[tsklan]

Hi. My garage door has one of those hollow rubber seals that compress when the bottom of the door pushes down on the floor (as opposed to a straight, solid piece of rubber, like my old door used to have).

How tightly should that seal fit against the floor?

As it is, I can push my finger under the seal and run my finger along the full width of the door.

I wonder if the door should come down more, compressing the rubber completely against the floor. It seems like mice would be able to push their way past the rubber seal from the outside to the inside since I can do the same thing fairly easily with my finger. I don't see any daylight between the seal and floor, but still I wonder if it is not tight enough.

Thanks

 

[123pugsy]

The tighter the better, but full compression will probably flatten it out.

My door closer won't go tight enough for my liking but my garage is not attached to the house so no mice worries.

I've never seen a mouse in my garage though and it's been 14 years.
I figured they would try to get in in the winter as it's heated.

 

[Windows on Wash]

+1

Most garage floor entries aren't super level so you have to compress in one location to get a seal in another. This is why they make the bulb gaskets pretty tall many times.

 

[firehawkmph]

I install overhead doors and openers. I usually set the opener down travel limit so that when it reaches the closed position, it puts a slight tension on the opener rail. Just enough to see the rail twitch as it wants to bow upwards in the middle. That being said, I do this while taking into consideration the strength of the garage door. The new doors I hang are 2" steel front and back with insulation in between plus vertices steel styles at each hinge point. Very stiff sections. Wayne Dalton makes a sh$t door that will flex and want to twist in half with moderate pressure on it. Also, the openers I hang have one piece steel rails, not the multi-section rails that you buy in the box stores.
Mike Hawkins.:smile:

 

[123pugsy]

I install overhead doors and openers. I usually set the opener down travel limit so that when it reaches the closed position, it puts a slight tension on the opener rail. Just enough to see the rail twitch as it wants to bow upwards in the middle. That being said, I do this while taking into consideration the strength of the garage door. The new doors I hang are 2" steel front and back with insulation in between plus vertices steel styles at each hinge point. Very stiff sections. Wayne Dalton makes a sh$t door that will flex and want to twist in half with moderate pressure on it. Also, the openers I hang have one piece steel rails, not the multi-section rails that you buy in the box stores.
Mike Hawkins.:smile:

I bought a Wayne Dalton door about 15 years ago and it seems quite stiff.
Anyhow, I had to change the opener because it failed and I had a Liftmaster unit installed.
I don't like where it stops. Is there a way to adjust it for a bit more squish?
It's the opener style with the rotating tube.

 

[ZTMAN]

You can adjust the down travel. Pull out the owners manual. It has a good description on how to adjust and verify the safety reverse is operating

 

[ZZZZZ]

A related question: Anybody know where to buy a white garage door bottom seal?

The seal on my 25 year old garage door is pretty well shot. The garage door is still in great shape (a bright white aluminum) and the concrete is also very white, (not gray). A white seal would look much better than black but I can't find a white one.

I guess I might try painting a new black one, but I don't think the paint will last too long, with the rubber compression/decompression.. Any suggestions?

 

[firehawkmph]

A related question: Anybody know where to buy a white garage door bottom seal?

The seal on my 25 year old garage door is pretty well shot. The garage door is still in great shape (a bright white aluminum) and the concrete is also very white, (not gray). A white seal would look much better than black but I can't find a white one.

I guess I might try painting a new black one, but I don't think the paint will last too long, with the rubber compression/decompression.. Any suggestions?

Never seen a white seal, only black.
Mike Hawkins

 

[firehawkmph]

I bought a Wayne Dalton door about 15 years ago and it seems quite stiff.
Anyhow, I had to change the opener because it failed and I had a Liftmaster unit installed.
I don't like where it stops. Is there a way to adjust it for a bit more squish?
It's the opener style with the rotating tube.

Wayne Dalton does make heavier doors, so hopefully you have one of those. The opener you have, are you talking about a screw drive? It has a long threaded rod inside the rail. The rod is visible from the bottom side. If so, those openers normally had a contact at each end of the rail with a wire attached to it. The contacts have a hex headed screw which tightens them to the top edge of the rail. You can loosen the screw and slide them in either direction to change how far the door travels. The contact that controls when the door stops in the down position is at the end of the rail closest to the garage door. The contact that controls how far the door opens up is closest to the opener head. Before you make any changes, cycle the door up and down once and you'll see how the contacts work. They have a plastic flipper on them that the trolley that runs back and forth on the rail hits. When it hits the flipper, the flipper pushes on a copper contact strip and the door stops. When moving the contact, don't move it more than a 1/4" at a time. Cycle the door and see where it stops. Make another adjustment if necessary. If you don't have a screw drive, post a picture of the unit or get the model number off it.
Mike Hawkins:smile:

 

[123pugsy]

Thanks.

Not a screw drive.

It has a rotating torque tube above the door with cables going down to the bottom of the door that lift it.

 

[ZZZZZ]

A related question: Anybody know where to buy a white garage door bottom seal?

The seal on my 25 year old garage door is pretty well shot. The garage door is still in great shape (a bright white aluminum) and the concrete is also very white, (not gray). A white seal would look much better than black but I can't find a white one.

I guess I might try painting a new black one, but I don't think the paint will last too long, with the rubber compression/decompression.. Any suggestions?

What I did yesterday was to wrap the rubber gasket with white duct tape. Looks much better. I may not even have to buy a new gasket. I'll take a photo tomorrow after it stops raining. lain:

 

[firehawkmph]

Thanks.

Not a screw drive.

It has a rotating torque tube above the door with cables going down to the bottom of the door that lift it.

The torque tube sounds like Wayne Dalton's setup. They make their own opener that goes onto the tube in the center. If that's what you have, I've never adjusted one. There should be some simple means of adjustment in that power head as that setup was meant to be homeowner friendly. Post a pic of it if you can.
Mike Hawkins