For real, yo! Don't get screwed, call the Dude!!
So, one beautiful and hot night in Houston, TX; right before I was about to go out on a date, my garage door pretty much told me, "screw you, Belly! You ain't getting the car out past me!!" and went 'SNAP!!!" and broke one of the springs.
I managed to open the door manually (obviously getting dirt on my clothes and getting a little sweaty from the manual labor) and drove the car out. But I definitely didn't want to deal with this on a daily basis. So, Yelp (and google) to the rescue!!!!
The first thing I did was call "Southwest Garage Door of Houston" because it seemed like the Yelpers' go to place. I got a quote over the phone and I was told to replace the springs with a pair of 90-lb springs, it would run me $185. Not too bad, right? But then I had some garage door people come out to give me a free quote and they told me that I had an old-school heavy-duty metal garage door and that 90-lb springs wouldn't cut it. This dude (Sara's garage door) quoted me $380 to replace the springs with heavy duty springs. WHOA!!! that's more than double what was quoted to me. He also told me that he could install even heavier duty springs for an extra $100. At this point, I was like, "screw this. Forget it!!"
At this point, I realized that I'd be paying more to ask for the heavy duty springs from Southwest. I called some other places and the cheapest I found was still in the high $200 - low $300 range. "Shoot! I'm going to be broke!!" I thought.
I went back to Yelp and decided to call the Dude because I didn't want to get screwed. I called him around 7 pm in the evening and the Dude picked up (he was at the gym working out, but he still answered). I told him about my garage door, I told him that I needed to replace the springs, I told him that I needed heavy duty springs and he said, "$169". Whoa, what?! Did my ears deceive me?? I had to ask him again to make sure that this was for a pair of heavy duty springs for an old-school super heavy 300-lbs garage door and he gave me assurance that they would be the right springs.
Anyway, fast forward to the following day (appointment day). He showed up around 9:20 am for a 9:30 am appointment. How do I know this? Well, because I wasn't home and he had to call me. Made me feel bad. But hey, I had 10 minutes!!! He came in and started getting to work. I asked him again about the springs and he started telling me about the kind of garage door that I have and the garage door that my neighbor has (lighter), etc. Anyway, bam, bam, bam! Snap, snap, snap! Clink! Clank! Sweat! Huff! Puff! He was done within about 30 minutes.
I wrote him a check, gave him and his helper a couple bottle of gatorades (It was HOT!!) and said my thank you.
I asked him about maintenance and how much he would charge. He told me to just do it myself and safe some money. Told me to remember to spray the springs and the rollers with lithium spray and I should be good. He offers 1 year warranty for parts and labor. Pretty awesome.
Great dude, professional, on-time, AFFORDABLE!
Highly recommended!!
P.S. He takes cash or checks only. read more