Don, Thank you so much for your reply. We do have sectional doors and will take your suggestion to just replace the broken one for now. We do have another question which hopefully makes sense given what little we know, but maybe can't be answered without seeing it. When the now-broken opener was installed, they had to cut the channels at least 6-8" because of duct work in the garage ceiling on that side. Do you think this will present a problem with installing the belt drive?

Open up the installation manual that the contractor should have left with the units and it will state the opener should not be plugged into an extension cord. That's the bottom line. My building dept (in NJ) tells me a permit is not needed to install an opener, but the code says that all manufacturer's instructions must be followed. I know of a few towns that will flag the extension cord during a certificate of occcupancy inspection for the transfer of real estate. I'm sure the contractor is professional at installing doors and openers, but he will tell you he is no electrician... What if an installer (or owner) used the cheapest, smallest gauge two prong extension cord available and stapled through the cord to fasten to the drywall... It is surprising that the builder didn't install an outlet in the ceiling during construction. Did the inspection report state a specific reason for a safety issue? Probably not, it just fits into that category in his reporting software.

I'd wager that the wall in question is a bearing wall. Cost to open it and install an approiate header/rough in for a garage door would be up there. The door itself is not that much, but I can't quite figger out how one would arrange the tracks and motor inside the house.

The rollers are easily replaced and can be done by the installer while he's there. You can replace most of them yourself, however the two that are at the very bottom, closest to the floor are very dangerous if you do it. Best to leave this up to a professional. Buy the rollers, put them all in except the two bottom ones, and ask the installer to install those for you. It will take him about one minute to do both. A cup of coffee while he's installing the GDO should about do it. If your not technically inclined then just have him do it when he's there. Unless he is a trained door technician, he wont know how to do it safely so if your getting a local handyman to install your GDO, then don't ask him to do it. Whats the difference between the openers? Chamberlain is the worlds largest manufacturer of residential garage door openers. They make units for Sears and then puts Sears Craftsman on the cover. They sell units under their own name of Chamberlain at retail places such as HD. They make a professional series of openers called Liftmaster and sell them to the door companys. These always have solid T rails as oposed to segmented tubes such as you would buy at a retail store. If you have a really tight head-room situation , the Liftmaster can be squeezed into a much smaller space above the door because it still uses a T rail. The carriage assembly slides along the bottom of the T rail and doesnt touch the ceiling. The Chamberlain and Sears machines use a square tube that the carriage assembly wraps completely around. This means that the carriage assembly would scrape the drywall on the ceiling if it was used in a tight headroom situation. Which one is better? Sort of like asking, which is better, Chev or Pontiac. Same company. Really doesn't matter, they are all great. Regarding Warrantys. LIFE TIME WARRANTY ON THE MOTOR. That means exactly that, just the motor. Motors NEVER wear out. Thats why they put a lifetime warranty on it, cause they never wear out. All the other components in the unit, such as Logic Board, capacitor, nylon gears, all have a one year warranty. So, If the garage door opener doesn't crap out on you in the first year of operation, chances are, it will go up and down like a yo-you for the next 10-12 years with nobody ever having to touch it.