The humble garage door is often taken for granted. Push a button it opens. Push the button again and it closes. A household apparatus the garage door does yeoman’s duty day in and day out. Until it doesn’t. Like all things mechanical it requires regular maintenance and sometimes repair.
Garage Door Counterbalance System & Springs
The roller door has a weight counter balance mechanism. Metal doors are heavy. The counterbalance aids the opener to operate without excessive strain on opening and closing. This mechanism it attached to the door via steel cabling. It has a drum that the cabling wraps around and the drum in turn is coupled to a wound-up coil spring. The spring tension counter balances the weight of the door. But the springs sometimes fail and need replacing. Replacing the springs requires some mechanical skills and is somewhat dangerous to the uninitiated. This one item on the door that should be tackled by the pro.
Maintenance of Garage Door Rollers & Hinges
Another area of mechanical break down is the rollers. The rollers hold the door in position and follow the tracks allowing the panels to articulate and follow the tracks. These like all mechanical things require maintenance. Depending on usage these require lubrication at least once a year. If the rollers fail or bind the door may or may not open or close. The rollers wear and require replacement, should last 10-20 years with proper care.
The hinges need a little care as well. The hinges hold to panel sections together and allow panel section to follow the tracks. A little lube would be helpful and reduce noise. Though reliable and needing little care, a bad or loose hinge will severely affect the operation of the door.
How Do Garage Door Opening Mechanisms Work?
The other point of failure is the door opening mechanism. The safety mechanism that is infrared or laser that prevents closure if obstructed, by let’s say an older person or child, needs to be properly aligned to function. Again, considering the mechanical nature of the opener the arm and track may require lubrication and sometimes the opener just fails and needs replacement.
Garage Door Panels
Panel repair may require the replacement of a door section. Another issue in the southwest sunshine are the plastic and fiberglass windows found in many doors. The plastic is affected by the sun and becomes very brittle and subject to breakage. Window replacement is needed, though it is the plastic trim that fails.
Sectional Roll Up Garage Doors
Rollup garage doors are a fact of life for the urbanite as no other solution accommodates suburbanite requirements. Track homes are notorious for short driveways and narrow yards. Sliding doors would encroach on our neighbors and swing open doors would have to opened while parked in the street, not a good or handy solution. Rollups therefore dominate suburban garages. Various trim packages for the rollup doors can make them look like swing open doors when closed. Options abound and with care a door can last 20 years or more.
Garage Door Openers & More in Aliante, Anthem, Desert Shores, Eldorado, Enterprise, Green Valley Ranch, Henderson, Inspirada, Mountain’s Edge, North LV, Paradise, Peccole Ranch, Providence, Rhodes Ranch, Seven Hills, Silverado Ranch, Spring Valley, Summerlin, Sunrise Manor, The Lakes, Tuscany Village & Las Vegas Nevada
Many prefer a professional garage door repair company to take care of the maintenance and fixes. Vegas Valley Garage Door Repair offers professional garage door services. Contact us today!
