When I was younger and worked on a fair amount of new houses I never saw a 7′ high garage door. Since I moved up here that seems to be all you ever see. Now that we are looking at houses it is difficult to find one with 8′ doors so I can get my boat and truck in the garage:( My question is can I put a thinner header in if I make it thicker? Are there other ways to make the opening large enough to get an 8′ door in?
Twice I had a garage that was too short also..we jacked up the garage and built a new wood sub wall on one and the other one we used block,then resided garage.
Shoot Stick Boy a pm. He’s got his stick together when it comes to headers. 
612-685-3566
It has more to do with your ceiling height than just door and header height.
If you have the height inside the garage then you can just lift the header, but if the height isn’t there inside the garage then you will have to lift the whole garage to be able to put in a higher door.
You can gain some height by using a thicker header, but it will be minimal and is not going to be the extra foot that you need for an 8 foot door.
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Shoot Stick Boy a pm. He’s got his stick together when it comes to headers.
612-685-3566
That is some stout info there 
Mike,
Another option is to lower the floor.
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Mike,
Another option is to lower the floor.
Buzz, you know Mike well.
Take a pic of the structure looking at the door. Not enough info to answer for sure.
The one place we were/are interested in has a detached garage and it looks like there may be enough room, but I would need to measure. The good thing about that is the garage is just a shell with no insulation or rock, just bare walls making it easier to work on. Also room to add a couple more bays but I was hoping to hold off on doing that for a while. Haven’t gotten any further than looking right now so I don’t have nay pics yet. thanks for the input so far.
If the building isn’t done, they might change it as part of the sale. When the real estate market was booming, I saw a lot of 8′ tall doors but when things got lean there were a lot of 7′. Measure and see what you actually need. People often over estimate the height they actually need.
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If the building isn’t done, they might change it as part of the sale. When the real estate market was booming, I saw a lot of 8′ tall doors but when things got lean there were a lot of 7′. Measure and see what you actually need. People often over estimate the height they actually need.
X2. I have put a lot of big boats through 7′ doors without issue. It was close, within inches. But just fine. I have found width and depth of garage door and garage to be the real issues. City garages seem to be built for city folks.
You have to be careful in how much of a header you cut down because of the stuctural support that they provide. It would really depend on the wall type and how big your current header is. They do make low profile overhead doors that for low clearance space in between the header and ceiling. Go into a lumber yard and find out or you can call North Cental Door 218-751-6962. You won’t be able to order the door from them but they will at least be able to tell you more about specs and R.O. for doors.
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