The vast majority of garage door openers at homes get installed above the door’s center, in ‘trolley bar’ style. Another newer type of garage door opener, Jackshifts, get installed on one door’s side, but is more widely used in commercial contexts. A more current door construction trend is constructing them with high garage ceilings, even higher than that of the garage door. Here’s a guide to these unique garage door openers, ideal for commercial settings, as written by the garage door opener installation experts here at Garage Door Repair Chicago.
When it’s best to use Jackshaft Garage Door Openers
If you have a garage with a high ceiling
If your door is only 9 feet while your garage ceiling is 13 feet high, or even higher. It’s best in these situations to implement rail systems that have an element of vertical system lift that can keep the area above the door accessible at all times.
If your ceilings are on a slope or cathedral style
You can always get a garage door opener with a central carriage, but it’s best to use Jackshaft openers in these situations, as they allow for much easier access.
If your garage isn’t deep enough to install a central garage door opener
If you want to install a centralized garage door opener, you’re going to need at the smallest, forty-eight inches of room higher than the door – which can often be blocked by piping.
Tips
- Jackshaft garage door openers work on high lift, standard lift, and full vertical lift doors – but not doors with a low amount of headroom.
- Jackshift garage doors must be used with a torsion spring system – as the opener is attached to the shaft housing the springs.
- In order to install a Jackshift garage door opener, you’re going to need at least seven inches of room behind the door, as well as three above the spring tube itself.
Pros of using Jackshift garage door openers
- Jackshift garage door openers work with doors as high as fourteen feet, or even one hundred and eighty square feet.
- Liftmaster 8500 Jackshift garage door openers are fit with special features that allow you to use codes in order to control it remotely with a smartphone or computer.
- Jackshift garage door openers work with all typical safety reversal technology.
