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mrtexas · 10-26-2013, 01:51 PM

When I built the new house this year I specified an 8 foot garage door with 12 foot ceilings for the garage in anticipation of buying a 4 post storage lift. I also made the garage 27 feet wide for a 2 car, about 7 feet wider than usual, paying $50/ft2 for the extra width. The garage door sub wanted $600 parts/labor and several weeks delay to install the door as a "high lift." I couldn't understand what would be so expensive. So I did it myself. Door is now less than a foot from the ceiling leaving me 11 feet for storage. I cut 40inches off the horizontal track and added it to the vertical track. I bought the kit for $195 including shipping which included two new springs, new cable drums, new cables and a couple brackets. Here is the result after about a day of labor:

Here is the new drum on the top. The screw part is for lifting the door straight up:

I still don't think it would have been any more labor to install the door high lift vs not.

My door is 8 feet high with a 12 foot ceiling. I'm not using a garage door opener as I park the everyday cars in a portico in front of the garage and single doors are very easy to open by hand. One brand of side mount opener is LiftMaster. I have one at my old house, cost only $300 on ebay. I installed a high mounted electric plug to add a LiftMaster in case I change my mind. 11 feet of clearance in a 12 foot ceiling is about as much as you can get. My lift drum is only 2 inches from the ceiling.

10-26-2013, 01:51 PM	#1
mrtexas Senior Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Sugar Land, TX Posts: 4,395	high lift garage door kit When I built the new house this year I specified an 8 foot garage door with 12 foot ceilings for the garage in anticipation of buying a 4 post storage lift. I also made the garage 27 feet wide for a 2 car, about 7 feet wider than usual, paying $50/ft2 for the extra width. The garage door sub wanted $600 parts/labor and several weeks delay to install the door as a "high lift." I couldn't understand what would be so expensive. So I did it myself. Door is now less than a foot from the ceiling leaving me 11 feet for storage. I cut 40inches off the horizontal track and added it to the vertical track. I bought the kit for $195 including shipping which included two new springs, new cable drums, new cables and a couple brackets. Here is the result after about a day of labor: Here is the new drum on the top. The screw part is for lifting the door straight up: I still don't think it would have been any more labor to install the door high lift vs not. My door is 8 feet high with a 12 foot ceiling. I'm not using a garage door opener as I park the everyday cars in a portico in front of the garage and single doors are very easy to open by hand. One brand of side mount opener is LiftMaster. I have one at my old house, cost only $300 on ebay. I installed a high mounted electric plug to add a LiftMaster in case I change my mind. 11 feet of clearance in a 12 foot ceiling is about as much as you can get. My lift drum is only 2 inches from the ceiling.