Replacing an old tilt door in Bathurst
A tilt door swings out and up in one piece, and B&D notes that it sticks forward as it opens, with its extension springs within reach. If you are replacing one, it is worth asking what else the opening can take.
B&D makes its Flex-A-Door as a replacement for an existing tilt door: a roller curtain on a curved track that lifts from upright to flat near the ceiling, with the springs tucked up above head height. A roller door or a sectional door may also suit, depending on the headroom and the ceiling.
When water rises quickly
The NSW State Flood Plan names Bathurst as one of the places just west of the Great Dividing Range where floods behave like those on coastal rivers, with water that comes up and moves fast.
Bad weather can take the power with it. B&D sells a battery backup for its Smart opener so the door keeps working in a power cut, and Steel-Line says an emergency key release lets the door be opened by hand when the motor cannot run, which matters most when the garage has no other way in.
Openers and the NSW rules
Legal Aid NSW says garage door work is not home building work, so the door has no licence of its own. Wiring is different. NSW Fair Trading says that unless you are licensed for electrical work you should never install, replace or move a power point, so a new point for an opener is a job for a licensed electrician.
Around Bathurst
Fast floods
If the garage sits low on the block, keep anything that matters off the garage floor, and make sure everyone knows where the manual release is.
Bush fire prone land
Bathurst's council keeps the bush fire prone land map. The RFS online tool shows whether it takes in your address.
Older homes
If the garage was built around a tilt door, measure the headroom and the ceiling depth before choosing what replaces it.
What we would do
If your door has no motor yet, ask for one with a battery backup when you replace it. That one question decides whether the garage still opens when the power is out.