San Jose's garages tell the story of the valley. Orchards gave way to subdivisions in the decades after World War II, and the city's land area grew several times over, so much of the housing here is single-story ranch homes and other postwar tract houses, many old enough to have outlived their first doors. Mixed in are mid-century modern Eichlers, newer townhome complexes and homes tucked against the foothills.
Eichler sliding doors and other mid-century originals
Joseph Eichler built thousands of low-slung modern homes on the Peninsula and in the South Bay. Palo Alto has the largest concentration of them, and the Fairglen Additions tract in Willow Glen was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019. Many Eichlers still have their original sliding garage doors rather than a roll-up sectional door.
Those doors can often be repaired, and an opener can be added to one, which keeps the look of the facade intact instead of swapping in a roll-up door that changes it. When booking, say up front that it is an original Eichler door so the technician comes prepared.
If replacement is the right call, look for a plain door with a grooved face that echoes the siding, not raised panels. Palo Alto adopted voluntary design guidelines for its Eichler neighborhoods in 2018, so read those, along with any tract or HOA rules, before you settle on a style or color.
Timing upkeep around the rainy season
The South Bay has a Mediterranean climate: most of the year's rain falls between November and March, and summers are long and nearly rainless. Early fall, before the first real storm, is the moment to fix whatever the summer did to the door.
Months of sun and dust take a steady toll. Rubber bottom seals stiffen and split, wood doors facing south or west lose their finish and begin to check, and fine grit coats the rollers and photo eyes. A door that seals poorly in September lets water and leaves under it by December.
- Replace a bottom seal that is flattened, cracked or no longer meets the floor along its full width.
- Wipe both photo-eye lenses and confirm the sensor lights glow steadily.
- Refinish wood doors and touch up faded steel while the weather is still dry.
- Clear the threshold and make sure the driveway sheds water away from the garage.
- Oil metal hinges and roller stems lightly with a lubricant made for garage doors, and keep the tracks clean and dry.
Fog at the coast, wind over the Altamont
Doors age differently across the region. Half Moon Bay often sits under summer fog until late morning, and homes along the Aptos shore breathe salty ocean air, so steel springs, hinges and rollers there rust faster than they would inland. Galvanized or stainless hardware, a fiberglass or well-painted steel door, and an occasional freshwater rinse of exposed hardware all slow that down.
East of the hills it is another story. Pleasanton, Livermore and Tracy see hotter summer afternoons, and the Altamont Pass between Livermore and Tracy is known for strong winds, steady on summer evenings and gustiest when winter storms move through. Wide two-car doors on homes closest to the pass benefit from reinforcing struts and solid track brackets, and an insulated panel keeps any inland garage from baking.
After a quake or during a power shutoff
Santa Cruz County remembers 1989: the Loma Prieta earthquake was centered in the forest just outside Aptos. Shaking can shift framing enough that a door scrapes one jamb, lands unevenly or pops a roller out of its track.
If a door looks crooked after a quake, leave it closed and have it inspected. Springs and lift cables hold a great deal of tension, and forcing a door that has jumped its track or thrown a cable can bring it down suddenly or release that energy. Putting that right is a job for a trained technician with proper tools, not a homeowner with a wrench.
Outages are the other concern. PG&E has shut off power ahead of dry, high-wind weather in parts of Santa Clara and Alameda counties, and since July 1, 2019, state law has required home openers sold or put in to have a battery backup function. If yours predates that, a new door is the time to upgrade, because the same law bars hooking a replacement door to an opener without one.
Communities where work has been done
Service requests have come in from Santa Clara, San Mateo, Alameda, Contra Costa, San Joaquin and Santa Cruz counties. These are the places and ZIP codes on record so far:
A town missing from this list is not necessarily outside the service area. Ask when you call; same-day service is available in most areas.
- San Jose (95111, 95118, 95120, 95121, 95123, 95136)
- Palo Alto (94306)
- San Mateo (94403, 94404)
- Redwood City (94061)
- South San Francisco (94080)
- Half Moon Bay (94019)
- Hayward (94541)
- Union City (94587)
- Pleasanton (94566)
- Livermore (94550)
- Alamo (94507)
- Tracy (95304, 95376, 95377)
- Aptos (95003)
Last updated by the American Garage Door Team.