The garage door in your home is probably the biggest moving part of the whole house. It withstands hundreds of pounds of pressure. It opens and closes thousands of times a year . It is often the primary entrance to your house . It’s so dependable day after day that it’s easy to take for granted – until, that is, it suddenly refuses to budge.
A broken garage door is not just an inconvenience that would leave your car stuck; it can also be a serious safety and security hazard. Garage doors, fortunately, seldom fail without warning.
If you see any of these five warning signs, call in a pro before that little tweak turns into an expensive emergency repair.
1. Too Much or Strange Noise
No garage door is completely silent, but it shouldn’t sound like a crashing thunderstorm or a straining engine. If you hear loud grinding, squeaking, scraping or slapping sounds, something is wrong.
Squeaking often means dry rollers or bearings.
Generally, grinding is a metal-on-metal rubbing process that quickly destroys the parts.
Popping noises are a huge warning sign that your torsion springs are under a lot of stress and may break.
2. The Door Is Heavy or Sagging
If you have an automatic opener, you might not know you have a heavy door until the motor burns out from straining. To check this, close the door, pull the emergency release cord and try to lift the door by hand.
The garage door should open easily with one hand and remain in place at the halfway point. If it’s too heavy or crashes to the floor, then your springs have lost their tension.
Safety Warning: Never adjust or replace garage door springs yourself. They are under a lot of tension and can be quite dangerous if not handled properly.
3. Slow or Unwilling Action
If you press on the remote, your garage door should respond quickly and open or close with a smooth, steady pace (usually 5 to 7 seconds). If it stalls, creeps or jolts wildly on the tracks, you may have a dying motor in your opener, failing cables or severely misaligned tracks.
4. Door Closes and Opens Immediately
Nothing is more frustrating than watching your garage door go all the way down, then immediately reverse and pop back open. This is usually caused by a failure of a safety device.
Check the photo-eye sensors at the bottom of the tracks to make sure they are not blocked by debris or out of alignment.
If the sensors are clean and aligned, and the door still reverses, the problem might be with the logic board or travel limits of the opener.
5. Uneven Hanger or Shaker
Look at your garage door when it’s halfway open. Is it level, or does one end seem to be tilted lower than the other? An uneven door indicates one of the lifting cables has frayed, stretched, or slipped off its drum. This creates an uneven, heavy load on the rollers and tracks, causing the door to shake when it moves and eventually jam completely.
Dependable, Fast Service Throughout the Halton Region
Ignore a small garage door problem today, and it’s almost a sure thing you’ll be pulling an all-nighter down the road. Regular maintenance and timely repairs will not only keep your family safe but will also extend the life of your garage door system for years to come.
If your door is shaking, making noises it shouldn’t, or just acting up, let the pros handle it safely.
For fast, professional service, call Halton Garage Doors today.
