When it’s working, you don’t have to think much about the garage door on your home. A door, its components, and all the parts that make it up only come to light when something goes wrong. Typically, this is when a technician from a garage door repair company will come to fix your garage door.
The terminology associated with garage doors is often unfamiliar to many people. We should first review the basics of garage door repair before discussing some of the more common problems you can encounter. Knowing what can go wrong will help you avoid those problems in the future.
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Basics of garage doors
The entire garage door system is made up of several parts and components. There are three main parts to the door: the door itself, the hardware components, and the weather-stripping.
The doors
There are two ways to open garage doors: vertically (up and down) or horizontally (left and right).
There are insulated and uninsulated garage doors.
- Insulated doors are ideal both for warm climates like Ohio and for colder climates like the North.
- R-value, which tells you how well insulated your garage door is, is provided with insulated doors.
- Doors with higher R-values are more insulating, preventing heat and cold from escaping.
- There are certain types of doors that can withstand tropical storms and hurricanes better than others.
- Various materials can be used to create garage doors, including aluminum, vinyl, wood, steel, fiberglass, and PVC.
- Depending on the style, some doors include windows.
In Ohio, vertically opening, sectional doors are the most common type of door.
Various hardware components
There is a point at which most people become a bit confused about the garage door’s hardware. There are a number of components on the backside of the door. When everything is working correctly, they work together to open and close the door.
Lifting Cables: Your door might be equipped with lifting cables attached to its springs. These cables are used to open and close the door.
As part of the garage door’s counterweight system, springs are essential. Opening and closing the door using just one hand is made possible by this system. Door springs are usually bundled together at the top. Secondary springs can also be found above the tracks. Heavy doors typically use secondary springs.
Hinge: There are hinges located between each door section. They allow the door to bend as you open and close it, as well as keep it in place. Look at the hinges to see whether the door is of good quality. Door sections are better supported by double hinges, which have a greater weight capacity.
A garage door has small rollers or wheels that run on the side. The wheels of the door should rotate freely inside the tracks as the door is opened and closed. Consider switching from galvanized steel door rollers to nylon ones for a quieter opening door.
A door track is a metal piece that is attached to the side of the door to make it easier to open and close. Garage tracks are typically suspended from the roof of the garage and secured to it.
A garage door opener automates opening and closing by using a motorized device attached to the garage door. Among the parts and components of the opener are a lifting arm, a manual disconnect, and chains.
Since galvanized steel resists corrosion better than regular steel, most of the door’s components will be made of galvanized steel. One important factor to consider is the gauge rating of steel. Thicker steel means a lower gauge rating. Compared with 16-gauge steel, 12-gauge steel is thicker. The gauge rating should be lower if you want superior quality.
Weather-Stripping
The weather-stripping on your door is an essential feature. It prevents rain and water from entering your garage. If it is properly sealed, it will also keep out the wind. To make sure that water does not run under the door and into the garage, there should be some sort of rubberized weather-stripping on the bottom of the door.
Weather-stripping is also visible around the frames of the garage door. Weather-stripping might be on the outside and inside of the door depending on the type of door and who installed it originally. Furthermore, higher-quality garage doors often include weatherstripping between sections.
The most common garage door repairs
Now that you know some of the basics of garage doors, let’s look at some of the more common issues and repairs.
- Broken Springs:
You can manually open and close your garage door a set number of times using the springs on the door. You will know when they break if you are at home when they do break. Breaking garage door springs can sound like fireworks going off in your garage. The door can be very dangerous at this point if it is attempted to open or closed. The spring could still be tensioned, and it could cause the door to wobble, or it could snap off and cause injury. Do not attempt to open your garage door if the spring breaks. Have your garage door repaired as soon as possible. Also, wait until the door is fixed before entering your garage.
2. Broken Cables:
In addition to normal wear and tear, cables can break under the stress placed on them by broken springs. It is common for one side of a door to seem “sagging” when a cable is broken. It may also appear heavier on that side.
In addition, there is a slight angle and a lower part on one side of the door when it opens. It is possible that the door won’t remain in place if all the cables are damaged. It will fall down immediately as soon as you lift it, which is potentially dangerous.
3. Sticking Rollers:
Door rollers should turn and spin on both sides. They can come off their tracks if they’re stuck and sliding. Noise can also be increased when the door is opened and closed with stuck rollers.
The door does not need to be reinstalled if it has fallen off its tracks in either the open or the closed position. Cables and springs may break if you try to close or open the door. The rollers need to be replaced and the tracks cleaned if your door is just being noisy. Insufficient lubrication and excessive humidity are often to blame for stuck rollers.
4. Door Closes and Reopens:
A garage door opener needs to be adjusted when this type of problem occurs. This is done by adjusting the door limit settings. These can occasionally require slight adjustments or re syncing based on normal usage.
Door limit settings tell the door when it has moved to the maximum extent that it should be opened or closed fully. This means that when the door touches the ground, the opener interprets it as hitting an object, rather than the ground, and reopens the door.
This problem can also be caused by something being in front of the door sensors. There will be sensors on each side of the garage door or on the interior wall in the bottom four to six inches from the ground. The sensors allow the door to be reopened if something is blocking it.
5. The Opener Runs but the Door Doesn’t Move:
Try opening and closing the door manually to ensure that the disconnect cord hasn’t been pulled. Your door will need to be reattached to the arm of the automatic opener if you can. Having locked your garage door can also cause this problem. Ensure that it is not locked.
Verify the opener is plugged in and that there is not a blown breaker if the door does not open. In the event that the door isn’t functioning after verifying these things, it is likely that it has an electrical fault or that it needs to be replaced.
A broken garage door can occur for a variety of reasons, as you can see. Feel free to contact Brand Garage Doors if your garage door is not functioning properly! Our technicians can install new garage doors, repair garage doors, replace springs, install and repair garage door openers among other services.
Brand Garage Doors
153 Oak Knoll Drive
Hubbard, Ohio 44425
(330) 240-6369
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