Tips for Repairing Garage Doors

ID-100212702Is your garage door giving you fits? Fixing a garage door is one of the more annoying aspects of owning a home. If you’ve ever dealt with a door that isn’t properly aligned or won’t close completely you know what I’m talking about. However if you can patiently follow a few basic tips you’ll cancel out your headaches.

A properly functioning door keeps your garage sealed during winter months, preventing wildlife or the elements from damaging stored valuables.

If you’re having a difficult time attempting to align tracks, or with some other aspect of repairing the doors, consult a professional. Don’t bother doing it yourself only to run into hours of frustration. Invest in your peace of mind – and a properly working door – by calling a professional, reliable service.

Keep in mind that garage door repairs are usually simple if the door is not working properly. Use these helpful repair tips to fix your door.

Keep Tracks Clean

Get rid of grease and dirt by cleaning the tracks with a powerful household cleaner. Grime can cause your door to not work well. By cleaning the tracks you can create a better functioning garage door. Make sure to wipe both racks and rollers dry to thoroughly clean the apparatus.

Properly Align Tracks

Use a level to properly align the garage door tracks.  Make sure horizontal style tracks bend down toward the back of the garage when repairing. Tracks should be at the exact same height on the garage walls to ensure the garage door opens and closes effectively.  Don’t remove the bolts or screws on the garage door brackets if the doors aren’t working properly. Simply loosen these and move the tracks back into alignment with gentle tapping using a rubber mallet. After tapping the tracks use a level to see if they’re in the right spot. At this point you can tighten the screw or bolts. Patiently follow each tip to avoid problems in the future. Trying to eyeball tracks or attempting to pound them into alignment won’t likely fix the issue or make your garage door work properly.

Go Over the Metal Tracks

Check the tracks inside of the garage to assess their condition. If you spot loose mounting brackets correct the situation by tightening the screws. Check the tracks for flat spots, crimps or dents which interfere with closing or opening the door. Straight out any uneven surfaces with a solid rubber mallet or a hammer and wood block. Heavily damaged metal tracks should be replaced to save time, energy and headaches.

Look for Loose Hardware

Scour your garage door for loose hardware to pinpoint problem spots. Look to where the spring is mounted on swing up style garage doors for problematic loosening. Tighten up to fix this area. Tighten loose screws on hinges of roll-up doors. Replace damaged hinges. Fixing hinges can address the common and annoying issue of sagging at either end of the garage door. Use filler to load cracks around the hinges.  Remember to call a professional garage door repair service if your roll-up door has a single torsion spring. Attempting to fix this spring can cause serious injury.

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