We have a new door and can actually open it!

We got our brand new garage door installed today (www.hamiltondoorsystems.com/).  It doesn't appreciably change the look of the house (same colour, slightly different style), but it will make the garage a warmer place in the winter. It is a sectional door that slides up to open, while the old one was a solid one-piece steel door that swung out to open.

Our new garage door

The old door was bent from Adam's previous interaction with it, and this bend created huge gaps all around the door where the cold could come in.  It was also not insulated. The new door fixed both problems at once and is both insulated and seals out the weather.

This is the old door in the closed position - notice the gap all around.

This is the new door - look, no gaps!

We also got a new garage door opener, and this one is actually much quieter than the Chamberlain Whisper Drive that we had previously... the one that stopped working just after the 3-year warranty was up. Grrrr!

A feature that I think I will really be able to enjoy is the self closing timer - after a set amount of time with no activity, the door will close on its own.  No more forgetting to close the door, and no more waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if it is still open. 

No more texting the kids to open the door for us as we come home. Best of all, we can now drive into the garage without: 

1. getting out of the car
2. unlocking the front door
3. walking through the house
4. going into the garage
5. pushing the wall button
6. getting back in the car
7. driving into the garage
8. getting out of the car
9. pushing the wall button to close the door. 

Phew!  I'm exhausted just writing about it!

Door opener issues

OK, now that we have decided to get a new garage door after Adam's interaction with the old one, today all of our garage door remotes (including the one on the wall outside of the garage) stopped working.  Perfect!  It is now cold outside and we have to get out and open the door by going inside and pushing the button.  We can't pull the emergency handle inside and leave it like that (using the door old style) as that would leave the garage unlocked.

The information on the Chamberlain Whisper Drive website suggests that there might be interference with the signals, but I haven't been able to trace it - I even turned off all the power to the whole house except that one circuit.  I will turn off only that circuit and run an extension cord to it, but I expect that might not work.  Chamberlain says one of the most frequently ordered parts is the main receiver logic board (US$106), so I will have to also consider that.

It couldn't have done this in the summer when it was warm enough to play around with the thing...