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.

Why You Should Replace Both Garage Door Springs

Overhead garage doors use heavy duty steel springs to help make it easier to open and close the door.  Garage doors weigh hundreds of pounds, but with properly adjusted springs they easily opened by hand or a small opener.

As garage door springs extend and contract (or coil and uncoil for torsion type springs) they become fatigued.  Each cycle of opening and closing the door causes the spring to become slightly weaker and it will eventually break.  Garage door springs typically last for thousands of cycles so even if you use your garage door frequently, it will take years for a spring to break.

When a spring breaks, you will need to have it replaced by a good garage door repair service.  These springs are dangerous and this is not a job for the homeowner.  Garage doors usually have two springs – one attached to either side of the door.

Always replace the springs in pairs, even though only one spring is broken.  It is important that the door is lifted evenly and as garage door springs age, they become weaker.  Installing a strong new spring on a door with an old weak spring will cause uneven lifting and jamming of the door.

In addition, if one spring breaks the other is not far behind and it is less expensive to install both springs at the same time than it is to have the garage door technician make two trips to your home a few months apart.