Garage Doors with Integrity - Page 2

"To put a motor on, both doors have to be free-working. A lot of the doors by this time are dragging," Ron says. "There's just no point in putting a machine [motor and assembly] on unless the door works properly."

"Putting on new tracks and rollers is not expensive" he adds, and an easy process. In fact, all five trucks in the Artistic Garage Door fleet go out equipped with the necessary tracks and rollers, Ron says, and the products come with lifetime warranties. "Our trucks are like hardware stores. When we go to a job, we plan on fixing it."

When the automation process is finished, the original doors look unchanged from the street. What's more, they'll open and close with a hand-held remote control, and also operate from a wireless keypad mounted near the doors.

Another key feature of automated sliding doors, Ron says, are the photoelectric, touch-sensitive safety mechanisms, which have been required on automated garage doors and automation upgrades since 1995.

One advantage of staying with the sliding doors, Ron says, is that they generally need less maintenance than spring-operated overhead doors. While Ron Fouts has professional appreciation for the simplicity and efficiency of the sliding variety, he also indicates that if homeowners want to change styles but retain the Eichler look, he can accommodate them.

For those situations, "I can do a roll-up door faced with Eichler siding," he explains. "Just because they [homeowners] have an Eichler, it doesn't mean they have to have a sliding garage door."

With this style of roll-up, not unlike the original sliders that are automated, the faces of garage doors are kept modern and compatible with the rest of the home and neighborhood—showing off plenty of attractive curb appeal.

• There are very few companies like Artistic Garage Doors (kudos, Artistic folks!) willing to take on the repair and automation of original garage doors. If you know of other companies out there, both in Northern and Southern California, please let the Eichler Network know. We can then pass on the good word to owners in need.

• For more on garage (and front) doors, don't miss our in-depth story from our home-improvement library, 'First Impressions, Simple Statements.'