You have decided to use nothing but commercial contractors from now on.
After the disaster that occurred with the small residential company that was supposed to be replacing your garage door, you have now decided that finding a way onto the schedule of commercial contractors in the area is the best decision.
The garage door project should have been pretty simple. Instead, the small business contractors that you hired for the job turned the simple task into a major ordeal. After a few months of dealing with the garage door that seemed to creak and squeal every time that you opened or closed it, the real problem became evident. Two small creases in the metal finally cracked open and you realized that a couple of small dents in the door had turned into a bigger problem.
Your husband got an estimate from two local construction teams and he simply selected the one with the lower bid. On the scheduled work day, a lone construction worker showed up at your door. You opened the garage door, helped him move a few things out of the way. You had, out of curiosity walked out into the garage a couple of times. On those occasions everything seemed to be going fine.
When you heard the garage door opening and closing you assumed the project was nearly complete. When a few minutes later the contractor knocked on the garage door you simply assumed you would be paying the bill and he would be on his way. Instead., after nearly three hours of work the contractor indicated that he needed to show you something. The garage door opener was smoking and the worker indicated that he would not be able to complete the project. He was not sure if the smoking and now broken garage door opener was the result of him testing the door, but now that it was not working he would have to send someone else out to give a bid on finishing the project.
Three days later, when the outside temperature dropped to the single digits, you called the original company and explained that the project needed to be completed. Because the garage door opener was not worker, the original installer had used a bolt lock to keep the door closed. When your husband tried to unbolt it he quickly found that the large spring was so tight the door flew out of his hand and up onto the rails. Unfortunately, when the garage door was bolted closed it was two inches shy of meeting the concrete floor. This allowed the cold winds to make their ways straight through the garage and was making the kitchen noticeably colder.
Is It Time to Upgrade the Garage Door at Your House?
After listening to excuses about how the needed garage door opener was back ordered, the contractor explained that you were the first on the list to get one when they arrived. As you demanded that this was an unacceptable answer, you reminded the contractor that two days ago you had a working garage door opener, and a garage door that you could both use and shut. It had two creases, but it worked. Now as the temperatures were falling you found yourself with a door that would not close completely or open safely open and you were forced to park your van outside. In complete frustration, you took matters into your own hands and called a commercial contractor, ordered an industrial quality opener and had that commercial contractor come install it.
Problem solved. Lesson learned.
Even if t a residential contractor is available, some times the decision to go with a commercial contractor is a better idea. Repairs and improvements to a home should be considered an investment in the house’s value. In fact, homeowners spend an average between 1% and 4% of a home?s value a year on maintenance and repairs. This means that for a $200,000 home a homeowner should budget at least $2,000 in repairs every year. This amount obviously increases as the house ages. A quality metal garage door is a perfect example of an investment that will help your home maintain its value. The best homeowners use quality contractors to fix problems, like garage doors and garage openers, as they occur.