Is the handyman actually saying he’s going to do what you’re suggesting? Or is he saying he’s going to do it right and ignore your bogus suggestion to fill the rot with putty?
He’s the one who suggested using putty in the first place. I had another person who quoted me $675 for cutting and replacing wood in the affected areas with PVC. Does that sound better? That does not include caulking or painting the whole door though.
That’s what I assumed was going to happen and is probably what I’d try to do on my own. Caulk and paint is easily done. PVC will last forever
$675 seems steep for that, but for them there’s also some opportunity cost – if they weren’t doing your job, they could be doing a different job for more money. So instead of saying no outright, they price it up to make it more worth their time.
Watch a few YouTube videos on replacing these pieces. Maybe it will build some confidence in trying it yourself. It isn't a complicated repair and I've stopped calling contractors to do small jobs anymore. In the last year I've permanently wired in a backup generator to my house and installed a 220 receptacle for a new induction stove. I've always been afraid of electrical work but it was so easy and saved me $1000
I bought a “cheap” prehung exterior door recently it was like $300 I think. There’s absolutely no way it would be cheaper to just replace the whole door. Especially if you want a decent looking door.
It’s going to take most of a day to do that “right” because they will need to remove a huge chunk and replaced all the material. Don’t believe these people saying a new door will be the same… A decent exterior door costs $500 alone and install will cost at least that again.
That being said, I’d just replace the door. I recently replaced my front and garage doors myself. It’s not as hard as you’d think. I spent like 4-6 hours on each. I did run into some leveling compound (cement type stuff) that leaked in from my flooring that I had to chip out on the front door.
I’m not at all experienced in fixing these but some ideas come to mind: I doubt it’s the spring, that would just control rotation of the main rod unless it somehow bent the rod. Could be the tracks on the side are becoming misaligned. That could be from loose track. That might be hard to tell with the door installed due to weight, someone might know of a way to check this.
You also might need to consider that the floor underneath is sinking on the gap side. Are there any cracks in the garage floor? Any cracks on nearby walls? This can happen naturally or due to a leaking pipe where water underground washes away the supporting sand/dirt under the building.
The gasket at the bottom of your overhead compresses to help create a seal along an uneven surface, but it can only do so much. Your gap may be too large to seal before the door bottoms out completely on the left. That said, there is adjustments that set where the door comes to a stop when closing, check your manual and see if the overhead can lower further.
If you check the level of both the door and the slab it will let you know which one is causing the gap. I would guess that a gasket would be the best fix. If it is the door DO NOT try to fix it yourself. Those springs can very easily kill you. I have known life long contractors that will do everything in a house but a garage door. Garage doors are not DIY.
Do you mean you want to remove the box and leave the wiring in the ceiling? I believe it’s code in most places that you have to make wire splices like that accessible and not just shoved behind drywall. So, in your case, code would require you to leave it as-is, with the wires capped behind a blank cover plate.
If you REALLY want it gone, you could get into the attic and pull the wires back into a junction box mounted to a rafter or joist. Then, patch the ceiling drywall.
Probably easier to just cap the wires and add a blank cover.
Honestly just left it. Debating on putting carpet in the room where it’s pretty bad. But decided if I couldn’t do it well myself I’d just wait until I was ready to fork over money to have it done correctly.
Work space. I have a small collapsable bench and two jaw stands with a couple of 2x4s I use in my garage for my work surface. It all collapses when not in use. Love those jaw stands. Inherited the little bench and it works great too and is more stable. I tend to use the bench as my work area and the stands as supports but for quick jobs I will just use the stands.
I remember when I was young I use to use IR lamps in the winter when curing paint on my car. You do have to get the placement correct to get the best surface temperature.
Currently I have two of the boards on the folding sawhorses and three more on a folding table, but I hear you and appreciate the suggestion. The IR lamp suggestion is clutch as well, I think I have several in the rabbitry for the buns’ overwinter comfort but didn’t think to use those for this. Now I’m wondering if I have spare chain lying around to make an adjustable fixture height apparatus. Good looks, thank you!
I think what I use to use was an IR spotlight in a portable spotlight fixture that had a clamp you could clamp about anywhere. Also make certain you have enough ventilation.
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