Garage Door Repairs: Troubleshooting Four Of The Most Common Garage Door Issues
Posted on: 17 June 2021
A garage door can malfunction or completely fail to work due to several different issues, and it can be pretty frustrating when you don't know the cause of the problem.
Though it is still advisable to call a garage door repair contractor when you encounter problems, knowing what the issue is can help you gauge the cost of the repairs before hiring one of these contractors. For instance, if you know how much the garage door repairs costs, you are in a better position to find a reasonably priced garage door repair contractor.
Thus, here are four troubleshooting tips for various garage door issues that may warrant calling a garage door repair service.
Broken Springs
Garage door springs are responsible for providing the cables with sufficient tension to pull the garage door's weight when opening it. However, over time, the springs are prone to wearing out or losing their tension. When this happens, the springs are incapable of pulling the garage door's weight, which means you will not be able to open it.
Therefore, if your garage door refuses to open, you can automatically consider the springs as the culprit. However, repairing garage door springs by yourself is not recommended because if you install the springs wrongly, the garage door could crash on your car or fall on someone, inadvertently causing severe injuries.
When your garage door refuses to open, it is advised to call a garage door repair technician. They can look at the springs and repair or replace them immediately.
Broken Cables
Cables utilize the tension provided by the springs to pull open the garage door. Thus, the cables are often subjected to two types of forces: the tension from the springs and the garage door's weight. Unfortunately, both these forces pull the cables in different directions. Over time, the cables start to weaken, and eventually, will break.
Two signs indicate you have a broken cable. The first sign is the garage door gets stuck midway when opening because the broken cable doesn't provide enough lift power to open the door fully. The second sign is that the garage door hangs in a tilted manner on the tracks when it is open.
Similar to spring repairs, it is ill-advised for homeowners to attempt cable repairs. Thus, when you notice the above signs, call a garage door repair contractor to come and repair your cables.
Misaligned Track
The track resembles a tray responsible for housing the rollers that wind and unwind the garage door. Unfortunately, a track can get misaligned. Thus the rollers will not be able to move seamlessly along the track, which in turn results in the garage door failing to open.
The most common sign for a misaligned track is the garage door budging in place. Budging means the garage door will only move up slightly, not exceeding a few inches before getting stuck because the rollers get stuck in between the track segments. With this problem, they can't move the garage door.
A misaligned track is one of the most straightforward garage door repairs a homeowner can conduct by themselves. All you have to do is tighten the bolts that hold the track segment in place, and you are set to go. However, if the issue persists after tightening the bolts, it is advisable to call a garage door repair contractor to look at it.
Malfunctioning Safety Sensor
The safety sensor is an automatic motion sensor that stops the garage door from closing if people or objects are below it. When the safety sensor is malfunctioning, the garage door will refuse to close even when there is nothing below the door.
Thus, when you notice the door rolling down and then rolling back up frequently when you attempt to close it, the safety sensor has an issue. You'll need to call a garage door repair contractor to fix the sensor. For more information, contact a garage door repair service.
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