The week before Labor Day weekend was a little crazy. I came home around 9pm from pickleball league on Wednesday night, with intentions to pack for my trip to Minnesota with a 5am flight out the next morning. My garage door had opened just fine, but when I tried to close it, it suddenly got stuck. The two wheels on the bottom panel of the door had come off the track. My garage door was pretty old, in fact it was the door that came with the house (built in 2000), so about 24 years now.
However, I was in a rush to get the door closed since I had to leave for a flight in less than 8 hours, so I frantically tried to fix the wheel/track/door myself so I could just get the door closed. Unfortunately, the axle for one of the wheels was off the bracket, and there was no way to get it back in without completely removing the bracket. As I tried to fix the door, it just got worse and worse. A lot of it has to do with the door being old and a poor design. It also had to do with my ignorance and not having the proper tools to keep the door held up while I worked on it. As a result, my door looked like this after an hour of making things worse:
As you can see from the pictures above, all of the door had completely fallen off the track on both sides and by the end of the night, it was only hanging by the motor at the top of the garage and a single wheel on the left track.
I was extremely stressed out and couldn't leave my garage in the shape it was, so I canceled my flight out to Minnesota. I woke up at 6:30am on Thursday morning to call garage door companies in my area. I started with Kaisar Garage Doors & Gates because it was a company I used in the past to replace my motor and fix a bent panel. They were really affordable and did a good job, plus the house actually came with a Kaisar garage door that had lasted some 20+ years. When I called Kaisar, they told me that they could come out 10am. I really wanted to the door fixed in the same day so I could possibly still make my trip out to Minnesota. So I called up another company called A1 Garage Door Service, which was also one that my friend Jenny had given a good review on Yelp. A1 told me they could come between the hours of 11am-3pm.
I got a call from Kaisar that an appointment had canceled, so they came to see me even earlier at 8am. The salesperson's name was Scott and was there to give me an estimate on the price and work required for the door. I wanted a full replacement of the door. Scott first just wanted to help me get the door off the motor and track so that it didn't cause any damage or possibly fall off and hit my car. So he helped me detach it and move it outside safely for free. He said he could have charged for something like that, but he was just a normal human being who wouldn't want that on his own garage and it was a fairly simply task to do (with my help holding the door and pushing it away from the car as it fell down). He told me a full replacement (door, tracks, springs) would run me around $1700 and that the earliest installation would unfortunately not be until the following week. He also did a very interesting but cool thing, which was refer me to a friend who might be able to get it replaced same day had I really wanted it fixed in the same day. However, it wasn't going to be an established company, more of a private practice, so I was hesitant. Still very honest of the guy, which I loved.
A1 proceeded to come by at around 11:30am. The technician did their measurements and then asked me to come out and hear the estimate. He called a salesperson at the office and put them on speaker phone. They were not short and to the point and kept asking me silly side questions about how I like the service or is so-and-so treating me well. The salesperson on the phone finally gave me a quote for a full replacement (door, tracks, springs) and told me a price of $3700! He even said he gave me a $500 discount. The technician who was live in person started nodding his head and said afterwards "not too bad!". I felt like this was a sleazy company and the price felt very marked up. I think they were trying too hard to present "pleasant" customer service and make me feel like I was getting a good deal and treated well. I told them I would think about it, and then the salesperson on the phone started asking me "what are the things your thinking about"? Inside my head I was like, "I really don't have to answer that", but to be friendly I simply responded with things like "time of installation is going to be important for me". They finally left but there was no way in hell I'd use them as a company. Now I just really want to talk to my friend Jenny and learn about her experience with them. How did they earn such a good review from her?
With the garage door off the ceiling and stowed away to the side safely, my garage was completely exposed. I decided I could still make my trip to Minnesota, so I booked a new flight on Delta for $400 that would get me there at 1am on Friday, effectively only missing a half-day of my trip. It was an extra $200 to make it out, but sometimes this shit just happens and you gotta pay the difference to make up for emergencies. I then put all valuables from my garage into the house and backyard. I texted my neighbor, telling them my situation and if they could help watch my garage for me while I was gone for some 5 days. They actually agreed to help by having her son and nephew park their cars on my driveway during the weekend (instead of in the street) to help make it look like people where at the house at all times, which was really nice! I would eventually reward my neighbor and her family with some cookies from Nosh Tucson, which is a bakery my friend Tina owns. I then took a rideshare to the airport so that my garage would be occupied with my car all weekend and give an illusion that I was home all the time.
I proceeded to go to Minnesota (for the rennaissance fair and to witness my friend proposing to his girlfriend of 8 years) and while I was nervous leaving my house with the garage door open, I felt somewhat safer knowing that it was being watched by friends and the neighbor. I also have a camera for the cats inside the house, so I would know if someone made it inside and past the locked door.
The installation for my garage door wasn't scheduled until Friday of the following week, but Kaisar knew of my situation and called me on Tuesday and told me they could install it on Wednesday since an appointment had fallen off! They came and got it installed in about 2 hours and I was so happy to have a brand new garage door. This one also has a much better wheel and track design, so the chances of it falling off the track are not so easy now.
In the end, it also only cost me $1600, which was really close to the ball-park estimate that Scott had given me. I then picked up some paint and supplies from Home Depot for about $100 and painted the door later in the week. We're finally back up and running!
I would 100% use Kaisar Garage Doors & Gates again. It felt nice to work with a company who just seemed really down-to-earth and honest. And I can't complain with the price either!
