How to Measure for a Garage Door Installation
- 1). Draw a simple outline of your garage door opening on a piece of paper. Transfer all of your measurements to the appropriate area on your drawing. This is the information you will need when you order your garage door and garage door opener.
- 2). Measure the door opening width and height with a tape measure. Measure the width from inside the left jamb to the inside right jamb. Measure the height from the floor to the inside of the header jamb. Mark your measurements on your drawing in feet and inches.
- 3). Place the end of your tape measure at the corner between the ceiling and the wall above the door opening. Measure from the ceiling to the top of the door opening. This measurement is for headroom. This will determine what type of track you will need for your installation. Regular track will require a minimum of 15 inches of headroom. Headroom that measures less than that may require low-headroom track when ordering the garage door.
- 4). Measure the distance between each side of the door opening to the nearest side wall. Garage doors need a minimum of 3½ inches between the side walls and the side of the door opening to accommodate track brackets and the shaft for torsion spring doors.
- 5). Ask a friend to hold the end of the tape measure at the top of the door opening while you measure to the back of the garage at the nearest upper obstruction. Garage doors need a minimum of the door height plus an additional 18 inches for proper installation. This is necessary so that the door can raise fully open.
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