Is my garage door working the way it should?

These steps are the prescribed maintenance to keep your garage door working properly. But are you able to recognize when your garage door and garage door opener are not working correctly? Really know? If you hear any new noises, that’s a strong sign that there could be a problem with your garage door and garage door opener. Another sign is if the door is simply louder when your raise it or lower it. Either of these clues suggest that it’s a good time to seek help from a qualified garage door technician.

Another clue you want to keep an eye out for is black powdery residue around hinges and brackets. This is an indication that garage door and garage door opener parts are getting worn and may need replacement or, at the very least, adjustment.

Weather is another factor that can affect how well your garage door and garage door opener operate. Northern Illinois winters are often brutal. When the temperature decides to stay well below zero for an extended period of time it can cause additional stress on the garage door mechanism and garage door opener. Garage door maintenance is essential to dealing with this stress.

The colder things get, the more garage door and garage door opener parts tend to tighten. They’re also more brittle. Then, when they warm up, they loosen up. This process of expansion and contraction will change how the door runs. A tune-up adjustment is an extremely good idea.

And if you are familiar with potholes, (as a veteran of Northern Illinois winters, of course you are) you have experienced the way concrete and asphalt respond to extreme changes in heat and cold. If your garage door opener is adjusted based on the level of the concrete in the summer, you may find that the concrete has moved up in the winter. It can move as much as two inches, which will have a significant impact on the way your garage door and garage door opener operate. It can cause your door to reverse and open instead of closing. An adjustment can fix this, too.

Some of these issues involve routine maintenance that the homeowner can take care of easily. But, in some, a homeowner may want to call in a qualified garage door technician. Either way, keep in mind that a little preventative care should keep your garage door running at its best.

Race night pit crew accident highlights importance of applying caution to garage-door adjustments

It’s not quite NASCAR but, WOW!! The races in Madison last weekend were quite a thrill. The cars and trucks roared around the half-mile track with ear-shattering, earth-pounding precision. Occasionally, they bumped as they jostled for position. Once or twice, a car spun out. There was even an accident or two as the drive to compete overcame a driver’s ability to maintain control of their super-charged machine.

In the midst of this excitement a small tragedy occurred Friday, Aug. 21. As racers and their pit crews feverishly worked to prepare their cars for heats and qualifying laps, an ambulance appeared astride one of the racer’s pit area. An ambulance is a far-more frequent sight on the track and, seeing it in the pits, those in the other pits began glancing that way with a mix of curiosity and concern.

Slowly, the story drifted through the pits. Many of the cars are towed to the races on flatbed trailers. But, as the level of competition increases, more of the cars arrive in enclosed trailers. These trailers have overhead doors that work the same way that a garage door works back home. That means that they also have heavy duty springs that relieve much of the door’s weight so that it’s easier to raise the door and, constrains the door so it doesn’t slam down too fast when closed.

Adjusting or working with an overhead garage door is a ticklish thing. It takes experience and skill to get the door adjusted just right.

It’s also dangerous working with an overhead garage door. If the springs are released somehow the pent-up tension explodes free with the force that can kill a man. On the other hand, even if it doesn’t kill someone, it could seriously injure someone.

One of the racers in the truck class was, apparently, having trouble with the overhead door on her trailer. As the story went, her father, a member of her pit crew, was adjusting the overhead door when the tension on the spring was released. In a hair’s breadth of a fraction of a second, the spring ripped three of the man’s fingers off his hand.

It was explained that the fingers weren’t cutoff – they were ripped off.

It’s uncomfortable to contemplate the pain the man felt. With any luck, they were able to reattach his fingers. Even if they did, it’s clear that he and his daughter had a very long night.

The racers have a fairly tight community. Even if they occasionally disagree, even loudly, they tend to hold each other in high regard. They have a kind of camaraderie that is often evident among those who face the same perils together.

The races continued, short one racer, that night. But, there was a reverent understanding that the dangers don’t exist only on the track. It’s likely the racers and their crews will all approach adjusting their trailer doors with a little more caution in the future – the same kind of caution folks should apply with the overhead doors on their garages back home.