There I was, thinking another week would go by with nothing of interest to report around the homestead. Then late Friday night I received the modern day equivalent of an Indian attack. The torsion spring on my garage door snapped, trapping all my vehicles inside. Ok so maybe that’s not the best comparison I’ve ever come up with, but I’ve been watching a lot of old westerns lately.
Being the “do it yourself” kind of guy I am, I immediately set about figuring out how to replace the spring. This being my first ever garage I had no idea that torsions springs have a bad habit of killing people if they are installed wrong. Now most people would be deterred by that information. Often to my detriment, I am not most people.
Ever the optimist, I was positive I could do the repair as long as I took the proper precautions. Really, what could go wrong? Well, I may never know. Apparently you can’t just go down to your local home supply store for these things. Probably because of that death and dismemberment thing. To my dismay, I was forced to turn to a professional. The only other option would have been to order online. Considering all of my many modes of transportation were trapped inside my sealed garage, waiting wasn't an option.
After some quick internet searching I found a local company that seemed trustworthy. Most importantly they were able to come early the next morning and thankfully didn't cost much more then I would have spent ordering the parts myself. While I had a pro at my house I asked him to check out the rest of my arcane garage door system. With the exception of the rusted and almost non moving guide wheels he said the door and its components looked to be in very good shape: a huge relief considering the cost of garage doors.
With the new wheels and springs, the door runs so smooth I no longer hear the clanking metal monstrosity inside the house. The repair was worth every penny.
I have nothing to report on the home front. Other hobbies and vehicle repairs have taken up all my time again. On the plus side, I now have full working knowledge of motorcycle carburetor repair and the home brewing set up at my friends house now has dual zone, low power, automated fermentation temperature control. All thanks to some foam and a Raspberry Pi.
I did discover that my house is a block away from the local 4th of July parade. That was an excellent surprise. I'm a sucker for kitschy americana like that.
