Garage door motors

The cost of a garage door motor depends mainly on the door. Its size, weight and type, roll-up or sectional, decide which motor it needs. A single door at a house needs a smaller motor than a double door or a heavy door at a business. The condition of the door counts too. Worn springs, frayed cables or a bent track must be fixed before the motor goes on, or the motor will strain and fail early. Battery backup for load-shedding, extra remotes, safety beams and a phone app all add to the price. We install Centurion, Digidoor and ARC motors, and recommend the one suiting your door. We check the door on the visit, and the quotation is written down before anything is ordered.

Yes, in most cases. Most roll-up and sectional garage doors can be automated. Before the motor goes on, we check the door, the springs, the cables and the track. The door should lift easily by hand and stay put halfway up. A door heavy or stiff to lift by hand will strain a new motor, which then wears out early or stops altogether. The springs may need adjusting or replacing, or the track may need straightening, before the motor goes on. We do this work ourselves and list it on the written quotation. We also check where the power point is and how much space there is above and beside the door, since some motors mount on the ceiling and others beside the door.

In many cases, yes. Whether one remote can work both depends on your gate motor and garage door motor using compatible receivers. Many modern remotes have two or more buttons, so one button opens the gate and another opens the garage. Where the receivers don't match, a universal receiver can sometimes be added to one motor so it accepts the same remotes. We check both motors on the visit and set them up to share one remote where they can. One button for the gate, one for the garage, and no fumbling on the visor in the dark. We recommend rolling code remotes, which change their code each time and are much harder to copy. The written quotation lists any receiver or remotes needed.

With battery backup, the garage door motor keeps opening and closing the door through load-shedding and power cuts. The battery charges while the power is on and takes over when it goes off. Without battery backup, the door stays shut until the power returns. Every garage door motor also has a manual release, usually a cord or lever, which disconnects the motor so the door can be lifted by hand. We show you where yours is and how to use it before you need it. Like gate motor batteries, garage door batteries fade over time without warning, and frequent outages wear them out faster. We test the battery at every service visit and replace it before it fails, usually every two to three years.

It should. A properly installed garage door motor reverses when the door meets something on the way down, such as a car, a bicycle or a child. This is called the safety reverse, and it works by sensing extra resistance. Some motors also take safety beams across the opening, which stop the door before it touches anything at all. Beams are worth adding if you have children or pets. The safety reverse needs adjusting over time, as springs wear and the door's weight changes. We test it when we install and service a motor, because a heavy door failing to stop can hurt someone or damage a car. You can test it yourself by placing a soft object under the door and closing it.

Yes. Our team services garage door motors as well as gate motors, for homes and businesses. We service Centurion, Digidoor and ARC motors, and older ET motors. A service checks the motor, the battery, the remotes, the springs, the cables, the track and the safety reverse. We adjust the door's balance and the motor's settings, so neither works harder than it should. Most motors give a warning before they fail. The door gets louder, then slower, and then one morning it stops halfway with your car inside. A service catches these signs early. How often depends on how hard the door works, so test it regularly and book a service when it needs one. Busy doors at businesses and complexes need more frequent visits. Our service and maintenance plans can book the visits for you.