5 Signs Your Garage Door Needs Repairs
Imagine this - it’s minus 30 degrees celsius outside, and you go into your unheated garage to get your car started so you can get to work. As you’re about to leave, you realize the garage door won’t open. You try to get it unjammed, but you just can’t - and now you’re caught without a car.
At this point, you’re probably freezing, wondering whether you should take steps to get a heated garage, how you’re going to get to work, and why the dang door won’t open.
There are solutions. You can give us a call, and we can get your door fixed as soon as possible - we offer 24/7 garage door repair in Winnipeg. That said, you’d probably rather avoid this problem to begin with - and that’s why we’re going to share 5 signs that your garage door needs repairs:
Your garage door won’t open or close
At this point you might be thinking: “Yeah, obviously, if my garage door won’t open or close it needs repairs”.
Not so fast!
Your remote might be out of batteries. The source of power for your door might not be working - your breaker tripping off is often the most common culprit.
You’ll also want to check the safety sensors if your door won’t close. There should be an illuminated LED light visible on each sensor when they’re operating properly. These lights are often different colours. Try adjusting these sensors and checking the path of the door - something might be blocking the door from closing. You can try to fix these simple problems yourself before calling.
If you’ve ruled out the above, you can still try to manually lift or close the garage door - though you’ll probably still need to call for repairs. Be careful when doing this - make sure the path of the door is clear and don’t touch the door while disconnecting it.
Sometimes you won’t even be able to lift it manually after using the manual release. This indicates there’s some problem with the door itself, like broken springs.
It’s off-balance
You might notice that your automatic opener is struggling to open the door, or that the door closes faster than it usually does. These could be signs that your door is unbalanced.
To test this, manually set your garage door to its halfway point between open and closed. If it continues to move (it won’t rest at the halfway point), it’s off-balance. You’ll need to call for repairs. An unbalanced door puts more stress on the operator and reduces your door’s service life. Worse yet, one of the springs may break under the added stress.
It opens or closes slowly
There are a couple of potential causes for this. You might also have too little lubrication on the hinges and rollers. You’ll want to use a silicon or lithium grease spray (not WD-40) to fix the problem - this is another DIY project that you can probably handle.
Finally, wear and tear might simply be slowing the door down. In these circumstances, it’s likely you’ll need a replacement soon.
It’s making a lot of weird noises
Your garage door will, of course, make some noises when you open and close it. If it starts making unusual noises, you might need repairs.
If you’re hearing a lot of sharp cracks, groaning, or grinding, try lubricating the hinges and rollers like we described above. If that doesn’t make the strange noises go away, call us to check on things.
It’s off its track
A garage door off its tracks is a dangerous thing - the door could fall and seriously injure someone. This rarely happens unless there’s been some heavy impact to the door, but if you see it, call us right away.
Clear your garage before making repairs
One final tip before we finish up: make sure your car isn’t in your garage when you attempt to make any repairs. If anything goes wrong, having your car parked far away can reduce the risk of damage - plus, you’re less likely to have to clean it afterwards.