Common Garage Door Problems

Garage doors lead pretty simple lives. Up, down, up, down, over and over, year after year—until suddenly they don't work the way they should. Fortunately, that simple function usually makes for relatively simple repairs. Sometimes, though, even reliable old garage doors bite the dust or need major repairs.

Basic Maintenance and Quick Fixes

If your garage door is behaving well at this moment, you can probably keep it working that way almost indefinitely if you follow a simple inspection and maintenance routine . These same tips may also correct problems that are just beginning to appear:

• Examine the rollers and tracks on the garage door. If you can't remember the last time you cleaned them, now is the time to clean the rollers and tracks with a good brushing and to lubricate the rollers and axles. The bearings on rollers can also wear out; replace any rollers that don't operate smoothly.

• Tighten the hardware. The tracks that guide the rollers on an overhead garage door are assembled in sections and attached to the garage with brackets. Makes sure the sections are well secured and that the screws and bolts that hold the brackets are tight.

• Check the cables and pulleys. Spiring-operated garage doors have cables and pulleys that may wear out over time. Frayed cables and damaged pulleys need to be replaced—a job best done by professionals.

• Test the door balance. A garage door should require only a few pounds of pressure to move it up and down. If springs wear out and lose their resiliency, a power garage door opener may need to work extra hard to lift the door. This can quickly wear out the motor on the opener. Replacing worn-out springs is usually a job for a professional technician.

• Test the autoreverse feature on the door opener. Garage door openers are designed to automatically reverse and lift the door if it encounters an obstacle on the way down to the floor. If this feature no longer works correctly, the heavy door poses a safety hazard and the door opener should be repaired or replaced.

If none of these solutions fix your problems, or if you would rather just let someone else fuss with the door, look into calling kop garage door service