| House-Call: Quieting a Noisy Garage-Door |
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General contractor Tom Silva makes a house-call to a homeowner who has a noisy garage-door opener. This particular garage-door opener happens to be located directly underneath the master bedroom belonging to the homeowners. Every time the door opens and closes, a loud rumble comes right through the floor -- making things particularly unpleasant for any sleeping occupants of the bedroom. Believe it or not, the rubber mudguard from an old truck proves to be the fix for this troublesome situation. Here's how it worked. - The garage-door opener was previously mounted on a layer of drywall attached to the plaster ceiling (figure A), but the layer of drywall did little to eliminate the vibration and noise.
- Tom decided to try to reduce the effect of the vibration by lowering the assembly of the door-opener and suspending it using rubber pads. He began by unfastening the motor from the metal structure (figure B), and carefully supporting the heavy structure using ladders and wood blocks.
- With the motor separated from the ceiling, and still operational from it's supported position, the noise from the vibration was noticeably reduced.
- Next, the front of the door-opener assembly was disconnected from the front wall (figure C).
- The bracket fastening the assembly to the wall was then re-attached, but with a piece of cut rubber placed beneath the bracket's metal plate (figure D). The arm of the assembly was then reattached to the bracket. The thick piece of rubber was cut from a scrap of a truck's mud-flap that Tom found on the side of the road.
- The motor was then suspended from the ceiling -- again using pieces of rubber cut from the scrap piece (figure E). This thick rubber is strong enough to safely hold the weight of the motor, and serves to isolate the motor from it's metal hanger.
- With the motor re-attached (figure F), the supports were removed and the door was tested ensure that it operated properly.
- With the motor suspended in this way, the noise in the bedroom above was reduced considerably.
RESOURCES :
HGTV's Complete Fix-It
Author: HGTV
Ask This Old House web site
Ask This Old House web site
Website: www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/asktoh/
Ask This Old House online episode guide
Ask This Old House online episode guide
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