If you have a garage door, you might run into problems in the future. Garage doors require maintenance and involve several components that might need repair depending on the usage.
In this article, we’re taking a look at the most popular garage door service and repairs.
Popular Garage Door Service And Repairs
Your garage door is one of the most important parts of your home. It protects your car when you’re home, keeps the elements out, and is a vital part of home security. Like any other part of your home though, you need to do maintenance and repairs on it from time to time. Here are some of the most popular repairs that are searched for online, and how to do them.
Door Opener Repair
Most garage doors now use automatic openers. These make life a lot easier for you, as you all you need to do is push a button on your remote, and you’ll be able to drive right into your garage. Sometimes the opener won’t work though, but it’s usually quite simple to repair it.
Firstly, look to see if the batteries in the remote have died. This is the most common reason why the remote isn’t working. If that doesn’t work, look to see if the contacts in the remote have corroded. If the remote is older, this may have happened, and it’s very easy to polish them.
You may also need to look at the opener unit in your garage itself. Check to see the stop cord hasn’t been pulled. This removes the opener from the track for safety, and stops it from opening. Also, check that it hasn’t been unplugged, as this is a common issue and an easy fix.
Fixing Your Photo Eye
The photo eyes on your garage door sit either side at almost floor level, and fire a light beam between them. They’re a safety feature, as if the beam is broken it will not allow the door to close. If the door won’t close, there could be an issue with them.
Firstly, clean them off to see if this helps. As they’re so close to the ground, it’s easy for them to get dirty and therefore become blocked. If that doesn’t work, try realigning them. The eyes can be adjusted, and it’s very easy for one to get knocked and so be out of position. Tie a length of string between them, and adjust the eyes until the string is totally level.
Replacing Or Repairing Panels
Accidents happen, and you’ve reversed your car into the garage door. Perhaps your kid kicked a football into it. Whatever happened, now you need to now repair the door panel thanks to the dent that’s been put into it. If you have a steel garage door, you may be able to ‘pop’ the dent back out. To do so, you can use a 2 by 4 of wood and a rubber mallet. Hold the wood against where the metal is dented out, and use the mallet to hit the wood. This should ‘pop’ the dent back into place.
If the damage is more severe you can replace the panel, too. To do this, order new panels from the supplier who originally fitted your garage door. Unplug the garage door opener, and unscrew the bolts holding the panels together. Now, remove the panels in your garage door until you can reach the one that needs to be replaced. They should slide off the track to allow you to do this.
To attach the new panel, slide the rollers into the track and lower the garage door until the upper panel is touching the new panel, which should be sitting on the floor. Reattach it by reattaching the screws or bolts, and repeat this process for any panels you had to remove too.
Mending Bent Garage Door Tracks
Your garage door tracks need to be totally straight, as they’re what your garage door travels on as it moves up and down. Again, it’s very easy for someone to bump into it and bend it slightly. This is enough to stop the garage door opening, and maybe even allow it to jump the tracks. It’s important to mend this as soon as you find it, to stop this from happening.
This is a job you can do with a claw hammer, if the bend isn’t too bad. Firstly, open the garage door so it’s bottom is past the seam where the vertical track and the horizontal track meet. Secure it in place with clamps. Place the claw part of your hammer on the part of the track that’s bent, and straighten it as much as possible.
You may then need to remove the bolts securing the track to the wall, in order to fully straighten out the track. Once you’ve done so, replace the bolts and test the door to see if it will open and close normally again.
If you’ve done this and the door still won’t work properly, or the bend is too severe for yo to fix, you’ll need a new track. In this case, you’ll need to call a garage door engineer to come and replace them for you.
Replacing Broken Springs
If you’ve heard a loud band coming from your garage, then you may have had a spring break. These are what take the tension of the garage door when you open it. They wear out over time, and so they will break if overstressed. If this happens, you’ll need to replace the spring before you can use the door again.
Remember that these springs hold a lot of tension, so be very careful when handling them. There should be a cable running through the broken spring, which stops it from pinging away from the door and causing damage when it breaks. This guide shows you how to remove that cable and the old spring and reattach the new one.
If you’re not sure how to do this, it’s a very good idea to call the experts. Garage door springs are dangerous and you’re better to be safe than sorry.
These are some of the most common problems that you’ll run into with your garage door. The great thing is that most of the time, you will be able to correct the problem yourself.