Troubleshooting Your Garage Door

January 16th, 2011 Posted in Garage Door Repairs
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Many garage door problems have a simple fix.  If your garage door is giving you fits, try a few simple garage door troubleshooting tips before calling the repairman.  If these don’t do the trick, then it’s time to let a professional garage door service handle the repair. 

Be very careful when working around a garage door.  Although a properly adjusted garage door is easy to open by hand, many garage doors weigh several hundred pounds and can easily cause serious injuries.  Also, never try to remove or adjust the garage door springs.  These springs are under very high tension and can cause severe injuries or death.

One of the first things to check if your garage door is acting up is the safety sensors.  These are usually mounted near the bottom edges of the door frame and are designed to stop the door from closing if there is anything in the doorway.  If these are obstructed or knocked out of alignment, the door will not close. 

If your car remote is not working, but the inside remote button works fine, try changing the batteries in the car remote.  You may need to reprogram the remote after installing new batteries.

If the automatic opener seems to run but the door is not moving, you may need to re-engage the safety release.  This is usually a pull handle hanging on a short length of rope and if it has been activated, the door will be disconnected from the automatic opener.  You can usually reconnect the door by activating the automatic opener to the open position, then manually opening the door until the carriage engages.  Be careful when opening the door manually.  If the door seems heavy, it may be out of adjustment or have a broken spring and you should have a garage door service take a look at it.

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Modern New Garage Doors

January 13th, 2011 Posted in New Garage Doors
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Garage doors are something that most people only buy every 15 to 20 years.   If you are thinking about having new garage doors installed and have not been in the market for awhile, you may be in for a surprise.  Garage doors have come a long way in the past 20 years and its all good – today’s new garage doors are lighter weight, stronger, more stylish, and longer lasting than those made 15, 20 or 30 years ago.

The most noticeable change in garage doors has been the shift in emphasis from wood to steel.  Before the late 1990’s most garage doors were made of wood.  Steel doors were available, but they were heavy and expensive.  Wood doors were the more popular choice because of their lighter weight and relatively low cost. 

However, wood doors don’t last as long as steel doors and many mass produced wood garage doors from that era did not hold up very well.  If exposed to too much moisture, wood doors tend to rot, especially if they are not regularly painted.  Combined with the stress of improperly adjusted springs and a garage door opener dragging the door open two or three times a day, it’s no wonder many wood garage doors packed it in early.

The good news is that most garage doors on the market today are made of lightweight steel panels coated with baked on epoxy paints that last for years.  These doors are available in a wide variety of styles, most commonly manufactured with simulated wood grains.  Most standard doors are available with a variety of window options and can be purchased insulated or uninsulated.  Custom garage doors are available to fit any need.

This new generation of garage doors are versatile, look great, and many carry lifetime warranties.  There has never been a better time to replace those old, tired garage doors with modern steel garage doors.

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Garage Door Repair Tips

January 13th, 2011 Posted in Garage Door Repairs
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Garage doors seem simple, but garage door repairs can be dangerous, especially if the repair involves the spring mechanisms.  Most garage doors are much heavier than people realize because they use springs to help lift the door.  A garage door with properly adjusted springs, tracks, and rollers opens smoothly and easily by hand, but if the springs are broken or out of adjustment or if the rollers or track are misaligned or jammed, a garage door can be difficult to open and can be very heavy.

If the garage door doesn’t seem to be opening or closing properly, disconnect it from the automatic opener and see if it opens easily by hand.  You should disconnect the door when it is closed.  If the problem is a broken spring and you disconnect it while it is open, the door could come crashing down causing injuries or damage.

If the door opens easily by hand, the problem is most likely with the opener.  Have an experienced garage door service technician check out the opener.  If the door is difficult to open by hand, it is probably either a broken or misadjusted spring or binding rollers and tracks.

Spring repairs and adjustments are best left to garage door professionals.  Springs are under a lot of tension and can easily injure someone.  If the problem appears to be mis-aligned rollers or tracks, try loosening the roller and track bolts and see if an alignment change helps.  If re-aligning the rollers and tracks doesn’t help, it’s worth calling a professional garage door company to have them take a look at it.

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Garage Door Maintenance Tips

January 13th, 2011 Posted in Garage Door Repairs
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You rely on your garage door to operate properly day in and day out.  When you push the garage door opener button, you expect the door to either open or close without any problems.  Fortunately, most garage doors will operate reliably for years with only a little bit of simple maintenance.  Here are a few tips to keep your garage door working great and avoiding costly garage door repairs.

Lubricate the hinges, rollers, and latches with a little bit of light oil.  Make sure each roller and hinge moves freely.  If any of the rollers or hinges are bound up, they should be replaced.  Tighten any loose bolts or screws.

With the door in the closed position, disconnect the garage door opener and see if the door opens easily by hand.  If not, the spring tension probably needs to be adjusted.  Misadjusted springs will cause your garage door opener to work too hard and it will wear out prematurely.  If the springs need to be adjusted, you should let a professional garage door service handle it.  The springs are under a lot of pressure and can easily cause an injury if improperly handled.

If your opener is a chain or screw type system, lubricate the chain or screw according to the manufacturers specifications.  If you no longer have the service manual, use a little light grease on the screw and light oil on the chain.  Make sure to wipe off any residue before parking your car under it.

Check the weather stripping around the door and under the bottom edge.  Replace any torn or loose weather stripping and make note of any worn areas that indicate where the door rubs against the frame.  Adjust the track as needed to eliminate any binding or rubbing.

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Garage Door Springs

January 13th, 2011 Posted in Garage Door Repairs
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Most garage door problems occur slowly.  The door gets harder to open, it makes more noise than usual, or the opener seems to be straining more than it used to.  These kinds of problems are often caused by the door rollers and tracks wearing out, binding, or going out of adjustment.  Other times, these issues are a sign that the garage door opener is about due for a replacement.  Some careful lubrication and adjustment or replacing the opener will often get your garage door back on track. 

Either of these problems you can choose to take care of yourself or let a professional garage door service handle it.  However, there is one garage door repair that you never want to tackle on own – a broken or misadjusted spring.

Garage doors are much heavier than they seem.  That’s because large springs are used to assist with opening the door.  There are two types of garage door springs.  Torsion springs are coiled up over the head of the door, and tension springs extend along the top side rails of the door track. 

Both types of springs can break, making the door much more difficult to open.  If you think your garage door springs are broken or out of adjustment, do not attempt to fix it yourself.  Garage door springs are under very high tension and one wrong move can cause severe injuries or even death. 

Adjusting or replacing garage door springs one of those jobs you should leave to a professional garage door service.  The risk of injury or death is just too high.  If your garage door springs need to be repaired or replaced, do yourself a favor and call a garage door service professional.

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