If a man’s home is his castle, then your garage door is the drawbridge. The garage is your portal to the exterior world, where you store your car and extra materials, a location that you go through each day.
It’s easy to neglect how important your garage is until it becomes a problem. One day you’re driving your car in and out of it with ease, the next you’re working with a garage door that won’t open up or close in any way. It’s hard to feel just like the king or queen of your castle when the drawbridge won’t come down.
If you’re having difficulty with your garage door, have a look at this list of 8 common garage door issues and find out if one of these lists helps you to save the day.
REMOTE CONTROL
In the event that you can’t open up your garage, the problem might lie with your remote control. Before looking into the door, check out your opener. It might be as easy a fix as changing out the batteries, or maybe the remote’s sensors are faulty.
UNEVEN DOOR
Sometimes your garage door may end up clinging unevenly. There’s a variety of reasons why this may happen, however the important thing to bear in mind is that this is no problem you should attempt repairing yourself. Only a specialist should deal with a crooked garage door; the danger of personal injury, destroying the garage door or damaging the inside of your garage door is just too great.
SAFETY SENSORS
In case your door isn’t opening, there’s a good chance that the basic safety sensor has gone out of alignment. If you are using your garage a lot, sooner or later that you might end up bumping the door’s safety sensor and knocking it out of place. If the sensor is unaligned, it won’t answer to your door opener.
ROLLERS
You should replace your rollers every 5 to 10 years. The door rollers can degrade from continuous use, and if indeed they breakdown you’re going to have a very difficult time getting the garage door to open up. Check for signals of wear before running out and purchasing a brand new door.
HINGES
The hinges on your door can degrade and breakdown as time passes from consistent use. Weakened hinges are also an annoyance because they can make your garage door noisy. It’s essential that you keep the hinges lubricated to avoid this from occurring.
RAILS
The rails are another part of your garage door that can naturally degrade. Just like the hinges, keeping the rails lubricated is vital to good garage door maintenance. If you’d like your door to keep opening and closing efficiently, you’ll want the rails to be in tip-top condition.
DOOR MOTOR
Deterioration can take its toll on your garage door motor, which makes it run weaker. Many motors have a limit switch on the operator that you can modify to have it back in working order. This switch is usually on the side of the electric motor. If you cannot find the switch, double-check your owner’s manual.
SPRINGS AND WHEELS
If your door starts shimmying laterally or moving strangely, there may be something wrong with the tracks. Check the wheels to ensure that there is nothing obstructing them. If the wheels aren’t blocked, then the fault could lie with the springs. Do not make an effort to fix the springs yourself- garage door springs can be extremely dangerous.
