How to Know If Your Garage Door Needs Professional Repair

Your garage door does a lot of heavy work for you every day, and wear is going to happen. When you start noticing things like odd noises, slow movement, or strange movements, it's time to pay attention. Here are some common warning signs and what they mean for your garage door. We also tell you what you can check on your own, and when it's best to call in a professional.

Loud or Strange Noises

If your garage door is making loud bang, squeak, or grinding noises, then your garage door is trying to tell you something. Excitedly, a high-pitched squeal usually indicates you need to service the rollers – either wear or they are dry, and they need lubrication, which is a good practice. A rattling or clanking noise almost always indicates hardware has partially fallen apart and some fastening hardware (like nuts or hinges) has come loose in one way or another. In most cases, you can simply tighten down the bolts, and/or apply lubrication to moving parts with little effort at home. However, if garage door suddenly produces a loud bang or a loud pop that will warn you of a serious problem. Loud bang or pop usually indicates a torsion spring has broken. When a spring breaks is dangerous where the door may abruptly slam or fall. In any case, you should call a garage door technician when you suspect a loud bang or pop caused by a bad spring or cable.

• DIY: Check bolts for looseness, and lubricate the tracks, rollers, and hinges with a silicone based garage-door lubricant. Most of the time, tightening all the hardware and applying lubrication to moving parts resolves most squeaks and rattles.

• Call a pro: If you continue to hear noises, or if you hear the loud bang, stop! A broken spring or cable must be addressed by a professional.Garage door springs are held under tremendous tension and should be handled by professional technicians only.

Slow or Delayed Response

Your garage door should open and close smoothly, in about 10-15 seconds. If it suddenly sits back, or hesitates, it may simply need a bit of maintenance. Often, the fix could be as easy as lubrication since dry rails, hinges and rollers make the opener work harder; simply spray some appropriate lubricant and gain the speed back. Over many years, your pulleys, springs or other components may lose a fair bit of tension / work slower as well. If you oil it and that doesn't help, check the opener settings or battery - sometimes the speed control has changed.

• DIY: Use a garage door lubricant all over the tracks, rollers, hinges and contact points. Lube everything you can see that moves in the system! After lubing, try to operate the door again; you can also check the speed/force settings on your opener and change the battery on the remote if needed.

• Call a pro: If the door is still sluggish after your maintenance, there may be a worn spring, pulley, or the door opener is failing. These kinds of repairs need the right tools and knowing how to adjust tension on the springs is dangerous!!!

Be smart!

If you suspect one of the above problems, call a qualified technician to investigate the slow movement issues with your garage door!

Jerky or Uneven Movement

Watch the door as it moves up/ down. If one side stays behind, or the door jerks, then there is a pretty good chance something is misaligned. Your tracks may be bent, or loose and your movers or rollers may be getting stuck or skipping. In addition, a broken cable on one side or a frayed cable will cause the door to tilt, and wobble.Listen for clangs or grinding: that may be a cable scraping against other hardware.

• DIY: Try tightening any loose hinges and cleaning the stain on the tracks. If the tracks look crooked or dirty, they may bend back into submission with a light jiggle, and rollers that are hard to move may simply need lubrication. If the problem is small, watching these few steps will not hurt anything.

• Call a pro: If the door still lifts unevenly, don't guess! A bent track or snapped dirty tracks is sometimes tough to see. Also, broken cables or dramatic, permanent, or major damage to a track that retains its basic track composition will always need a service call!

A serious accident to the door could fall on someone (and/or equipment) or come off its track leading to a disaster, and it's a good idea to have a pro make your door straight again, or far worse your pro should replace it for you.

Panels Deforming or Sagging

A garage door should not flop bone when it is open. But if you see the top or top two panels (depending on the door configuration) are flaring out visibly or hanging the door itself is sagging in the middle, take heed. This frequently happens on old wood doors, cheap, but also and especially if they are made from light breathable metal for 5+ years and are deforming from repeated uses. A sagging can also indicate unequal spring tension or slack or loose cables.

• DIY: Take inspection of the springs and cables. Sometimes, you can plainly see a spring that is broke and if you ever see a cable that is looking like spaghetti, put the wrenches down! Don't touch them! Springs not only have a lot of tension, they can snap violently and often knock people and large objects over. But cleaning your tracks and lubricating your tracks is safe. Don't be lured into a false sense of security to mess with a spring that is broken or damaged!

• Call a pro: Period. If panels are sagging or the door hangs crookedly, you almost always need a tech service !It could involve either swapping a warped door panel or re-tensioning the springs and cables. Our technicians deal with those daily so if you are not comfortable doing that we recommend letting them handle a sagging or uneven door(s).

Visible Wear, or Damage, to Parts

Make it a habit to check your door's hardware at least every few months. Check for rust, frayed cables or how dented or damaged the tracks are. For example, a broken cable is more dangerous than you might think - if one of the cables breaks it is possible that the entire door could fall down. You should also look for any gaps or cracks in the torsion springs (separation in coils) and also track bends or warps.

• DIY: You should be able to visually check (for obvious problems) and do simple maintenance as well. If loose bolts need to be tightened, if hinges are heavily rusted and need to be replaced, and any metal parts should be getting a spray lubricant. Keeping the mechanism clean will help identify early issues.

• Call a Pro: If you notice a broken spring, a frayed cable, or a bad bend in the track, STOP. These parts are under tremendous tension and you can't do anything about them at home as safely. Even if you think you can fix the issue, please default to caution, and contact a pro. We will diagnose any worn out parts and safely replace them using the proper tools and safety equipment.

• Whether it is some sort of random squeak, a door that isn't level, or a part that looks horrible, OC Garage Door Guys can help.

• Our friendly technicians have the experience and knowledge to inspect and repair virtually any residential door, small or large.

• We provide a family friendly, reliable service for emergencies or tune-ups with smiles of course.

Don't wait until the problem becomes a stuck or unsafe door. Contact OC Garage Door Guys today for an inspection or repair from a pro. We will get your garage door back up and running safely and smoothly again, the OC way, professionally and with courtesy.