Alamo Heights has been its own city since 1922, when residents voted 289 to 8 to incorporate rather than be annexed by San Antonio. It is still an independent municipality about five miles northeast of downtown, surrounded on every side by the city it declined to join.

For garage doors, that date is most of the story. Development here began in the 1890s, picked up after 1909 and accelerated through the 1920s — so a great many homes in 78209 were built before the modern sectional garage door existed, and some before the attached garage was standard at all. In practice that means non-standard opening sizes that off-the-shelf doors do not fit, detached garages set at the back of the lot, and original one-piece tilt-up doors that swing outward as they open. Those are strong candidates for conversion to a sectional door, or for a measured replacement rather than a stock one.

Older doors are also heavier for their size, and that is hard on hardware. A wooden or early steel door puts more load on the springs and cables than a modern insulated panel does, and it is less forgiving when a roller begins to bind. Where a single section is damaged but the door is otherwise sound, panel replacement is often better than replacing a door that suits the house.

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