Ilgar Yakubov still hangs the doors at Express Garage Door Repair in Dayton
Customers of a Dayton garage door company describe it by the clock, and the name they keep mentioning belongs to the owner, who still handles the residential work himself.
Dayton, OH
John C.’s garage door would not open, and he had somewhere to be. He called Express Garage Door Repair. Someone was at the house in 30 minutes, saw the problem as soon as he walked into the garage and had the door fixed in 45. The place he had to be was a wedding, John wrote in a Google review, and he made it.
Read enough of what Express customers write and the reviews start to keep time. Fifteen to 20 minutes from the call to the driveway. About an hour on a Saturday afternoon, when no other company was open. A broken spring replaced the next morning. A twisted belt fixed in less than an hour. A replacement door called in and hung the same day. The name on the truck promises speed, and the customers keep the clock.
Behind most of those visits is one man. Ilgar Yakubov owns Express Garage Door Repair, based on Troy Street in Dayton, and his first name turns up in review after review. He has worked with technicians and day helpers, and he hands some big commercial jobs to other installers. But the houses are his, and so are the phone calls.
Yakubov says he has spent 11 years building the business. On paper, Express dates to 2020. The Better Business Bureau lists it as an Ohio limited liability company that started that year, with Yakubov as owner. The BBB has listed it as an accredited business since 2022.
The work is garage doors and the machinery that moves them. Express installs new doors and repairs old ones: torsion springs, cables, rollers, tracks, sections and panels, and doors that have simply gotten loud. It also offers tune-ups and safety inspections. It puts in openers the same day, using only Genie and Chamberlain LiftMaster units in belt-drive, chain-drive and jackshaft styles, and it does not charge extra to remove the old opener. The company writes on its website that a customer can pick out a new door and have it installed the same day, and that in many cases it can repair an existing door instead, which saves the customer money. Dayton is home base, and the site says Express also serves the greater Cincinnati and Columbus areas.
The company’s gray GMC pickup carries its name on the cab doors and wrapped door sections on a rack over the bed. The opener brands ride along, too, in a small Genie and LiftMaster decal on the bed above the rear wheel.
“I’m doing the residential myself,” Yakubov says.
Commercial doors are bigger and heavier. When no one else is available for a large job, he loads his own scissor lift and installs the doors himself. When there is more commercial work than he can do well, he passes some installations to other companies rather than turn out a bad job.
It is heavy work. A new door has to be raised into place, and the old one has to come down and be loaded onto the truck. People new to the trade, he says, feel it in their backs almost right away. He would like more hands. “I’m looking for more people to work with me,” he says.
He also runs the office end. “I’m controlling all these things, phone calls, everything,” Yakubov says. Someone helps him keep up with customer email. On a packed day, he says, the hard part is deciding which way to turn first so that every customer on the list ends up happy.
The jobs range widely. Customers describe a 40-year-old system replaced with new doors that matched the old ones almost exactly, a three-car garage system that had been in place for 30 years torn out and redone, and three 16-foot doors installed in a single day. Another wrote about two doors put into a warehouse that was being set up as a production facility, with Express handling the delivery as well.
Small requests get the same attention. One homeowner asked to have the rollers replaced and the door lubricated while the spring was being fixed. The difference in noise level, the customer wrote afterward, was remarkable.
Some of the work comes down to finding a door when others cannot. One customer had been told by another company that his door would take three to six weeks. Yakubov called him back two hours later with a door, came out the next day and had it installed within 24 hours.
The company writes on its website that it provides warranties on both parts and labor, and two customers mention a five-year warranty. Another wrote that the receipt included the information his insurance company needed. A 2024 review singles out a worker named William. Another customer needed help on the Friday night of a long weekend, and he wrote that Yakubov answered the phone when no other company would.
Kathy F. made one call about garage door openers. By the next morning she had two new ones installed, plus one at her son’s house next door. Her installer was Ilgar, she wrote, a very kind and respectful man whose work ethic she greatly appreciated.
He also connected her truck to the new opener and showed her how to set up her husband’s car.