The other day the garage door opener to my house garage broke.
Initially i was going to repair it with the proper part, but then decided a new opener might be nicer for the wife as she does not like this particular Genie opener we have had for the last many years.
I decided on a belt driven unit, but otherwise keep it simple. After some searching I learend simple is not really available anymore. Oh sure, you can get a chain driven, $100, 1/2hp opener from CH Ina incorporated but the plethora of online stories telling how they break easy sends a message.
Online I can find all kinds of things, but not in stores.
In stores they have openers with Wi-Fi connections, Smart tech, cameras, weather stations, and a jillion other options....why does my garage door opener need to sync to my coffee maker?...Anyway, they were all quite expensive with all these added features....I just want a quite little machine to open and close my garage door. Why is this so hard?
As I am waiting for the guy in the store to look through inventory I got to thinking.
I really need a new garage door for my shop garage, and the house door is looking a bit tatty and beginning to rust too...Did not last as long as I had hoped, and I purchased a high end door last time.
The clerk looks up two doors that I like, both steel in and out, with full insulation, otherwise they are pretty standard doors in the Classic collection...you have seen a jillion of these doors.
I am not purchasing install services, an extended warranty, or any other options, just the door kits.
He gives me the price and I think, that's about what I thought they would cost.....Oops! That price is for EACH door....$2,300 for each door...a standard 7'x16', insulated, double garage door.
I paid right around $700 for the same door (same company, same style, same color) less than 20 years ago.
MAN have I fallen out of touch with the rising prices of things...Oh well, I need one, and the other will match nice and make the wife happy with the looks.
"If I order the doors today when can I expect to receive them"
16 weeks out is the current best time.....................16 weeks out?
Well, I guess now I know.
I'll order two terribly expensive new doors some time around December in anticipation of arrival and replacement the following summer...and pray nothing happens to them intransit that requires replacement.
By the way, the new Chamberlain opener works great and is very quiet.
Not as simple as I wanted, but about as stripped down as one can find in a belt driven unit.