've fixed that easily given my fabrication experience). And so now, I figured I had to disassemble the angle iron from the brackets that held it there with the springs. Do-able but a PITA!

So, as I was just looking at the problem my next door neighbour came over. He's always been very helpful in the past and is the consummate home handyman, and has helped me out many times in the past as I'm kind of a klutz! Well, he and his buddy assessed the problem right away and went right to work.

He got a bigass thick washer and ground off a corner so it would sit comfortably in the broken off area. And then proceeded to drill a couple holes in it which he attached with self-tapping screws to the angle iron, which effectively made it the same line-up to the swivel.

But first he had to grind off the swivel, since it was effectively a pressed on assembly and therefore not replaceable otherwise. To this, he affixed a big bolt which held it on to the anchor point.

A few adjustments to the spring and the door was repaired. This all took all of an hour and a half, and I once again had a fully operational garage door. And if I would have called a garage door repair company, they surely would have tried to sell me on a whole new sectional door, with the inevitable price tag!

All to say that helpful neighbours are worth their weight in gold.

:cheers:



Cheers,

RR
 
You don’t find many neighbors like that now days buddy! Glad they got things sorted for you.

Jim

 
Don't EVER MOVE !! If he moves, move to where he goes in the same neighborhood !! :twisted: :twisted:
 
Ozark Wizard":ci54zd3i said:
:cheers: Most heartwarming! Yeah!!!!
Absolutely!

hufflepuff":ci54zd3i said:
You don’t find many neighbors like that now days buddy! Glad they got things sorted for you.

Jim
Ain't it the truth Jim. They don't make them like that anymore.

monbla256":ci54zd3i said:
Don't EVER MOVE !! If he moves, move to where he goes in the same neighborhood !!  :twisted:  :twisted:
I hear ya loud and clear Michael. Sadly though, he won't be around much longer as he and the wife are moving to central WA to become the caregivers of the wife's elderly parents. It's going to be difficult to see him go as he's been a mover and shaker in our little cul-de-sac.

And as for me, well, if all things go to plan I'll be residing in southern AZ by this time next year as I plan to retire later this year.


Cheers,

RR
 
On the plus side of you moving to southern AZ.....you can order tobacco and actually have it shipped to you! There are a few places that don’t ship to WA.

Hopefully you find good neighbors there.

Jim
 
huffelpuff":7jqvf9pu said:
On the plus side of you moving to southern AZ.....you can order tobacco and actually have it shipped to you! There are a few places that don’t ship to WA.

Hopefully you find good neighbors there.

Jim
Yup. That intelligence is not lost on me Jim!



Cheers,

RR
 
You can't but a good neighbor, but it sure is nice to have one. :)
 
Postscript-

A few days after the repair by my neighbour, the door started having issues by rubbing the side of the framing upon closing. Not so much on the open cycle, but while closing it was periodically jamming on the frame. And enough to gouge into the wood!

I was concerned that this would set off another catastrophic event and break some other part of the mechanism. So, I naively assummed that it was out of adjustment. To this end I started experimenting with different tensions on each spring. All to no avail.

Finally, I came to the conclusion that I had to get in a professional before something really busted loose with the inevitable replacement of the door and its associated cost.  

Since my next door neighbour has now moved out, I figured I'd call up the same company that installed the garage door opener back about 20 yrs ago. But then I thought twice about that decision, as they'd no doubt come out strongly in favour of a complete replacement.

Finally it dawned on me that the handyman we employ at the brewery might be up to the task. Brilliant!

He came out, looked at the job, concluded it was down to the makeshift bolt the neighbour had installed which caused the lopsided operation, obtained a proper fastener, and we tested it today.

Voilà, a garage door that now opens and shuts like it should. And his fee?

$20.  :!:

Can't beat that with a stick!!!


:cheers:



Cheers,

RR
 
Does your door have vinyl or metal wheels? If metal, they might need cleaned, lubed or replaced. Mine were so gummed up that that it triggered something that told the motor to STOP! The garage door guy replaced them with vinyl. “Just what you need. Maintenance free,” he said. Only took him about half an hour. Course the temp at the time was below zero.
 
KevinM":tz1sbags said:
Does your door have vinyl or metal wheels? If metal, they might need cleaned, lubed or replaced.  Mine were so gummed up that that it triggered something that told the motor to STOP! The garage door guy replaced them with vinyl. “Just what you need. Maintenance free,” he said. Only took him about half an hour. Course the temp at the time was below zero.
Nylon wheels (just went and checked). Still, couldn't hurt to squirt some WD-40 on them.

The door still jerks a bit upon opening and closing, but it always did this right from the start. At least it's not binding on the frame any more, which is the important thing.



Cheers,

RR
 
On a serious note, great outcome there Rande me old fruit. Just goes to show, it's not what you know, its who you know.

:cheers:
 
Stick":r8r13ev7 said:
Brewdude":r8r13ev7 said:
Can't beat that with a stick!!!


:cheers:



Cheers,

RR
Eh???!
Whoops......never thought about the double meaning there mate. Curious Yank expression, what?! Perhaps I would have been better served to say "can't beat that with a Birmingham screwdriver"!!!

Stick":r8r13ev7 said:
On a serious note, great outcome there Rande me old fruit. Just goes to show, it's not what you know, its who you know.
Aye mate, it is an' all tha knows!

;)


Cheers,

RR
 
I have a neighbor like that! He has baled me out on a number of occasions. I can never seem to catch up by helping him out. Oh, I try, and I do manage to help him out at times, but nowhere near as often as he helps me.
 
thedeep":9x69tc2j said:
I have a neighbor like that! He has baled me out on a number of occasions. I can never seem to catch up by helping him out. Oh, I try, and I do manage to help him out at times, but nowhere near as often as he helps me.
Same here. But this guy seems to love helping out his neighbours more than attending to his own affairs. Guess it gets him out of the house or some such!

;)



Cheers,

RR
 
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