Thursday, June 13, 2013

A Few Garage Door Repair Tips

If you own a car, it is of utmost importance that you build a very secure garage that has its doors and openers working perfectly well. Also, it’s very important too that you have a little experience on garage door repairs just in case the system gets faulty along the line. Most over-head door openers do work on springs and it is a bit easy to repair these types of garage doors.  Below are some detailed steps you can follow to door garage door repairs by yourself:

Whenever you notice that the metal tracks of your door openers become loose, endeavor to make the screws and bolts at the brackets very tight. In the course of the repair, if you eventually notice that the tracks have been severely damaged, make sure they are replaced.

Ensure that you properly align the tracks of the door openers. The tracks should be leveled i.e. they should be of the same height on the garage wall. When doing your repairs, if you discover that the tracks are not in the proper alignment, loosen all the bolts and carefully get the tracks back in position. Ensure that the bolts are tightened after you have finished your job.

In the process of performing your Fallbrook garage door repairs, ensure that the tracks are cleaned with concentrated-house-hold-cleaners in order to wipe off the hardened grease and dirt too. Make sure you thoroughly clean the rollers, wiping the rollers and tracks dry.

Apply lubricants on the rollers and the tracks. You can make use of lubricant spray, powdered graphite, and silicone spray or house-hold oils.

When repairing the garage doors, examine to see if there is loose hardware and make sure they are tightened. For the garage door openers that possess a swing-up mechanism, make sure the screws are tightened at the position the spring is mounted. If the hinges are damaged, try to replace them. When the openers show a sagging sign on one end, make sure it is corrected by servicing and lubricating the hinges. Ensure that the wood where the hinge is placed has not been chipped or cracked in order to avoid disaster.

Also, examine the springs of the door openers and ensure they’re hooked in the right notches or holes on both sides of the door. In the course of the repairs, if you encounter any challenge whilst repairing the garage door, try to adjust the tension in the doors by taking out the spring hook to another notch close to it. Where the garage gate openers have a spring cable on a pulley mechanism, try to adjust the tension by stretching the cable through the plate above and knot the end again in order to sustain the tension.

It is very important to be very conscious of your safety. You have to work with extreme care I you garage door openers (the ones with a kind of roll-up system) have just one tension spring at the door’s center. If this is the kind of garage door you have, do not try to do the repairs yourself because the tension in these types of spring is really massive and you could get yourself injured if you try out the repairs yourself. Seek the help o a professional in these kinds of cases.

A normal garage door opener comprises of a reversible motor that moves a carriage on a rail just above the door. This carriage is attached to the drawbar which operates to reduce the path the door travels. Today, there are many kinds of garage doors, therefore whenever you want to carry out your garage door repairs, endeavor to first find out its mechanism.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Garage Door Maintenance: The Basics

Garage door maintenance is something that should be added to our weekend’s list of things to be attended to. Our garage doors are “severely” used more than we can ever imagine and this leads to wear and tear. In an average home of say about six (6) to ten (10) people, the garage door will be opened and closed about fifteen (15) to twenty (20) times a day. In a whole year, you can imagine the number of openings and closings! If the garage doors are not maintained, it will become faulty and begin to cause you inconvenience, not only that, it could eventually cause damage to your home, your vehicles and to you yourself. Therefore, it is of utmost importance to do some maintenance on the garage door for at least three times in a year.

The Torsion Springs and Rollers


There are several mechanical facets of Temecula garage doors that should always be examined. You have to check out the metal brackets that hinge the garage door with the house, the torsion springs and the rollers too. Always ensure that they’re all firmly attached and that the rollers run smoothly in their tracks. When you notice that the rollers aren't running smoothly in the tracks, check to see whether they have been broken or simply need some lubrication. If you notice that they are damaged, endeavor to find replacements. They’re easy to remove. If they only stick a little, then you have to use silicon-based lubricants.

The Tracks


As a major aspect of the maintenance process, it is very much appropriate to check the tracks and ensure that the bolted sections are in line with each other. Sometimes, one bolt that binds the track together may loosen up. When this happens, you see that the tracks will slightly slant from each other, or the loosened bolt will project in the portion of the track, resulting to the rollers sometimes catching on them. This might result to a twisted force acting on the opener, and this might trigger it to change direction. All you need do is to tighten the loosened track bolts and ensure that the track sections flow freely. It is a very nice idea to always lubricate the door tracks with engine oil. You can make use of a rag, wiping them down. Make sure you use a level when you’re examining the tracks to ensure levelness. Ensure that they’re parallel and if they’re not, try to make adjustments.

The Springs


The springs should also be properly examined ensuring that they’re firmly fastened to the door and frame too. You can open the garage door manually to know whether the door is heavy when lifting; or when closing, if you need additional effort to do so. If you notice this, then you need to adjust the springs. They should be adjusted in such a way that when the door is raised halfway open, it remains so and not falling down. It is abnormal for the garage door to move either upwards or downwards on its own accord without any external applied pressure. It should be noted that springs under tension are quite dangerous; therefore the adjustments o garage doors should be strictly done by professionals. You can also apply a little engine oil to the springs to ensure that they don’t catch when the garage door is being opened or closed.


Examine the basal parts to ensure they are rust free and not decaying. All these listed tips should get your garage door functioning smoothly all year round.