How Titan Garage Door Service Greater Spokane Was Born in Spokane

It was a Tuesday in February 2007, and the temperature in Spokane had dropped to 8 degrees. Thomas Hernandez was working for another garage door company at the time, and we got a call from an elderly woman in the Country Homes area — her door was stuck open, her furnace was running constantly, and she’d already been quoted $890 by another outfit for a “complete system failure.” Thomas drove out there, found a frayed cable and a bent bottom bracket, fixed it in 47 minutes with $34 in parts, and watched her write a check for $890 to the other company anyway because she’d already agreed to it over the phone. She cried. Not from relief — from shame. She knew she’d been taken advantage of, and she didn’t know how to stop it.

Thomas handed her back that check, told her to cancel it, and charged her $127. That night, sitting in his truck outside a diner on Division Street, he called his wife and said, “I’m starting my own company, and we’re never going to do business like this.” Three months later, Titan Garage Door Service Greater Spokane opened with one truck, a borrowed ladder, and a handwritten promise taped to the dashboard: Fix it right. Charge what’s fair. Treat people like neighbors. That promise is still how we operate in Spokane today.

Thomas Hernandez’s Personal Connection to the Garage Door Trade

Thomas didn’t stumble into garage door work — he was practically raised in it. His uncle ran a small door company in Cheney through the late 1980s and 90s, and Thomas spent summers from age fourteen grease-stained and sunburned, handing up tools and learning the weight of a torsion spring before he was old enough to drive. He remembers the smell of lithium grease in his uncle’s garage, the way metal shavings would catch the light on a concrete floor, the particular thunk of a properly balanced door hitting the closed position. His uncle used to say, “Every door has a personality. Your job is to figure out what it’s trying to tell you.” Thomas thought that was corny until he started hearing it himself — the slight squeal of a misaligned track, the uneven pull of a failing spring, the way a Craftsman opener from 2003 would hesitate just before the halfway point like it was running out of breath.

There was a moment in 2011, maybe year four of doing this on his own, when Thomas got called to a farmhouse out past Airway Heights at 10 PM. A family’s door had failed with their only vehicle trapped inside, and the husband was scheduled for surgery at 6 AM at Providence Sacred Heart. Thomas drove out, fixed the spring in the dark with a headlamp, and the wife — still in her scrubs from her own hospital shift — brought him coffee in a mug that said “World’s Okayest Mom.” He didn’t get home until after midnight. That’s when he knew: this work isn’t about doors. It’s about the moments behind them — the surgeries, the school drop-offs, the small businesses opening at dawn in Spokane Valley with inventory to unload.

If Thomas weren’t doing this, he’d probably be restoring vintage motorcycles or teaching shop class somewhere. He genuinely loves the puzzle of mechanical systems, the visible progress of repair work, the immediate gratitude of a homeowner whose day just got un-stuck. Seventeen years in, he still takes calls personally when he can. He still notices the personality of every door.

Meet Thomas Hernandez — The Person Behind Every Job

Thomas Hernandez is the Owner & Lead Technician at Titan Garage Door Service Greater Spokane. He’s spent 17+ years working on garage doors across the Spokane region — from historic homes in Dishman with original wood carriage doors to new construction in Liberty Lake with smart-connected Amarr systems. His training includes factory-certified work on Clopay and Wayne Dalton product lines, along with continuous education on safety standards for high-tension spring systems. Important safety note: garage door torsion springs store massive energy and can cause severe injury or death if handled improperly. Thomas always recommends calling a trained professional rather than attempting DIY spring repair.

What separates Thomas from a corporate franchise technician is simple: he’s the one who answers when you call, he’s the one who shows up, and he’s the one who stands behind the work. No rotating cast of subcontractors. No commission-based upselling. On weekends, you’ll find him fly-fishing the Spokane River or volunteering with his daughter’s softball league in Veradale — and he approaches every repair with the same patience he brings to teaching a kid to cast a line. His direct commitment to you: “I put my name on this company. If something isn’t right, I make it right. Period.”

Our Promise to Spokane Homeowners

Honest pricing. We don’t play the “diagnostic fee plus parts plus labor plus trip charge” shell game. When Thomas arrives at your home in Opportunity or Fairwood, you’ll get a straightforward quote before any work begins. In 2023, we started emailing every customer a photo of their worn part alongside the replacement — not because we had to, but because our Country Homes customer Mrs. Deluca suggested it, and she was right. Transparency shouldn’t be revolutionary, but in this industry, it still is.

Quality parts. We source Clopay hardware and Amarr components for most residential repairs, and we keep Wayne Dalton compatible parts stocked for common systems in older Spokane neighborhoods. We don’t install generic rollers that’ll squeak again in eight months. Every part carries a minimum one-year warranty, and spring replacements include our ten-year pro-rated guarantee.

Standing behind every job. In 2019, a spring we installed in Otis Orchards-East Farms failed prematurely due to a manufacturing defect. The customer didn’t call us — we noticed during a routine follow-up email. Thomas drove out on a Sunday, replaced it at no charge, and spent twenty minutes adjusting the opener sensitivity while he was there. That’s not exceptional service to us. That’s baseline.

Our Credentials

• State-licensed contractor, fully compliant with Washington State requirements for residential garage door installation and repair
• Insured & bonded — comprehensive coverage protecting your property and our team while working in your home
• 17+ years in business serving the greater Spokane region
• 481 verified reviews averaging 4.7 out of 5 stars

Here’s why these matter when you’re hiring someone to work in your home: A state license means we’ve met Washington’s standards for competency and accountability — not every handyman with a ladder can say that. Being insured and bonded means if something goes wrong (a scratched car, a damaged wall, an injury on your property), you’re not left holding the bag or fighting with your own homeowner’s policy. Seventeen years in business in Spokane means we’ve weathered economic downturns, supply chain disruptions, and the rise of fly-by-night competitors who post fake reviews and disappear. And 481 real reviews averaging 4.7 stars? That’s not perfection — it’s consistency. It’s hundreds of your actual neighbors in Post Falls, Spokane Valley, and Liberty Lake who took time to say we’d earned their trust.

Rooted in Spokane

We’ve raised our family here, paid taxes here, and fixed doors in every corner of this community — from the mid-century ranches of North Hill to the new developments sprouting near Indian Trail. Thomas coaches youth softball through the Spokane Youth Sports Association, and our company sponsors a team every season. We’ve donated repair services to Habitat for Humanity Spokane builds and provided emergency door securing after the windstorms that tear through the Palouse every few years. When you call us, you’re not reaching a call center in another state. You’re reaching a neighbor who knows why a frozen garage door at 5 AM in January is an actual emergency in Spokane — because we’ve lived it too.

Written by Thomas Hernandez, Owner at Titan Garage Door Service Greater Spokane, serving Spokane since 2007.