Why Do Garage Door Springs Break and Need To Be Repaired

June 7th, 2012 Posted in Garage Door Companies, Garage Door Contractors, Garage Door Repairs, Garage Door Spring Replacement, Garage Door Springs, Garage Door Torsion Springs
Comments Off on Why Do Garage Door Springs Break and Need To Be Repaired

In today’s busy environment most people are constantly on the go and because transportation is involved your overhead garage door gets quite a workout. Because of today’s society and the concern for personal and home security more and more people park their cars in the garage keep their garage doors closed. For many people the entire family comes and goes through the garage door so it’s not unusual for the garage door to be operated 3-5 times per day or more and if there are kids involved 10 times or more per day isn’t unusual.

Simply put garage door torsion springs and garage door extension springs break from normal wear and tear, they fatigue and break causing the need for garage door spring replacement.

When your garage door spring is broken in most cases the garage door opener will not lift overhead door leaving you trapped in the garage or locked out of your garage. Garage door springs are rated in life cycles much like tires are rated in mileage. Typically the garage door manufacturers supply 10,000 cycles springs with every new garage door manufactured.

A garage door cycle is defined as follows; from the closed position the garage door is opened and closed again this is considered to be 1 cycle. Now 10,000 cycles seems like a lot but let’s do the math and see. 365 days a year times a measly 3 operations a day is 1095 cycles translating to approximately 9 years of garage door spring life. Double the cycles to 6 cycles a day and you end up with about 4.5 years of garage door spring life.

If you stay in your home long enough your garage door spring is going to break causing the need to have your garage door torsion springs or extension springs to be replaced

Keep in mind how often you use your overhead garage door and if the frequency of usage is high then ask your garage door repair company to quote you longer life cycle springs.

,
Read More

Commercial Overhead Door Repairs

June 6th, 2012 Posted in Garage Door Companies, Garage Door Contractors, Garage Door Installation, Garage Door Repairs
Comments Off on Commercial Overhead Door Repairs

Are you tired of the same overhead doors breaking regularly at your place of business? Are you losing productivity and experiencing prolonged downtime because your commercial overhead door requires constant repair?

Here are a few things to consider. A properly installed commercial overhead door should operate for many years to come with routine service and maintenance. If your place of business is experiencing a stack of ongoing repair bills, it might just be time to get a second opinion.

A second opinion could yield some interesting information and serve as a reference to keep your existing commercial overhead door repair company in check.

Often the root of continuous repair bills started with a poor installation of your overhead doors and the ongoing repairs are simply Band-Aids for the inevitable correction of the original overhead door installation. When a commercial overhead door is improperly installed it will result in premature breakage of hinges, fraying of overhead door cables, track, and wear and damage to the commercial door sections.

A thorough inspection by a reputable commercial overhead door repair company can point out installation points that need correction and with the proper re-installation of your overhead doors you can expect a significant, reduction in the frequency and cost of repair bills.

Unfortunately many of the commercial overhead door repair companies care more about their financial bottom line than yours. Most folks have come to expect regular breakdowns of their overhead doors and believe it just goes with the territory when it doesn’t have to.

A properly installed commercial garage door will provide years of service without being a major drain on your budget.

,
Read More

How To Choose An Insulated Residential Garage Door

June 6th, 2012 Posted in Garage Door Companies, Garage Door Contractors, Garage Door Installation
Comments Off on How To Choose An Insulated Residential Garage Door

If you’re considering replacing your existing wood garage door or steel non-insulated overhead door with an insulated garage door, I have some information to aid you in making a great decision for your new garage door.

Determine what overall thickness of garage door that you’d like to have; depending upon manufacturer you can find ¾’, 1”, 1 ¼”, 1 3/8”, 1 ½’ and 2” thick residential garage doors. These doors in my opinion can be separated into two groups, generally speaking any overhead garage door 1 ¼” thick or less is builder grade and 1 ½” thick or more is a professional grade garage door.

There are essentially 3 type of insulated doors and they are 2” hollow doors with add in or pop in insulation, sandwich style doors that are steel interior and exterior with insulation sandwiched in between or a foam back type garage door.

The hollow overhead garage doors tend to be noisy and tin can sounding when they open and close. When the pop in insulation panels are added the door becomes quieter and loses its hollow sound. This type of insulated garage door will provide some insulation quality and noise reduction and I would consider this product an entry level insulated garage door.

Sandwich type insulated overhead garage doors are the strongest and quietest of all garage doors as well as the best insulated and most durable.  Sandwich garage doors will normally be 1 3/8” or 2”, constructed with a steel interior and exterior and either polystyrene or polyurethane insulation.

Foam back overhead garage doors are really a builder grade insulated garage door disguised to look better than it really is. The foam back insulated garage door is basically a 2” hollow door with 9/16” polyurethane foamed in place and a poly vinyl backer. The gauge of the steel is decreased making the skin thinner and weaker and the polyurethane adds rigidity.

To sum things up if you are seeking a quality steel insulated overhead garage door pick the 2” sandwich door and you’ll be thoroughly pleased.

Blog provided by Sandy Springs Garage Door Company

,
Read More

Garage Door Opener Repair Tips

June 1st, 2012 Posted in Garage Door Companies, Garage Door Contractors, Garage Door Openers, Garage Door Repairs
Comments Off on Garage Door Opener Repair Tips

Is your automatic garage door opener malfunctioning and in need of repair? If so here are some great ideas as to how to choose a garage door opener repair company.

First of all don’t just go to the internet and start calling garage door opener repair companies, do some homework first. Walk into your garage and look up at the motor to see what brand of garage door opener you have, if you can determine what type of drive it is, chain drive, screw drive or belt drive. If possible locate the model number as well as the date of manufacturer code.

Try to make your own determination as to what’s wrong with your garage door opener and if you know how to pull the emergency disconnect, do so and operate the door manually. I recommend only pulling the emergency release when the overhead garage door is in the closed position; this is for safety’s sake.

Next look for a garage door opener repair company that provides service in your geographical area and before you call look at the first 8-12 websites, see if their site is well done, do they list your brand of garage door opener and do they look reputable. Now look for independent online reviews and make sure they have at least 100 favorable reviews, any company that has been around for more than a year should have at least 100.

Now call the first garage door repair companies that have met your criteria for locality, reviews and service your brand of door opener. If they simply want to schedule a service call with you and only want your name, address, etc. hang up and call the next company. A reputable garage door opener repair company will take the time to ask you questions about the symptoms you’re experiencing, if you trust them try them.

,
Read More

Garage Door Repair Guide Part 1

June 1st, 2012 Posted in Garage Door Companies, Garage Door Contractors, Garage Door Openers, Garage Door Repairs, Garage Door Springs
Comments Off on Garage Door Repair Guide Part 1

Here are some things you can check before you call a garage door repair company. These are simple things to check yourself and might save you some time and money.

If your garage door opener doesn’t work at all, no lights hum or buzz check your outlet for power. If you have power, unplug the machine for 30 seconds and plug it back in. Unplugging the machine will reset many models of automatic garage door openers and save you a garage door repair charge.

If your garage door is closed and your automatic garage door opener will only lift the door a few inches to a few feet, return your overhead door to the closed position and pull the emergency disconnect. Once your garage door is disconnected from the opener try to lift your door manually by hand. Be sure to lift with your legs so as not to injure your back. If the garage door is heavy or impossible to lift, stop, pull the plug and call our garage door repair company.

If the door lifts easily by hand find the manufacturer and model of your garage door opener, then call us for free advice or Google the owner’s manual. There’s a good possibility that a simple adjustment of your garage door openers sensitivity will solve your garage door repair problem.

If your garage door won’t open at all but tries to open, stop to avoid further damage and repair costs, disconnect the door and try to lift manually. If your garage door won’t lift manually check to make sure it isn’t locked, if not inspect the garage door springs to see if one is broken. When you have a broken garage door spring it will usually be visible and the spring will be in two pieces. If you discover the spring is broken pull the plug to avoid further repair costs and call our garage door repair company.

Look for part 2 and thanks for reading.

,
Read More

Carriage Garage Doors 101 (What you need to know) Part 1

June 1st, 2012 Posted in Garage Door Companies, Garage Door Contractors, Garage Door Installation
Comments Off on Carriage Garage Doors 101 (What you need to know) Part 1

If you’re considering a replacement garage door for your home and you’re trying to decide whether or not to install a carriage style garage door here’s some useful information to help you make an educated decision.

First and this is a big decision, you’ll need to decide some kind of budget, the more elaborate the garage door the more expensive it’s going to be. Stamped steel carriage doors are going to be by far more reasonable than custom made steel carriage doors or custom wood carriage doors. We’ll talk more about this in a moment.

Next you’ll need to decide if your new garage door is going to be insulated or non-insulated, solid without windows or have some kind of decorative windows. Insulated carriage doors are offered in different overall thickness, R value and open back garage doors or finished sandwich style doors.

Sandwich style steel carriage doors are going to overall be the most durable and the strongest of the steel carriage doors, however your choice of designs will be more limited. Sandwich style carriage doors will also provide the best insulating qualities.

Stamped steel carriage doors will be the most reasonable and the most durable. Custom steel carriage doors are next in line, these doors usually start with a flush steel garage door, (insulated or non-insulated) and then have some type of composite overlay attached to achieve the carriage door look.

Steel carriage doors with an overlay will give you endless design possibilities; however there can be major drawbacks to this type of carriage door and the most important information you’ll need to know is whether the door is being built by a name brand overhead garage door company or is manufactured locally by your garage door installation company.

I’ll talk more about this in our next segment; remember doing your homework now will save you time, money and potential grief later.

,
Read More

Why I Wouldn’t Purchase an Overhead Brand Garage Door

June 1st, 2012 Posted in Garage Door Companies, Garage Door Contractors, Garage Door Installation
Comments Off on Why I Wouldn’t Purchase an Overhead Brand Garage Door

If you are considering the purchase and installation of a new overhead garage door you’ll find that depending on where in the country you are located you may have as many as 12-15 different overhead garage door manufacturers to choose from.

I’m a big believer in the ability to select and choose the brand of product I desire and garage doors are no different. I also believe in purchasing a brand of overhead garage door that I can obtain parts and service from the company I choose and not being locked into one company.

Now the Overhead Door Manufacturing Company won’t like what I’m about to say but I think you the consumer should pay close attention. Overhead Door has a network of dealers across the country. Usually there is one dealer per metro area which means they don’t compete against each other, they only compete against other brands of garage doors. Now initially that sounds ok but here is where the problem starts.

Each brand of overhead garage door makes their garage door sections or panels unique to their brand of door. The garage door hardware used to be generic industry standard hardware but much of it is now proprietary. Since Overhead Door Brand products are exclusive to one dealer in any given area, if you purchase their product and later need a replacement garage section or hardware your only choice is to purchase from them. NO COMPETITION, NO Mercy, meaning you are STUCK purchasing from them at whatever price they want to charge you.

Most other brands of garage door manufacturers have multiple representation in every city which means as a consumer you have overhead door companies competing against each other for your business. Competition keeps people honest and pricing fair. Furthermore if you purchase a garage door installation from a particular company and are later unhappy someone else can compete for your replacement parts if needed.

,
Read More
Newer Entries

Find Local Company | Garage Door Directory | Find Local Garage Door Service Companies