Dealing With The Most Common Garage Door Issues
Your garage door is perhaps one of the most heavily-used doors in your home. You probably use it more frequently than your front door, especially if you always drive to work.
Then again, even if your garage door doesn’t see much action, it is still bound to experience problems over time. At some point, you may have to repair the garage door yourself, although some issues are going to need the touch of garage door repair specialists.
Here are some of the most common garage door issues that may come up in the future, along with some tips that will help you deal with them.
Zero response from the garage door opener
Most modern garage doors are operated by a garage door opener, which, more often than not, comes with a remote controller.
When the garage door opener doesn’t respond to the remote, the batteries are likely dead. Once you replace them with fresh ones and it still doesn’t work, check the power source of the garage door opener because it may have been unplugged. If it’s plugged and nothing is still happening, a blown fuse may be causing the problem. You might also want to reset your circuit breaker in case it has tripped.
Loud or unusual noises
A garage door is supposed to operate quietly, so if your garage door makes a racket every time you open or close it, there’s a problem with it. Fortunately, most noises that come from garage doors can be fixed quite easily.
In case of squeaking or grinding noises, the garage door’s rollers may require additional lubrication. So get lithium- or silicone-based grease and lube the rollers up until all that squeaking or grinding goes away.
When your garage door has a few screws and bolts loose, it’s bound to produce a rattling sound as it opens and closes. You can put a stop to this by tightening those screws and bolts with a wrench.
A popping sound, however, is something you need to refer to a professional garage door repair service. When you hear popping, it’s highly likely that there is a problem with your torsion spring, and only a garage door repair specialist should deal with it.
Sluggish opening or closing
If you notice that your garage door takes a long time to open or close, then you need to check the opener’s speed settings because it might have been set at the lowest speed. It would also be great if you check if your rollers have to be lubricated some more. You should clean its tracks as well because dirt might be causing the slow-motion action.
Broken tension springs or cables
When your garage door suddenly closes with a bang as it hits the ground, the tension springs and cables that help to lower your garage door slowly and safely may have broken. When this happens, call a garage door repair specialist immediately. For the safety of everyone in the household, refrain from using the garage door until it’s fixed.
Sensor problems
Most modern garage doors have sensors or electronic eyes on both sides near the tracks. They should be aligned perfectly and free from obstructions to ensure proper operation of the garage door. When not properly aligned or if something like dirt on the lens is obstructing the beam of light they emit when in operation, your door won’t open or close fully. So always check the alignment of the sensors, and keep their lenses clean at all times.
These are just some of garage door problems homeowners may face. Always remember that some of these issues you can deal with yourself, while some are best left to a professional garage door repair service.