Garage Door Repairs: DIY, what you should and should not try & why
Your garage door is likely to be the most overlooked ‘appliance’ in your home. It’s a simple as pressing a single button to open and close. Like every other ‘appliance’ in your home, your car, your fridge, oven, washer/dryer, and furnace, your garage door and opener should be maintained regularly and adjusted as needed.
You can perform some easy maintenance tasks by yourself at home, other tasks such as; spring replacement, track/roller repair, and complete or partial door installation, should be left to your garage door professional. You should also consider an annual maintenance inspection to ensure your door and opener continue working safely and properly.
Changing remote batteries
This may seem very straightforward and effortless to some of you, but you may be surprised how many homeowners forget to check their remote batteries or don’t know how! If your garage door all the sudden stops working and the remote control’s LED will not flash when the button is pressed, it is most likely dead. See our blog here on remotes and how to change the batteries
Cleaning garage door tracks
If your garage door seems to be noisier than usual or shaky, the tracks could be dirty or obstructed. To properly clean the tracks, just wipe the inside portion of them with a damp cloth. Then lightly lubricate the hinges and rollers with a silicone based lubricant. We recommend not lubricating the actual track as it can cause particle build-up and make the rolling worse.
If your garage door won’t close and goes back up or the opener lights flash, there is most likely a problem with the safety sensors (photo eyes). First check the lights on each safety sensor, which are located on the tracks, approx. 6” from the ground on both sides of door. The lights should be one solid color, not flickering or flashing (colors can be amber, green, or red). If they are flickering, try adjusting each photo eye until they’re aligned and pointing directly at each other. You can also try cleaning the photo eye lens.
When it’s time to call the professionals:
Repairing or replacing the garage door opener
Most people have automatic garage doors these days, which also means you have an electric garage door opener. There are several electrical and mechanical issues an opener could encounter. To fix these, you would need the proper knowledge, training, and equipment to get the job done right.
Spring Replacement/Repair
Just because you can learn how to do almost anything by searching online, doesn't mean replacing garage door springs should one of them! These springs are under enormous amounts of pressure and tension while keeping the garage door in place. If they were to snap or break, the recoil could cause serious damage or injury. Since the springs hold up the door, they could even cause the door to crash down onto you, your cars, or other objects.
Replacing a door section or new door
A garage door is the largest moving object in your home, and because of the large number of parts, installation of a garage door is highly technical. Proper installation is critical to the performance of your door. Professional garage door installers can typically install a door in a few hours and are careful to make sure safety requirements are met. Installations by most homeowners typically span several days and can cause a lot of frustration. In addition, incorrect installation can void certain warranties, so we recommend a trained garage door installer to handle the job for you and we can usually haul your old door or section away!
Furthermore, when looking for a professional garage door installer, you can go online and it seems that everybody these days are doing garage doors: roofing companies, siding, electrical, plumbing, and even painting companies. But since we specialize in garage doors and openers (and since it’s in our name :)), you know we have the training, knowledge, and experience unlike those other companies! We've seen this on more than one occasion where there has been poor or incorrect workmanship done by someone previous. Why pay for garage door work or repair twice, when you can get it done right the first time?
Since 1991 we have been proud to repair, install, and sell garage doors and openers! This is greatly beneficial to you, our customer, as you have all our expertise at your fingertips, we’re able to learn and keep up with the latest technology in the garage door industry for you, and provide you superior service with exceptional products!