What Are Some Common Garage Door Problems?
Your automatic garage door is quite an investment for your house. Despite the fact you follow a frequent maintenance schedule, your door may still have problems. That happens because it’s the part of your garage in direct contact with bad weather and solar rays. Living in Chicago you know first-hand what bad weather means. You should find a reliable company that provides garage door repair in Chicago, to give you an estimate of the repairs and identify the roots of all problems. Before letting these problems pile up, it’s better to know which are the most common and call the servicemen the soonest possible.
Worn Out Springs
Some garage doors could be heavier than 400 pounds depending on their material and insulation. Their moving mechanism requires strong springs to elevate that door from the vertical to the horizontal position.
Even though the doors travel on steel tracks, it’s the springs that get aggravated with their weight through the whole opening process. That’s why springs have excessive dynamic power when supporting your garage door, and they are the first to get worn out after several years of use.
It’s important to identify the springs’ problems and call the experts. Dealing with them without the proper equipment and experience could cause you severe injuries. Most of the time, springs need to be replaced. After that task your door instantly restores to its normal functioning.
Compromised Cables
Automatic door openers use steel cables to transfer the motor’s torque to the door when opening or closing. Even though these cables are more durable than the regular ones, they still get compromised due to the intense use. Sometimes broken cables may leave your door open.
That is a direct threat to your home’s security since your garage could be accessible from any passerby. Experienced garage door workers could replace the steel cables and ensure they have the proper size to anticipate your door’s weight, preventing similar problems in the future.
Defective Rollers
Garage doors need to roll to the overhead position to open fully and allow your car to enter the garage. Most doors use rollers or wheels to slide on the steel tracks and take a smooth landing position. These rollers are made of rubber or steel and could get impacted by bad weather or moisture. You will know that roller replacement time is near, when your garage door has a strange and uneven opening, trembling each time you press the remote controller.
If you leave this problem unattended, you may gradually see your door open slower and harder than before. When the door stops working, you will know that it’s necessary to change the rollers and the automatic opener’s motor. It’s important to call a professional garage door repair service when you feel like the roller has been compromised. Otherwise your garage door could have serious and costly damage.
Non-responsive Sensors
Another common problem for garage doors is the non-responsive sensors. Your door receives infrared rays as signals from your remote control to open or close. It also has some infrared eyes to know the upper and lower ends of your door track. They also protect other people from getting injured when they are found in the door’s trajectory.
There may be a need for recalibration of the infrared eyes. Sometimes technicians need to check the door’s internal chipsets since they could be damaged from cold or hot weather. A non-responsive sensor is serious damage that you should deal with right away to protect your home’s and family’s safety.
Cracked Door Plates
All new garage doors have a 50-year lifespan, thanks to their improved body materials. However, your garage door is exposed to bad weather conditions all year round. That’s why it’s more vulnerable to contractions and cracks than any other part of your home. Some garage door manufacturers replace the parts of your door that have been cracked. But, the most radical solution is to replace the whole door and ensure the new materials are more durable than the older ones.
Calling professional garage door maintenance services is the right thing to do when common problems appear. The right time to call them would be as soon as you spot the first problems with opening or closing your garage door. Otherwise, you can expect the repairs to be more costly and even lead to a total door replacement. Identifying issues and fixing an automatic garage door is not a do-it-yourself task, and you should always be proactive to save money and time.
