Four Signs Your Garage Door Or Opener Needs Repair

Posted on: 10 June 2020

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Outside of routine maintenance, garage doors don't typically need a lot of work. When a door no longer functions the way it should or if there are obvious signs of physical or operational problems, it may need repairs to restore it to full functionality before it gets worse. Here are four signs to look out for.

Water Coming Into Garage

Garage doors seal off your garage with the help of weatherstripping, a weatherproof trim or adhesive that prevents water and air from getting in under or around the sides of the doors. Weatherstripping needs replacing every few years or so, and it's a good idea to inspect it at least once a year to check for drying, cracking, and flaking.

If water is coming into your garage from under your doors, you may only need your weatherstripping replaced, but it's important to have this done as soon as you can, especially if you're in the middle of — or expecting — inclement weather. The other reason this is important is that, if left alone too long, water can get into your doors themselves and cause damage, such as rot or rust. Some materials are more resistant to water damage than others, but if water does seep past your door's protective coating, you may need to repair or even replace more than just your weatherstripping. Call a garage door technician to inspect your doors and see what you need.

Door Banging and Rattling

A door that rattles and makes loud noises as it opens and closes is usually a sign that your door's tracks need to be realigned. Misaligned tracks can cause the door to push or pull in different directions, building up tension, then making loud noises when that tension is released.

However, this can also happen if your door itself is crooked or if there is some physical damage to the door that requires repair. For example, if you have a sectional door and one of the panels is loose or damaged, this can cause the same problem. A door can hang crookedly if it was struck by something, hit something it shouldn't, or if there are cables that need to be replaced.

Door Won't Close Properly

If your garage door hits the ground and then comes back up again on its own or if one side of the door touches the ground but the other does not, this could be caused by a few different things. First, a door that springs back after touching the ground may require the limit switch to be adjusted. An incorrectly set limit switch could trigger the door's safety reverse mechanism when it hits the ground.

As mentioned above, the problem could also be that your door is crooked. In more severe cases, this can prevent the door from closing completely, or at all. Carefully inspect your doors to see if they look evenly set and undamaged and call a technician for help.

Door Slips Down When Opening or Closing

A garage door is supposed to open and close smoothly and securely. When a door starts to slip, such as when it's coming down or after it has been raised, this could be a result of either your garage door opener or your door's springs.

In many chain drive garage door openers, especially those with plastic gears, the gears can be stripped over time, which means their grip on the chain will weaken. Occasionally the door may slip before it's caught again. This is both a functional hazard and a safety hazard, so call a technician immediately.

If your garage door opener is working fine, your springs could be weakening, be damaged, or even be broken. Springs bear most of the weight of your doors, and if they start to fail, your opener will struggle to move your doors open and closed. You can inspect your springs, but be careful about trying to do any work yourself; springs can be dangerous to work with due to tension. If you suspect your springs might be the issue, call a garage door repair professional for help.