GarageDoorBossPro Blog — Technician App

Readings in the Garage Door Tech App: Door Size, Spring Turns, Balance and Ages

A checkmark says an item was looked at. A reading says what the tech actually saw. “Balance checked” is useful. “Balance checked, door is 8 lbs off” is far more useful, because next year's tech can compare, and the homeowner can see why a recommendation was made.

Readings Sit Next to the Checklist

The opener and safety checks are covered in Auto-Reverse, Photo-Eyes and Opener Force: Recording the Opener Checks in the Tech App. The readings sit on the same screen, below the checklist items.

The GarageDoorBossPro door safety inspection includes these readings:

• Door size
• Spring turns
• Balance (lbs off)
• Door age
• Opener age
• Estimated spring cycles used
• Issues found

Each is a simple field the tech fills in on the phone. How a tech arrives at a number is up to your company and your training. The app's job is to make sure the number gets written down and saved with the job.

Door Size

Door size is usually written like 16x7 for a double or 9x7 for a single. It is often already on the house's equipment list, which means it may already be on the card when the tech arrives. Recording it on the inspection confirms it, and if the equipment list was wrong or empty, the tech now knows what to fix there too.

Door size matters to everything else: what the springs carry, what an opener has to lift, what a replacement door would need to be. It is the first number anyone asks for when quoting a new door, so having it on record saves a measuring trip later.

Spring Turns and Spring Cycles

Spring turns and estimated spring cycles used are the two spring-related readings. They give the office and the next tech a record of the spring setup as the tech found it.

We won't pretend to tell you what the right numbers are. That depends on the door and the hardware, and it is your techs' expertise, not the software's. What the app gives you is a place to keep the numbers your techs record, visit after visit, so they are not lost on a scrap of paper. When a homeowner asks whether their springs are getting old, the office has the tech's own estimate on file to point to.

Balance

Balance is recorded as pounds off. It pairs with the door balance item on the checklist. A door that is close to balanced is a good sign. A door that is well off is often the reason for a Needs attention or Repair recommended rating, and the recommendation can say so in plain words.

Because each inspection is saved with its job, the office can look back over a tune-up customer's past visits and see whether the balance reading has been changing. That is a more convincing story for a homeowner than “we think it's time.”

Door Age and Opener Age

Door age and opener age give the office a quick read on where a house is. If the year installed is on the equipment list, the tech already has it on the card. If not, the tech's best estimate goes in the reading, and the equipment list can be filled in from it.

Ages are what turn a service call into a planning conversation. A homeowner with an older opener and a tune-up rating of Needs attention is a good candidate for an opener install estimate. The office can follow up with an estimate built from your service list, and the equipment details can be filled in on the estimate and carry onto the install job.

Issues Found

Issues found is the free-form reading: anything the tech noticed that does not fit neatly elsewhere. A dented section, a cracked bracket, a weatherstrip torn at one corner, a sensor bracket bent by a trash can. Short and specific is best: “Second section from bottom dented, left side.”

Issues found feeds directly into the condition rating and recommendations, which is the next step on the inspection. That is covered in Good, Needs Attention or Repair Recommended: Writing Up Condition and Recommendations.

One caution on readings: never invent a number to fill a field. If the tech could not get a reading, leaving it blank or writing why in issues found is far better than a guess that looks like a measurement. The office and the homeowner will treat whatever is written as fact.

Readings Over Time

One set of readings is a snapshot. Several years of them are a history. Customers on a yearly tune-up plan, which comes due on the Waiting List every 365 days, build that history on their own as long as techs fill in the numbers each time. Commercial accounts on a shorter cycle, like every 90 days, build it faster.

That history is one of the quiet advantages of keeping everything in one system. For a summary of the rest of the tech app, visit the GarageDoorBossPro garage door technician app page.