3 Common Garage Door Problems And How They Are Fixed
Are you tired of having a garage door that doesn't work properly? Do you want to get the door fixed so that you can easily use your garage once again? Having a working garage door is obviously extremely important to being able to actually access your garage. But while there are some aspects of garage door repair that you may be able to handle on your own, there are other things that you should leave to a professional. Some of the most common garage door issues and whether you can attempt a fix on your own are as follows:
Dirty or misaligned sensor: When your garage door's optical sensors have become blocked by dirt or debris, such as dust or an old cobweb, they will think that there is a person or animal that is breaking the beam and refuse to allow the door to close. The same is true if the sensors have become accidentally knocked out of alignment. If you locate the garage door's optic sensors, you can clean them off on your own to see if that fixes the issue. If it doesn't, the sensors may need to be readjusted. You can try doing this yourself, but it'll likely be easier, in the long run, to simply hire a garage door repair professional to deal with the issue.
Broken or damaged spring: A garage door spring helps to support the weight of the door and make it easier for the motor to open and close the door. Depending on your garage door model, you may have one or more of these springs in place. If either one or both of them get stretched out or snap, your garage door will likely be unable to open and close at all. Unfortunately, replacing a damaged or broken spring can be an extremely dangerous endeavor. Due to the tensions involved, the new spring can snap or fly away at high speed. If it does this in the direction of a person or any of your property, serious damage could result. A garage door repair professional will know how to reduce the risk, so this is something that you should leave to them.
Door randomly opens and closes: Each garage door and opener operates on a specific frequency. However, there are only a handful of such frequencies that can be used. Normally, this isn't a problem. It's usually uncommon for two independently installed garage doors to be using the same frequency and to be close enough that the garage door of one will open the other. But it is still possible that one of your neighbors has a similar garage door that has been set to use the same open and close information as yours. Most garage door openers and remotes can be easily reset to use a different channel, often by simply flicking a switch. But if you can't find the instructions or changing the frequency doesn't fix the problem, it's time to call in a professional to take a look at your door.