Are you having trouble with your garage door? Don’t panic. You can do some simple repairs. Here are some tips for you to follow.
Do a quick fix.
When your garage door starts acting up, oftentimes it's time for you to do a bit of maintenance. Examine the rollers and tracks. When was the last time you cleaned them? If you can't remember when, brush them and then add some lubricant.
Quiet a noisy garage door.
Noisy garage doors are the cause of many kinds of problems, especially if you have to sleep above or next to your garage. Fortunately, you can fix most noisy garage door problems by combining routine maintenance and the replacement of a few parts.
Defrost a frozen garage door.
During the coldest days of the year, combined cold and moisture make opening and closing your garage door difficult. Garage doors can and do freeze to the garage floor. Sometimes it’s a minor icy connection between the two that can be broken when you hit the opener button. When your garage door refuses to budge, don’t hit that button or you’ll cause a much bigger problem with the garage door opener.
Instead, use a heat gun, hair dryer or standard de-icing products to melt the ice. If you’re careful not to damage your garage door or the seal on the bottom of it, use a flat shovel or similar tool to break the ice. Once you get the door open, clear the water, ice or snow from the spot on the garage floor where the door rests when closed.
OVERHEAD GARAGE DOOR REPAIR
Overhead garage doors move on metal tracks on the garage walls, with heavy spring(s) providing the power. If the door isn't working easily, repairs are fairly simple in most cases.
Check the metal tracks inside your garage.
Look at the mounting brackets that are holding the tracks to the walls. If they're loose, tighten the bolts or screws at the brackets. Work inside your garage with the garage door closed, inspect the tracks for dents, crimps or flat spots. If there are damaged spots, dash them off with a rubber mallet, or a hammer and a block of scrap wood. If the tracks are badly damaged, then it’s time to replace them.
Check the tracks with a level.
Do this to ensure they're properly aligned. Make sure horizontal tracks slant slightly down toward the back of the garage. For roll-up doors, the vertical sections of tracks should be plumb. Both tracks must be at the same height on the garage walls. If the tracks aren’t properly aligned, loosen them but don’t remove the screws or bolts that hold the mounting brackets, and carefully tap the tracks into position. Recheck the tracks, then tighten the bolts or screws at the mounting brackets.
Clean the tracks.
Use a concentrated household cleaner to remove dirt and hardened grease. Clean the rollers carefully, and wipe both tracks and rollers dry.
Check for loose hardware, tighten if needed.
On swing-up doors, check the plates where the spring is mounted to ensure the screws are tight, and tighten loose screws. Meanwhile, on roll-up doors, check the hinges that hold the sections of the door together, then tighten any loose screws and replace any damaged hinges.
Correct sagging at one side of the door by servicing the hinges. If there’s an enlarged screw hole, replace the screw with a longer one (but of the same diameter), and with the new screw, use a hollow fibre plug dipped in carpenters' glue. If the wood is cracked at a hinge, remove the hinge and use wood filler to fill the cracks and the screw holes. Let the filler dry and then replace the hinge. Move the hinge onto solid wood, if possible.
If a roll-up door has only one torsion spring — at the centre of the door — don’t try to repair it. The spring can injure you because the tension is so great. For doors with this type of spring, let the professionals do the repair.
If you need professional help in repairing your garage door, don’t hesitate to contact garage door service providers in Australia today.