I have a 2 car garage with some sort of Craftsman chain drive that is ready to crap out.

Anyone have any recommendations for under $300 uninstalled?

Liftmaster? Chamberlane? Belt? Screw?

BTW, what is the average install cost these days? I've put them together and installed them before, I just don't have the desire to do it again.

Chamberlain Belt drive. DO NOT buy Genie. I bought my house new 18 years ago and went thru several Genie openers that died thankfully under warranty. I've had a Chamberlain (Liftmaster is same company) and it's been going for 14 + years with zero issues.

I will say though the new Ryobi garage door openers look interesting. I like the modular attachments that are available for it.

I have a LiftMaster belt drive with the battery backup and wi-fi connectivity. No complaints. But, it was more, installed, than the $300 you want to spend.

 
We have the Chamberlain Liftmaster belt drives. They were installed when we built the house in 2002-2003. Still going strong with nary a problem, except when one of the sensors to prevent closing on an obstruction gets knocked out of alignment, or blocked. Easy to push it back into alignment, or just realize your foot is in the way.
 

The Borg Voice: We like Liftmaster.

Liftmaster, the model I have is the 3800. Installed it myself so I'm not sure how much a professional installation would cost. It drives directly on the shaft so there's no overhead chain/guide.

The first open



Link to original video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o6Jz7q_FCXI

I put in 2 Chamberlin openers with battery backup and wifi. Got the biggest ones they had for my heavy doors. Paid $230 on sale at Menards. Installed myself. Was able to re-use the brackets that bolt to the door and most of the existing wiring so installation wasnt too bad. Very happy with them. Menards has them on sale periodically.

Local garage door company quoted $400 for a chain drive liftmaster installed. Stick with liftmaster / chamberlin. I think the main difference is liftmaster uses a one piece track while chamberlin is a 3 piece track. My 3 piece track seems sturdy enough

3 Marantec units in our house. Amazingly quiet.

The Genie I bought lasted just over 2 years. It had issues that seemed to require frequent adjustment. Sometimes I could make it work , but other times I had to get a service guy to fix it. Warranty is worthless when you have to pay someone to fix/adjust.

When Genie crapped out for the second time requiring a service call, I put the money to a replacement instead. I went with a Ryobi from Home Depot. Gives me notifications via text or email and I can open/close from anywhere via the smartphone app. Uses Ryobi One+ 18v battery for backup so functions during power outage.

They charged $120 for the install. Going on 2 years with it and haven’t had a single problem.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/Ry...ckup-GD201/303810513

Overhead Door makes the Genie brand openers, Chamberlain makes Liftmaster and Craftsman.

Liftmaster is the contractor line for Chamberlain.

I replaced the overhead door unit that went out 10 years ago on our double door with a Craftsman 3/4 hp battery backup unit, since in FL we have power outages from time to time with storms, the door will still open and close.

Its operated perfectly without any need of repairs or high maintenance. The only thing I'm thinking of doing is adding a wifi controller so that I run it with an app from the phone and monitor the door.

So basically if you buy a Craftsman you're buying a Chamberlain.

What fiber optic said.

Go with the Liftmaster direct drives and don't look back. You won't be sorry. They are a little spendier, but well worth the cost.

A few months ago, I had a Guardian unit installed on my standard garage door. I have zero complaints to date. It is a belt drive unit.

When she gets home to visit dean for the holidays , I'd give Lorna a ring,
yeah she's had two kids but she takes that
yoga and her gym membership seriously .

I have always gotten good service out of the Craftsman brand.

I have always had good luck with Liftmaster and when I in-filled my carport to make it a garage, I installed a Liftmaster

I've had multiple brands over the years. Recently when I replaced my garage doors I went with Overhead door - can't remember the exact model, but it had "1000" in the model name. Probably middle or slightly lower then middle of the line model. After a couple of years, it has worked well.

What struck me as AMAZING with this model - is how QUIET it is. Much, much quieter than all the previous models I have had. I know this brand doesn't seem to get very good comments from this group, but if quietness is a consideration, it should be on your list.

This seems like good guidance to keep your new opener and door operating smoothly and efficiently...

https://youtu.be/Y1lUm7koF2A

Will embed later.

Sommer.

German company. Unit has one single moving part. The motor moves along a fixed chain track. The rollers on the door frame make far more noise than the unit.

I've installed three of these between the last two houses. 10 of 10 satisfaction.

My 2016 built home didn't come with garage door openers so I followed Sigforum advice and bought Chamberlain belt drives. I'm very pleased with the Chamberlains. First home I've had where the garage door opener has a built-in timer to close the garage door if you forget. Also, the garage door opener remote has a motion sensor and it turns on the light if it detects motion which is nice when you have your hands full. I have not used the wifi option as I don't see the need in opening my garage door up to the net and opening it outside of remote distance.

I had Deep Homo's subcontractor do the installation and if I remember right installation added $100 per door. The installer was very professional and I was pleased with him as well. As I was chatting with him he mentioned that to his knowledge Genie is the only one who made LED light bulbs for garage doors and ordinary LED don't work well or last long in garage doors.

Another vote for Chamberlain belt drive. Spend the extra money on the 1.5hp. Very quiet and should last longer.