I'm wanting to get an electric garage door opener. My garage has kind of a weird setup. It's under my kitchen floor, so it has a pretty low ceiling, and there is a bumpout where a HVAC duct runs perpendicular to the ceiling beams, hanging below them. The door is already installed, it's a relatively new door, it's on tracks (dual rails on each side) and works pretty well.http://ift.tt/2nhnmml 9" clearance from the header to the ceiling, 6" to the bumpout. When the garage door is fully open, there is 2.25" to the bumpout, 6.5" to the ceiling, and the bumpout extends 23" past the edge of the door.I've been trying to find a published clearance requirement for the door track, but all of the resources are discussing clearance from the header to the ceiling to allow the rails. I already have the rails installed, there's plenty of clearance there. From what I can see, a track is about 1.5" to 2" deep, so I would expect that I could squeeze one in there. Looking at the kinematics, I can't really see any need for having a lot of clearance between the top of the door and the rail, as long as they don't hit each other.I've got a couple other options -Install the door 6" off center to clear the bumpout (probably bad for the motor, and I am not sure where I would mount the arm on the door since there's a window there.Carve up the bumpout to make room for the track. I am pretty sure it's just drywall to cover the HVAC duct, so I could rip it off for another 1/2" or more of clearance. I am not sure what it looks like inside, I guess I should look down the duct with my borescopeTry to reroute the duct. It has to end up above the center of the garage door though, so at best that would give me more clearance at the end, but I'd still have a bumpout by the footer because that's where my vent is.Also, is there a rule about the length of the track beyond the edge of the door? I have 23" past the top edge of the door, then I'm in the clear. It seems like most motors are mounted that far back anyway so I doubt it will be a problem.Any suggestions on if this is feasible, or if there's a certain type of opener that uses a slimmer track that will give me better clearance? The ones I'm seeing are basically a metal I beam with a chain running down them, so it doesn't seem like they would be that sensitive about clearance, but I want to find this out before I go out and buy something.Appreciate any feedback. via /r/DIY http://ift.tt/2DE3lgG
