Monthly Archives: January 2014

Posted:
Jan 29, 2014
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Smart Garage Door Openers

I was surfing the internet the other day and came across a blog about how you can use your phone to open your garage door.  According to the article, all you need is the following:

  • transistor from Radio Shack
  • soldering iron
  • Bluetooth headset
  • handful of wire ties
  • couple of 12” wires
  • various pliers, wirecutters, etc.

After your have acquired this assorted equipment, you disassemble the headset, remove the earpiece housing by carefully working it loose with a pair of pliers, isolate one of the speaker wires, cut off the black wire and solder the transistor to the red wire from the headset.  Then you need to plug this apparatus into an outlet and hang it from your garage door opener.  You then are able to open your door by going to settings on your phone, hitting the Bluetooth setting and then hitting disconnect.  You do have to do this within a couple of seconds, apparently, or it won’t work.  Different phones do require slightly different instructions.

All seems a bit much, doesn’t it? I mean, unless you possess a love of tinkering, I couldn’t imagine a normal person going through all of this trouble for the simple pleasure of opening a garage with a phone. With all the aps that exist in today’s smart phone marketplace, there should be a far more optimal way to use your phone to open a garage door.

Sure enough, there is.

Liftmaster, the leader in Garage door openers, has a solution that doesn’t require soldering iron. Their new technology “MyQ-enabled” Internet Gateway is a simple solution for using any brand smart phone to not only open your garage door but also to control your home lights as well.  And you don’t need to be standing in front of your garage.  This can be done from any remote location

Their four new garage door openers – the LiftMaster® Elite Series® 8550 and Premium Series 8360 with Battery Backup, the Elite Series® Model 8500 Wall Mount opener, and the Premium Series 8355 – are the only ones in the marketplace with MyQ® technology built right in. This offers you a new level of home activation as opposed to an expensive, hardwired home automation system.

 

smart phone opener

If you would like more information about the latest technological advances in Garage Doors and Garage Door openers give us a call at 215-795-2500.

 

Posted:
Jan 21, 2014
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Commercial Overhead Garage Doors

Commercial overhead garage door product information provided by one of our suppliers –  General Doors Corporation.  They have a complete line of products for pretty much every commerical overhead door application.  This is just a sampling of their insulated door product line.

24 Gauge Insulated VB (vinyl back)

Industrial & Commercial Steel Garage Doors by General Doors Corporation are designed, engineered and manufactured specifically for the rigors of everyday use. All of our doors are built tough with the proven strength of deep ribbed, box girder construction eliminating sag, resisting wind load and reducing impact damage. A strong continuous exterior of galvanized steel provides optimum security, while the double coated, baked enamel finish promises years of low maintenance, good looks and worry-free durability.

general 2

 

Steel Raised Panel (SRB)

Compare the Steel Raised Panel (SRP) Commercial model with any other make of steel door. The manufacturing quality and superior appearance are readily apparent after installation and for years to come. Engineered for widths up to 20 feet and heights up to 14 feet, this door combines the beauty of our raised panel design with the rugged construction details needed for any commercial application.

Our 24 gauge door construction is…

17% thicker than 25 gauge
31% thicker than 26 gauge

The SRP is 2-1/8″ thick pan-type door constructed with full 24 gauge steel.(.022 thickness)

  • 1-3/8″ thick Polystyrene insulation with a vinyl backing.
  • R-Value of 6.85, U-value of .85
  • Steel is rust-proofed with hot dipped galvanizing, pre-painted on both sides with a primer, and finished with a top coat of baked on polyester for an exterior paint thickness of 1.0 mil.
  • Finely detailed wood grain surface with deeply embossed panels for a sharp, well defined appearance.
  • Raised panel sizes of appropriate proportions and spacing ensure all door sizes have an authentic raised panel look.
  • Tog-L-Lock fastening system provides strength to joints without burning or piercing the metal.
  • Resilient vinyl weather strip attached to the door bottom with an aluminum retainer minimizes air infiltration.Rivet-free door surface creates a smooth, uniform look.

 

srp-commercial

 

Advantage Commercial

General’s Advantage Commercial Door is a three layer product, made with a 1-3/8” thick polystyrene core sandwiched between two 26-gauge pre-finished steel skins with a thermal break. The steel is protected by a G60 galvanizing layer topped by a heavy duty two-coat baked–on polyester paint system. Available in widths up to 18ft, and heights up to 14ft.

  • Sandwich-type construction with 1-3/8’’ polystyrene insulation, pressure bonded between two skins of 26 gauge (.017) G60 steel
  • Steel is rust-proofed with hot dipped galvanizing, pre-painted on both sides with a primer, and finished with a top coat of baked on polyester for an exterior paint thickness of 1.0 mil
  • Three layer construction provides a calculated insulation value of R-6.7, along with exceptional strength and substantial, solid feel during operation
  • Finely detained wood grain surface with deeply embossed panels for sharp, well-defined appearance
  • Raised panel sizes of appropriate proportions and spacing ensure all door sizes have an authentic raised panel look
  • Double tongue and groove joint for the tightest section fit possible
  • Thermal break between steel skins
  • Also available in a flush versionHeavy duty hardware and commercial grade 14 gauge full leaf hinges are standard
  • Three year hardware warranty

 

Commercial garage door

Posted:
Jan 2, 2014
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Jason Steich Garage Doors Doylestown Pa

Here at Steich Overhead Doors, we love our Garages.  We thought we would share a few things about garages that you might enjoy.  All of us at Steich want to wish you a properous New Year.

Garages Create Innovation

Everybody has a place where their mind works best. For whatever reason, there’s always that little nook in the world where you can put on your thinking cap and get our brain into hyper drive. This place could be your office, workplace, bedroom, or even the shower. But for many of the great minds before us, this place was the garage.

The Wright Brothers, Thomas Edison, Apple, Microsoft, YouTube and the Ramones, all called their garages home to their creative juices. The conception of the biggest companies, most significant inventions and greatest rock bands came in that large port intended for your cars.

garage door

Garage Where Apple Computers Began

It was a garage where Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak put together the boards of their first computer. It was a garage where Tommy Ramone wrote Blitzkrieg Bop. And it was a garage where the Wright Brothers began their work on motor-driven flight.

There must be something about the cold concrete floor, the smell of exhaust, tires, oil and paint (because all garages smell like that), that activates the creative nodes of the brain. How else could one explain the concoction of so many brilliant ideas in a single place? Well, believe it or not, there are reasons beyond the smell.

A Great Place to Escape?

The biggest enemy to your creative mojo is distractions. Detached from the house, garages are a place of solitaire. It’s a place where one can work in peace without any one bothering him or her, and, more importantly, without him or her bothering anyone else. You can make noise in a garage without fear of retribution. Do you think the Ramones would have practiced in Johnny’s apartment? Well, even if they tried, I guarantee it didn’t last long.

Garages are large, open places. When the area one works in is small and tight, it can have a negative effect on how the brain functions. A wide open space gives the brain air to think and do its magic. Ideas often times match the location they were concocted. Small ideas come in small places, big ideas, big places. There is no hard science behind this statement, but it makes a lot of sense to me.

Choose the Right Garage Door

Garages are also great for work because they offer the greatest ventilation system in the entire house, the garage door. That’s right, without the garage door a garage would just be a big room. But add in that large, fiberglass, rolling door and it becomes a creative workshop. The garage door also gives your light into the real world that a small window cannot accomplish, alleviating any feeling of isolation. Of course, if you work best in isolation, you can close the garage door.

Garages are where ideas take shape and dreams become reality. If your garage serves as the stepping board for your next great idea, you’ll want to make sure everything is working as it should. I’d love to help out because, afterall, a garage is far more than a car port.

Give us a call.  We would love to talk about you and what you do with your garage.