Common Garage Door Problems: When Is It Time for Professional Maintenance?

Your garage door is the fortress of your home. It protects your car, valuables, and it also keeps your family safe too. However, even the most well-built door can fail to correctly function if it doesn’t undergo proper professional maintenance.

As you go through each day pressing your door’s remote control, you might notice early signs of garage door problems from general wear and tear. 

So how can you tell if your lateral-running door needs to be checked by a professional? Here are five strong indicators that you need to call a garage door specialist and schedule a service.

5 Garage door problems that need professional service

Making loud noises

When your garage door is making loud noises, it’s a strong indicator that something’s not right with your door. If you hear a popping noise, it means that your door’s torsion spring is the main issue. In this case, the torsion spring needs an immediate replacement. A squeaking or grinding noise could be an indication that the rollers are already worn out. Nevertheless, you need to contact a professional in both cases to have this checked for immediate repair and replacement.

Moving unevenly

Have you noticed that your door seems to shimmy every time you open or close your garage? You might think that something’s blocking the door’s tracks, but there’s nothing there when you check it. This could either be the torsion or the extension spring delivering too much or too little tension.

Metal track is misaligned

Your garage door runs on a metal track that needs to be aligned 100% for your door to move easily. If you notice any gap between the rail and the rollers, or if there are bends in the rails, then you’ve got a serious problem. Furthermore, your garage door weighs about 150 pounds exacerbating this rail and roller situation. If not fixed, it might already be too dangerous to open your garage. You need to call for help from a garage door professional who has all the necessary tools and know-how to fix this issue for you.

Door spring is broken

All of a sudden, your garage door is not raising. You’re certain that the transmitters are properly functioning and the motor has power. You eliminated all other possibilities, and it boils down to a broken door spring or torsion spring. This is the heavy-duty spring that is responsible for lifting your hefty garage door. If you were not at home when the torsion spring broke you would have no idea, but your neighbors may have heard a loud noise coming from your garage. Your door could be constructed with either two torsion springs or only one. If either of the springs are broken, the door opener would still be unable to lift the whole weight of the garage door. In this scenario, you have to schedule a professional service company to check and replace the springs on your door. Don’t be too hard on yourself; these springs only last for a certain number of opening and closing your door cycles. Over time, they eventually wear out, break, and need replacement. 

Broken cables or tension springs

As mentioned before, garage doors are built with cables and tension springs that help control the pace of opening and closing. If at some point these cables and springs break, you’ll immediately notice that your garage door closes as fast as lightning strikes. Followed by a thunderous noise as the door hits the ground. This is very dangerous and something that should never be neglected. If you’re not careful, the door will crush anything below it. Immediately contact a professional and experienced garage door technician for service and repair.

What to do while waiting for garage door professional service

1. Do not park your car inside the garage until the door is repaired by a professional.
2. Refrain from opening or closing the garage door until its defective parts are fully replaced.
3. Disconnect any power from the garage door so you won’t get mistakenly open or close the door.
4. Inform your family about the condition of the door. Additionally, put a sign on the garage so that no one in the family gets hurt.
5. Request same-day service from a local garage door professional near you.

Your door signifies safety and security. It should be well taken care of so that it can function properly for a long time. Don’t wait until it’s too late to have your door fixed. Call an expert that provides 24/7 support in order to get the job done.