Key facts in 20 seconds
- Richfield is replacing its 1950s single-stall garages with two-car detached garages block by block. The City requires a building permit for every garage, caps a garage at 1,000 sq ft and a detached garage at 14 ft tall (18 ft on lots under 75 ft wide), allows one detached garage per lot, and caps vehicle doors at 9 ft tall.
- The door decisions that have to be made before the slab is poured: opening size (16×7 or 16×8 for two cars, 9×7 or 9×8 for one), 15 inches of headroom and 3.5 inches of side room, a ceiling outlet for the opener, and backing in the wall if you want a wall-mount opener.
- The door that belongs on a Richfield garage: steel, at least vinyl-backed insulation, galvanized bottom brackets, a bottom section that can live in road salt. New insulated door from $2,000 installed, 2-inch sandwich door from $2,800, LiftMaster myQ opener $650 to $1,500; door + opener together is cheaper than separately, and code BUNDLE takes $150 off through Dec 31, 2026. Prices on my cost calculator.
- I measure the framed opening before the siding goes on and hang the door when the garage is ready; builders can book me as the door sub. (763) 265-7671.
Drive any Richfield alley and you will see it: a 1950s single-stall garage with a sagging wood door next to a new two-car detached garage with vinyl siding and a 16-foot steel door. The small garages were built for one 1958 car and no storage, and when the roof or the slab finally goes, most owners rebuild bigger rather than repair. I hang the doors on a lot of those new garages, and the same mistakes show up on the framing again and again, because the door is the last thing anybody thinks about and the first thing the garage is used for. This is the list I give builders and homeowners before the concrete truck comes. It pairs with my guide to the old Richfield single-stall garage, which is about keeping the one you have.
The City’s rules that touch the door
From the City of Richfield’s residential garage handout (dated September 2025; check the current version or call Building and Inspections at 612-861-9860 before you build): a building permit is required for every garage, attached or detached; the garage itself may be up to 1,000 square feet and all accessory buildings together up to 1,200; a detached garage may be 14 feet tall, or up to 18 feet, one and a half stories, on lots under 75 feet wide, and never taller than the house; only one detached garage per lot; the rear setback drops to 3 feet, or 2 feet off an alley with no utility easement; a door that faces a side or rear lot line needs 20 feet in front of it, 15 feet in some cases; and vehicle doors may not exceed 9 feet in height. A hard-surface driveway with its own permit has to be in before the final inspection. None of that is my department, but the 9-foot door cap and the setback in front of the door decide which wall the door goes in, and that decides everything below.
Decision 1: the opening size
Two cars: a 16-foot wide door, 7 or 8 feet tall. One car with storage: a 9 or 10-foot door. Height is the one people regret. Seven feet is standard and fine for cars; eight feet is what you want if there is a truck with a ladder rack, a van, or a trailer in your future, and it costs little more at framing time and a great deal after. The 9-foot City cap is rarely a problem for a house garage. Two 9-foot doors instead of one 16 is a look some people like on an alley garage; it costs more in doors and openers and gives you a center post to hit, so I only recommend it when the owner wants the look. How I help people choose a door.
Decision 2: headroom, side room and backroom
This is the mistake I fix most. The framer builds the header as high as the trusses allow and leaves 7 inches between the top of the opening and the bottom of the truss, and now the torsion spring, the track radius and the opener rail are fighting for the same 7 inches. Tell the framer: 15 inches of headroom above the opening, 3.5 inches of side room on each side of the opening for the vertical track, and clear backroom into the garage equal to the door height plus 18 inches for the horizontal track, plus room for the opener. With that, any door and any opener fits without a low-headroom kit. A 14-foot garage with 8-foot walls and a 7-foot door gives you that easily; it is the 18-foot garages with the loft that get built tight, because the owner wants the storage over the door. How to measure all three, and what low-headroom track does when there is no choice.
Decision 3: power and backing
An opener needs a grounded outlet on the ceiling about 11 feet back from the door, centered, and the electrician should know that before the drywall. If you want a wall-mount (jackshaft) opener, which keeps the ceiling clear for the loft and is quieter, the wall beside the torsion shaft needs solid backing and an outlet at that height instead. Run low-voltage wire for the wall button and the safety sensors while the walls are open, and put a light switch by the service door, because an opener light on a timer is not a garage light. The LiftMaster wall-mount opener I install.
Decision 4: the door itself
Richfield garages live in road salt: the alley is plowed, the meltwater runs to the door, and the bottom of the door sits in it from February to April. The door for this is steel with galvanized bottom brackets, a vinyl-backed bottom section that does not soak up water, and a good bottom seal. For an unheated storage garage, a vinyl-backed insulated door is enough; that is the DoorLink door I install most, from $2,000 installed with the old door hauled away. If the garage will be heated, or there will be a workshop or a gym in it, a 2-inch steel sandwich door (polyurethane core, steel skin inside and out) is stiffer and much warmer, from $2,800; Haas is the higher-insulation line. Windows in the top section are the one upgrade I always suggest on a detached garage, because it is the only daylight the garage gets. DoorLink vs Haas, and how much R-value a Minnesota garage really needs.
Decision 5: who hangs it, and when
The best sequence: I measure the framed opening before the siding and trim go on and order the door to the real size; the builder finishes the slab, the jambs and the electrical; I come back and hang the door and opener in one visit. The builder gets a door that fits the opening the framer actually built, not the one on the plan, and the owner gets a 1-year labor warranty on the door and opener from the person who will service it. Door and opener installed together is cheaper than separately, and code BUNDLE takes $150 off through Dec 31, 2026. Builders, remodelers and garage contractors can set up a standing account on my contractor page. What moves the price of a new door.
If you are keeping the old garage
Not every single-stall garage needs to go. A square garage with a sound slab and roof can take a new 8 or 9-foot steel door, a torsion conversion and a wall-mount opener and serve another thirty years; the headroom and soft-jamb problems are in the Richfield single-stall guide, and split-levels with the garage under the house are in the tuck-under guide. For everything else in the city, my Richfield service page.
A note for Richfield Chamber members
David’s Urgent Garage Door joined the Richfield Chamber of Commerce in November 2026. Member businesses, their employees and their customers: mention the Chamber and code SPRINGS for the service call waived and new cables included with any spring replacement. Commercial doors on shops along Cedar and Penn, and property-manager accounts with one invoice per address, are welcome too.
Split-level with the garage under the bedrooms? My tuck-under garage guide covers the headroom, the drain at the bottom of the door and the noise upstairs.
Different decade, different garage? The Garage Door Age Check gives the short list for any garage from the 1920s to today.
Richfield garage rebuild questions
Do I need a permit to rebuild a detached garage in Richfield?
Yes. The City of Richfield’s garage handout says building permits are required for all garages, attached or detached, and the driveway needs its own permit. The main limits: 1,000 square feet for the garage, 14 feet tall for a detached garage (up to 18 feet on lots under 75 feet wide), one detached garage per lot, and vehicle doors no taller than 9 feet. Check the current handout or call Building and Inspections before you order a door.
How tall can a garage door be in Richfield?
The City’s handout caps vehicle doors at 9 feet. In practice almost every rebuilt Richfield garage gets a 7-foot or 8-foot door; 8 feet is the one to pick if you have a truck with a rack or ever want to park a van. Pick the height before the framer builds the header, because changing it later means cutting the wall.
How much headroom does a new garage door need?
With a standard torsion spring and a ceiling-rail opener, 12 to 15 inches between the top of the opening and the ceiling, plus 3.5 inches of side room on each side. With a low-headroom kit or a wall-mount opener I can work with 6 inches, but on a new garage there is no reason to build it tight. Tell the framer 15 inches and everything fits.
Which door should go on a new detached garage?
A steel sectional door with at least vinyl-backed insulation, galvanized bottom brackets and a bottom section that can sit in meltwater. For an unheated garage that is enough. If you plan to heat the garage or put a workshop in it, a 2-inch steel sandwich door is worth the extra. DoorLink is the everyday door I install most; Haas is the higher-insulation option. New insulated door from $2,000 installed, 2-inch sandwich door from $2,800; a door and LiftMaster opener installed together is cheaper than separately, and code BUNDLE takes $150 off through Dec 31, 2026.
Can the garage door installer come before the garage is finished?
Yes, and it is better. I measure the framed opening before the siding and trim go on, so the door is ordered to the real size and the jambs, header and backing for the opener are right. I come back to hang the door and opener once the slab, the framing and the electrical are done. Builders and remodelers can book me as the door sub on the contractor page.
Winter on the alley is its own subject: plow windrows, frozen seals, salt rust and clipped doors on Richfield alley garages, and what to do about them in November.
Door stuck right now? I answer the phone 24 hours a day and am usually on site in about an hour: see 24/7 emergency garage door repair or call (763) 265-7671.
