More than one garage: detached buildings and pole barns
New Berlin stayed rural until the 1940s, and when it did grow, the city set high square-footage requirements for residential lots. Much of its land is still open. That leaves room for detached garages and pole barns, and the city's rules allow fairly large ones on bigger lots.
On lots under 2 acres, total accessory buildings over 144 square feet are capped at 840 square feet. The cap rises with lot size, to 3,000 square feet on lots of 5 acres or more, and buildings can be one story and 18 feet tall, or up to 21 feet with a waiver.
A detached garage or pole barn often has a wider or taller door than the house, sometimes for a boat, camper or trailer. Those doors are heavier, so they need stronger springs, and they often sit unused for weeks, which lets rust and stiff rollers set in. Exercise them now and then and have them checked before winter.
Wiring an opener on a New Berlin outbuilding
Adding an opener to a detached garage or pole barn usually starts with power. New Berlin requires a separate electrical permit, pulled by an electrician, for any wiring in an accessory building. If the building has no outlet near the ceiling, plan for that first.
Then the door itself has to be ready. An opener should never lift a door that is out of balance or binding in its tracks. On tall or wide doors, a heavier-duty opener or a wall-mount jackshaft unit may be the better fit. See garage door opener installation for the options.
If your opener is already in and blinking at you, our guide to LiftMaster and Chamberlain error codes explains what the flashes usually mean.
From ranches to newer homes in a city born in 1959
New Berlin became a city in 1959, partly to avoid being annexed by Brookfield. It had about 5,300 people in 1950, about 15,800 in 1960 and about 26,900 in 1970, and it has grown to about 40,500 today.
That growth left a mix of houses. Homes from the post-war decades sit on the older streets, and newer homes with larger attached garages have gone up in later subdivisions. The older homes often have a replacement door that is now aging too, while the newer ones have builder-grade springs and openers reaching the end of their lives.
On a large lot with a long driveway, snow and slush also travel a long way to reach the garage. Salt-laden slush at the door rusts the bottom bracket and cable ends, which should be left to a technician.
When a big door comes off its track
Wide doors on outbuildings and three-car garages are more likely to come off the track when something hits them or when a roller fails. Snow pushed against the door by a plow or a snowblower, a car bumping the bottom section, or a cable that slips can all twist a door out of line.
If your door is crooked, hanging, or has rollers outside the track, stop using it and unplug the opener. Don't try to force it back. The door is still under spring tension and can fall. Our off-track garage door repair page explains what a technician will check.
Commercial doors in the New Berlin Industrial Park
New Berlin started its first city-run industrial park in the mid-1960s, and its three parks now cover about 1,126 acres. City documents describe the New Berlin Industrial Park as the largest in the state. Major employers include ABB and ACS Group, and I-43 runs through the city.
Industrial buildings use dock doors, sectional overhead doors and rolling steel doors that cycle constantly in all weather. Worn springs, bent sections from forklifts and failing operators are common repairs. We do commercial door work in all of our markets; see commercial garage door repair.
New Berlin is part of the Milwaukee area we serve, between Brookfield, West Allis, Muskego and Waukesha.
Permits and design checks before a New Berlin project
New Berlin's permit table requires building and electrical permits for interior or exterior additions and alterations, but it doesn't list garage door replacement on its own. The city asks residents to contact staff to confirm whether a project needs a permit.
For new accessory buildings, the Department of Community Development also decides whether review by the Architecture Review Committee is needed. Homes on septic need Waukesha County to approve the location of a new building first. Sorting that out before you order a door saves time.
