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I was working on my garage door the other day and I noticed that the steel supporting strut (or more appropriate name for this? See the picture) tilted due to a loosening bolt, the ceiling cracked because of that too.

It concerns me. It's obviously the strut is no longer secured but I don't know how long it can hold. I can't tell what material inside the ceiling that the bolts stuck into either.

My question, if I want to fix this, how should I start? Or, honestly I don't think I am up to a job like this, so another question: if I want someone to come over to fix this, which category of professions this kind of work falls into? So that I can start googling and shopping for professionals.

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  • The only thing I can think of is to loosen the two right hand straps, disconnect them at their bottoms, then re-secure the top piece (which is bent). Then reconnect the two right hand straps using different holes so they not under excessive tension. Are those top fasteners lag screws or bolts with nuts above? Looks like the screws (bolts) are at the edge of the joist. The horizontal piece at the top might have to be repositioned. How high is the ceiling in this garage?
    – Jim Stewart
    Sep 14, 2018 at 16:30
  • I think you should call an installer of garage doors.
    – Jim Stewart
    Sep 14, 2018 at 16:39
  • That bolt on the right looks like a machine bolt, possibly for drywall toggle, definitely not right for supporting the garage door.
    – Gary Bak
    Sep 14, 2018 at 22:57
  • Garage doors are designed to trivially lift without the assistance of an opener. I have 12x14 industrial doors I can open and throw to the 14' height with one hand. Because they are in correct trim. This ability requires a big counterweight, which comes in the form of a giant spring, and that turns your entire garage door assembly into a GIANT BEAR TRAP with ample force to kill you. That means this is serious as a heart attack -either skill up with extreme prejudice and DIY, as I did; or call the pros fast. Do not lack fear.
    – Harper - Reinstate Monica
    Sep 14, 2018 at 23:38
  • Looks like this door has extension springs on the side. I do not see a torsion spring in the picture. The extension springs are usually nearly fully retracted when the door is up.
    – Gary Bak
    Sep 15, 2018 at 1:29

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It looks to me like a bit of a can of worms.

The perforated angle iron is set up so that the holes are right on the edge of the vertical drywall - there's nothing solid for them to anchor to. But you don't have much flexibility placing the track, it has to line up with the door. That jog in the ceiling is in a very inopportune spot.

It's a bit of a hack, but you could drive screws at an angle and maybe, hopefully, hit wood framing behind the drywall, and get off easy.

Otherwise you'll have to remove the drywall and extend the structure out so there's something above the angle iron to attach to.

If you're lucky it may be an I beam behind there, and beam clamps on the flange may work out.

If it's a glue-lam beam or something you could just nail a 2x4 to the beam to use as a cleat for the screws.

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    I would not say shooting a screw at an angle would be a hack in this case, the hack was the installer should have flipped the angle so the screws would be into wood not the edge of drywall.+
    – Ed Beal
    Feb 11, 2019 at 18:46
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I'd drill up and probe one of the other unused holes looking for solid wood. If you hit wood, I'd screw in a 3/8 inch lag bolt, as long as your drill bit, securing the door.

If you are unsure about your skills for this job, contact a garage door installer.

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