Training Garage Door Businesses and Companies in Related Fields - DDM Garage Doors Blog

Posted April 17th, 2020 at 6:23 pm by Dan Musick

Since 1980 I have been training professionals to repair the various types of equipment in the garage door industry. I had started my career with Overhead Door of Elk Grove in January of 1979. The following year, I began training the servicemen there in what was, during that time, one of the largest garage door sales, installation, and service companies in the industry.

In the early eighties, I began training maintenance men in various industries, and since then, I have sold two installation and service companies to former employees whom I also trained. I’ve also helped others who wanted to start their own garage door companies.

In-House Training Seminars

Over the decades, the type of garage door training has changed. On our In-House Training Seminars page, we have a picture from on-the-job training from 2009 at Yale Materials in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

Dan Musick is training maintenance personnel to replace a bottom garage door section.
Above Dan Musick is training maintenance personnel to replace a bottom section.

We have also trained garage door companies that want to expand their services. On our Garage Door Repairs page, we have links to many excellent, vetted door companies. Some of these include people we have trained. Equipment Depot, for example, has a forklift company. They also have a full-time dock leveler installer and repair technician, and now they repair commercial door and dock equipment while servicing their forklift customers.

A map showing one of DDM Garage Doors recommended repair companies, Equipment Depot.
DDM links to companies that we recommend for local service. Here is our link to Equipment Depot.

We have also helped train the Postal Service in Wallingford and Stamford, Connecticut.

A United States Postal Service logo.
Dan has made several trips to train postal workers in Connecticut.

On April 7 of 2020, I trained the owners and employees of a local Chicago area company, Four Seasons Garage Doors, to install steel rolling doors. They are currently moving into the installation and repair of dock levelers.

A picture of a Four Seasons Garage Door pick-up truck showing the Four Seasons logo and website.
DDM recommends Four Seasons for residential and commercial garage door repairs in the Chicago area.

Over a 10 year period, they had already built a strong residential and commercial garage door business. However, they needed a little guidance expanding their services into the steel rolling door market.

Installing a Steel Rolling Door

The following describes how I instructed them to install an outside mount door following our blog instructions titled How to Install a Steel Rolling Door.

Printed instructions on "How to Install a Steel Rolling Door."
Proper installation of a steel rolling door requires studying the paperwork to determine the “S” or “X” dimension of the door.

Three things are critical. The tracks must be properly spaced; they must be plumb; they must be level. This is the simple but important key to installing a rolling door that will work perfectly for decades.

A garage door installer is measuring both sides from the level steel header.
The installer is measuring both sides from the level steel header to assure the guides are level.

We mounted the brackets at each end, secured the top of the curtain to the barrel, and rolled the curtain onto the barrel.

A steel rolling door barrel with a bright green sticker pointing to the drive side of the barrel.
The barrel is marked to identify the drive side. The door will not work if the ends are reversed.

Next, to avoid damaging the curtain, we supported it with two by four lumber. The men then raised the curtain and barrel assembly into place.

A steel rolling door curtain supported by two by fours being raised by a forklift.
The installers positioned the door into place. They aligned the brackets at each end and secured the brackets with three bolts and nuts on each side.

After installing the door, the technicians adjusted the spring tension and lowered the door. After that, they installed the hood.

Two installers standing on a scissor lift skyjack securing a curtain door hood.
Here the owners, Tim on the left and Mustapha on the right install and secure the curtain door hood.

Installing Commercial Door Operator

On many curtain doors, it is faster to install the operator on brackets that are available from the companies that provide the operators.

An installation showing a steel rolling door mounting bracket on the drive side of the door.
Installing a steel rolling door mounting bracket on the drive side of the door is usually the quickest way to install an operator.

After installing the bracket, the installer secures the operator to the bracket with four bolts and nuts.

An image showing a Commercial Door Operator installed on a steel rolling door.
The remainder of the job took quite a while. On this job, the installers still needed to install the chain, run the wiring, and install an operator shield to protect the operator from the elements. They also calked the shield and hood to protect the components.

The employees at Four Seasons know how to serve their customers. If you call them for help, you won’t be disappointed. Their five-star reviews on Yelp are an excellent window into the quality of their work.

We hope that you enjoy reading this blog as much as we like training garage door businesses and companies.

This entry was filed under About DDM, History, Technical Support. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *


Since 1997 the Gold Standard for Online Garage Door Parts

CUSTOMER SUPPORT HELP WANTED

Huge inventory of torsion springs for same or next day shipping! Here you will find all you need in the most common sizes of 1 3/4," 2," 2 1/4," and 2 5/8" inside diameter springs. Larger 3 3/4" and 6" inside diameter commercial and industrial springs may require a day or two to ship. You'll also find TorqueMaster Springs, Extension Springs, Self-Storage door springs, steel rolling door springs and springs for one piece single panel doors.

Shelves packed with every part you need to fix your doors.

Please note. Shipping times and costs have changed. Normal transit times are currently not guaranteed, even on next day and second day shipments. Shipping prices on items over eight feet have more than tripled.