Common Garage Door Issues and Fixes

If your garage door is broken here are our most common garage door issues and fixes

As Spring rolls into Summer one thing is a certainty, and it’s not what you might think! Yes there will be sunburn, BBQ’s and beer gardens, and maybe even a little jaunt on your jollies BUT for us there always comes an influx of people calling about their Garage doors. I told you it wasn’t what might think! We have included our top two common garage door issues and fixes below.

There’s a number of reasons for this but I think the main two are the fluctuation in heat and the greater use many Garage doors getting during the summer – Getting out your bikes, BBQ, lawnmowers, your garden furniture or whatever else you might store in there during the colder months.

We’d like to run through a couple of the more common garage door issues that we see occur and how best to deal with them.

Rollers & Tracks not in alignment Issue and Fix

This is probably the most popular issue we come across and can be a serious one to. Either side of your garage door (internally) are a set of tracks which house the rollers allowing your door the glide up and down.

Over time you can find that the tracks bend causing one or both rollers to leave the track. If you’ve tried to open your garage door and it has a new found ‘swing’ to it, as opposed to a rigid motion, this is almost certainly the case.

If you see gaps between the rollers and tracks, or bends in the tracks, the security of your garage door is completely compromised.

Once the roller has left the tracks any would be burglar can simply push their way in, particularly concerning if you have an adjoining door from the garage into your home. Under the cover of the garage, someone breaking in via the adjoining breaking into your home becomes almost impossible to detect.

If your rollers are still in the racks yet your find the operation of the door rubs or slows down at certain points, this occasionally can be an easy fix. Inspect your tracks to look for any signs of warping or bends in them.

If this is the case you may be able to grip the affected area with pliers and manoeuvre the track back into place. Using a rubber mallet can also help smooth out the affected area.

If the door won’t move at all because of an alignment issue involving the whole track and / or the roller(s) have come off the tracks, then these types of problems shouldn’t be something that you attempt to fix yourself. It can even be quite dangerous to attempt due to the tension in the springs and cabling

Torsion Springs, Tension Springs & Cabling Issues and Fix

Following on from our warning message regarding the danger associated with torsion springs , if you’re around when these break you will most certainly know about it! The bang generated from a torsion spring breaking can sound like a firework has gone off in your garage!

If a spring is broken, give us a call to come and have a look. Anyone other than a professional trying to fix this does so at their own risk, it can be very dangerous. We really can’t stress that enough!!

Garage doors have tension springs and cables that help your garage door smoothly, slowly and safely open and close. If they tension springs or cables fail, you’ll find that your garage door loses the ability to transition smoothly, often falling shut with a loud bang

With no counter balance allowing for smooth operation you run the risk of crashing the door down on top of yourself, a pet or somebody else. At best this is excruciatingly painful.

The springs and cabling all have a certain amount of ‘cycles’ before they are likely to fail, much like a car after a certain amounts of miles have been racked up on the clock. Bear this in mind and look to have your garage checked over once things start to run less smoothly.

We are always here to assist, advise and even replace the garage door should it be needed. We’ll ensure that you get the right advice if your having issues with your garage door and remedy at the right price, always.