It’s normal for a garage door to act up. Even the best and most expensive garage doors malfunction sometimes.
Some garage door problems are easy enough for you to fix. However, some issues can be so complicated, even dangerous, that you’re going to need more than the usual garage door tips to fix them. In such cases, reaching out to a professional garage door repair service like www.adpgaragedoors.com would be the right call.
Here are some of the most common garage door problems and tips on how to deal with them.
Garage Door Doesn’t Close All The Way
It could be a problem with your garage door’s safety sensors or electronic eyes that emit a beam which, when interrupted by a person, pet, or object, will automatically stop the door from closing.
Dirty and misaligned sensors will cause the door to malfunction. Clean the lens and check if the LED light on the exterior of either sensor is blinking. If they are, get a screwdriver and tighten the screws on the bracket with the blinking LED light to make them align again.
The Remote Is Not Working
Dead batteries are the most common reason why garage door opener remotes fail to work. If replacing them with fresh ones doesn’t do anything, it’s probably time to replace the remote as well.
You might also want to check the garage door opener unit because it could be the problem and not the remote. Garage door opener problems are best left to professionals.
One Side Is Moving Faster Than The Other
An obstruction in the tracks could be causing your garage door to move unevenly. Check the tracks for any blockage and remove it right away.
An unevenly-moving garage door may also be having problems with its spring system, something that requires a call to a professional garage door repair service.
Rusting Parts
Your garage door may be made of other materials, but they all have metal parts that are vulnerable to rust. Fortunately, dealing with rust is easy. All you need is a cloth soaked in vinegar to rub the parts where rust is starting to form. Sand the same areas afterward.
Garage Door Takes Forever To Open Or Close
Once you notice that your door takes its sweet time to open or close, check the speed setting of your garage door and adjust it accordingly. However, if the speed setting is normal and the garage door is still incredibly slow, your rollers may lack lubrication. Dirty tracks could also slow the door down, so make sure you clean them as well.
Garage Door Noises
There are a variety of noises that your garage door might make.
When it’s making a rattling noise, the likely culprits are screws and bolts that have loosened up over time. You can stop the racket by tightening them.
Grinding or squeaking, meanwhile, could mean that the rollers are not well-lubricated anymore. Use lithium- or silicone-based grease as they are better at protecting metal.
The one sound that you should not try to deal with when your garage door makes it is popping. Popping sounds are typically associated with torsion spring issues, so call a garage door professional to be safe.
Garage Door Slams Shut
Few things are as frightening as hitting the remote to close the garage door, and it suddenly slams into the ground with such force.
When your garage door closes way too fast, you’re likely dealing with a broken torsion spring or a snapped cable. Either way, the only way to get your garage door working again is to call in a professional to fix it.
Garage Door Has Cracks Or Gaps
Over time, cracks or gaps may form on your garage door. You can deal with them yourself by caulking them up using a weather sealant or a waterproof filler that you can buy at your neighborhood home improvement store.
It’s alright to fix your garage door yourself when the problem is simple, like a lack of lubrication or the door not responding to the remote. However, if it’s a problem with the springs, don’t even entertain the thought of doing things the DIY way. Garage door springs can be dangerous when they break. Keep yourself and your family safe by calling a garage door repair specialist for the job.
It really helped that you listed the most common garage door issues since I’ve been having problems with mine at home, and I couldn’t seem to know the cause. I never knew that rollers may be the problem if I’ve been hearing grinding noise whenever I open it, as this is because they are not lubricated. With that considered, I shall then hire a garage door repair service to get it fixed right away.