Very Old Garage Door Needs Repair- Suggestions?

[olliesix.livejournal.com]

Hello helpful people,

I am the proud owner of the classic Somerville detached garage, built in 1920 out of cinder blocks with a manually-opening door. The structure is reasonably sound but the door has stopped opening properly. The spring/pulley mechanism no longer works correctly so the door won't open. Any idea who might be able to repair it? Most 'garage door repair' companies only service automatic mechanized opening systems. Who can help keep the garages of Somerville opening for the next hundred years? Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

Comments

[dakotakym.livejournal.com]

This online company seems to have a good selection of parts (if finding parts locally is part of the issue) http://www.garagedoorpartsllc.com/rollers.html#rollers .. and if you're not up to repairing it yourself, I'd imagine that most handyman-type businesses would be up to the task.

[somerfriend.livejournal.com]

I would caution against repairing yourself. I'm a die hard DIYer, but garage doors have those springs that if came loose could cause some bodily damage.

[smammy]

That's not very DIE HARD of you!

[zenala.livejournal.com]

We have a garage door that's old (but not quite as old), and not automatic, and this winter when there was a problem we used Liberty Overhead Door. http://www.libertyoverheaddoorboston.com/

They came when they said they would, fixed it, and the cost seemed reasonable (not sure about other overhead door companies, but it was within the range of repair work around Boston) and the work is good--no problems, and much safer than it was before. They won't try to sell you anything fancy, either. (They did add on one thing for safety from their original estimate, but I don't consider safety features invented since the 50's "fancy"...)