Why is your garage door slipping or sticking?

You can hear the garage door opener working but, somehow, the garage door isn’t opening as fast as it should – as fast as it usually opens. What the heck is that all about?

There are several possible reasons that your garage door isn’t opening as expeditiously as you’re accustomed, including:

The door is binding in the tracks: With rollers, the garage door rides up and down in the tracks on either side of the door. If the tracks are out of adjustment, bent or otherwise damaged, the garage door may stick when it’s supposed to roll. Your garage door opener is working its little heart out but the garage door isn’t cooperating.

The garage door opener requires adjustment: If the sensors are not adjusted properly, it can throw the garage door opener out of whack. An adjustment is in order.

The rollers and chain require lubrication: If the rollers aren’t lubricated with an appropriate amount of frequency, the rollers can stop rolling. Before they get that bad, they will stop rolling as smoothly. The hinges between the door panels need lubrication from time to time. Even the chain and the tracks require occasional lubrication.

Foreign objects and dirt could impede the travel of your garage door: If a stick got stuck in the track of your garage door, it could very well stop or slow the travel of the door. Dirt can build up in the track. Dirt does not provide a smooth surface for travel, its buildup can affect the spacing between the rollers and the door.

The belt drive needs adjustment: There is a certain amount of tension required when your garage door opener has a belt drive. If it’s too loose, or too tight, this can affect the way the garage door opener operates.

Assuming that your garage door was installed properly (if not, the problem was probably apparent from the beginning of the operation of the garage door), problems that can affect the smooth operation of your garage door are generally rectified with a fair amount of ease. That assumes that the person rectifying the problem knows what they’re doing. 

What to do if you drive into the garage door

Probably the worst thing about backing into your garage door is explaining to your spouse how that happened. The next worst thing is the cost of repairing your garage door. After that, it’s a matter of inconvenience and security until the garage door is fixed.

One of the first things to do is to remind yourself that you’re not the first person to drive into their garage door. It’s happened before and it will happen again.

We all try to be as careful as possible but sometimes things happen. You may not have realized you were that far forward, or backward, as the case may be. Or you may have thought the car was in drive when it was in reverse, or was in reverse when you thought it was in drive.

Other times, garage doors may suffer because a driver was in a bit of a hurry and didn’t wait long enough. They pulled through the garage door opening before the garage door was completely out of the way.

Now, before you get out of the car, it’s important to ensure that it’s safe to do so. There may be sharp debris on the floor that could cut your feet or legs. When you open the door, portions of the damaged garage door can fall on you and cause injury, sometimes serious injury.

You may be better off to back out of the danger zone before exiting the vehicle. Even then, however, be careful that you haven’t dragged some of the garage door with you where it can still cause injury.

The first thing to do, once you’re safely out of the vehicle, is to call your agent for your homeowners of business insurance, depending on which applies. They may have instructions on how to proceed.

They will most likely suggest that you call a trusted garage door repair service. It’s possible that you’ll need emergency clean up of the garage door debris and boarding so you can secure the opening until repairs are completed. 

Depending on how badly you hit the garage door, it’s possible that repairs can bring the garage door back to life. This is generally the case if you’ve only bumped into the door a bit. But if you’ve hit it a solid blow, there’s a good chance you’re garage door is beyond repair.

In either case, your garage door technician will want to examine the tracks, springs and the garage door opener to ensure that they are still properly aligned or whether they require repair or replacement, too.

If you do need a new garage door, hopefully, you have time to do some shopping to find the right model. Even if you have to pay a little more than the insurance covers, this is an excellent time to get the garage door you’ve always wanted.

If a mousetrap can hurt, a garage torsion spring is frightening

Leave garage door repairs to the pros

Have you ever set a mousetrap and had the spring slip so that your fingers were caught in the trap? Hurts like heck, doesn’t it? For it’s size, the spring is a powerful little bugger. It’s only a little more than an inch long and about one-quarter inch in diameter but it will snap the trap shut with enough force to, well, leave a mark.

If a mousetrap can hurt that much, just think about what the torsion springs on your garage door can do.

A garage door can have one torsion spring or come in a set of two – a left-hand spring wound to the left and a right-hand spring wound to the right. The springs generally range from 16- to 48-inches long. They range in inside diameter from about 1-3/4-inches to 2-5/8-inches (commercial is usually anything above 2-5/8-inches and runs to 3-5/8-inches).

Those torsion springs are designed to raise garage doors that can weigh as much as half a ton. They’re rated by Inch Pounds Per Turn. Depending on the inside diameter of a spring for a residential application, and the wire comprising the spring, those springs can be loaded with as much as 50 IPPT. This refers to the inch-pounds of force from each turn of the spring.

If you multiply the IPPT by the number of turns in the spring, you should arrive at the total inch pounds of force generated by the spring. It’s possible that you’ll have 10 coils of the spring in 1-1/4 inch. 

As an example, let’s suppose you have a 30-inch spring 10 coils per 1-1/2 inches. Let’s also assume that the IPPT is 36.1. That spring has 200 coils, each packing a punch of 36.1 IPPT.

Make no mistake about it; if a mousetrap will leave a mark, a garage door torsion spring will take off a finger, an arm or something even more vital.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, close to 30,000 individuals suffer injuries each year from garage doors that include fractures, crushing, and amputations.

The point is that repairing a garage door is not a DIY type project. There are some times when you want to call in a professional. And when the garage door requires service, that’s one of the times to call a professional. And when the repair refers to garage door springs, there’s no question about it.

New garage doors can be transformative compared to that rickety old model on your Lake Villa garage

Rickety? Is that the word to describe the garage door outside your Lake Villa home? Does ‘battered’ fit its general appearance? Or maybe ‘outdated’ is the term that best describes your garage door. You don’t have to live that way!

Look around your Lake Villa neighborhood. There’s a good chance that your dilapidated garage door is not the norm. Chances are you’ll see some other garage doors that are, well, stylin’. You could have a garage door that sets a standard for vanity outside your house, too.

If your garage door is less than visually appealing, there’s a good chance your garage door isn’t in optimal condition mechanically either.

You may not have thought about it but, if you pay attention, you’ll recognize the effects of wear and tear on your garage door and garage door opener. You’re liable to notice that it takes more time going up and down. It doesn’t move as smoothly anymore. It may make a bunch of noise as it travels.

Efficient operation of your garage door is a good reason to consider maintenance or repairs; in fact, you shouldn’t wait for signs of problems before performing garage door maintenance. But the visual appeal of your garage door counts for something, too.

Better quality garage doors are available

Some garage doors aren’t just long in the tooth; their quality was suspect when they were originally manufactured to begin with.

In years gone by, some manufacturers of garage doors made garage doors that were, well, there’s no better word for it – cheap. Some were constructed of flimsy materials, whether fiberglass, metal or wood. They probably lacked insultation.

The rails were constructed with thinner-grade metal. The rollers were cheaper. The springs were brittle and lost their strength over time. Garage door openers were also subpar. But, above all, they looked cheap.

There are garage doors available today that are so visually superior that they’ll transform the look of your garage and enhance the value of your home. They still make metal, fiberglass and wooden garage doors. But if you purchase a quality garage door, the potential is tremendous.

Of course, if you’re happy with your current garage door, don’t overlook maintenance. That’s the key to keeping your garage door’s performance at the standard you expect.

Have you considered turning your garage into a recording studio?

Don’t forget the garage door

In 1960, several young men setup their equipment in their garage and hit a note that has reverberated through history. That garage was in Liverpool. And by ‘their equipment,’ we’re referring to their musical instruments. We came to know of them as the Beatles. But they’re hardly the only band to get its start in a garage.

The garage is simply a logical place to start a band. Assuming is relatively clean and organized, there’s plenty of room for drums, keyboards, amplifiers, speakers, guitars and other instruments. In the summer, you can roll up the garage door and share your music with the neighbors. In the winter, hopefully the garage is heated.

That pretty much describes how bands got started in their garages: move the instruments in and start playing. Today, however, a garage can be more than four walls and an overhead garage door – much more.

You can turn your garage into a recording studio

With a little work, you can seriously improve the acoustics of the garage. You can setup recording equipment and record your band’s musical accomplishments.

The first step is to soundproof your garage. If your garage has insulation and drywall, that’s a start. But you may still want to add some soundproofing to the walls. You may also want to soundproof the windows. And then there’s the garage door.

Does your garage door have insulation? If not, you may want a garage door that does. 

What kind of material is your garage door made of? If it’s made of metal, does the metal rattle when you’re playing music? You may have to listen closely to tell.

A wooden or fiberglass garage door is probably better. And that insulation can make a big difference.

Soundproofed, your garage will provide a setting where you’ll have less distortion when recording your music. But soundproofing does more than that. 

It’s just possible that the neighbors may not want to hear you playing your music (they may not realize they’re having a special opportunity to hear that next big band in its formative days. Soundproofing will help you to avoid calls to the police and will allow you to play later into the night. It’s the neighborly thing to do.

If you do a good enough job setting up your recording studio, you can even charge other people to use your garage. And it’s easy. Roll up the garage door and let them bring their instruments in. Then roll the garage door down again so they can start playing, and you can start recording.

Shake, Rattle and Roll – are your garage door and garage door opener in tune?

 Shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll

I said shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll

Do you remember Bill Haley and the Comets or Elvis Presley cranking out that hit from the ‘50s? A bit ahead of your time? Rolling Stone magazine lists it as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time. Considering, it may work as lyrics for a song but is it the number you want your garage door and garage door opener duo to sing?

When you strike up this band, you expect your garage door and garage door opener to sing an ultra-smooth harmony. You’d rather hear them do a rendition of The Platters hit Twilight Time as you open and close the door following a relaxing evening out with your spouse.

The point is that, if your garage door is keeping a beat while the garage door cranks it up or down, that could indicate a problem with your garage door equipment. And the problem is that a garage door’s shake, rattle and roll might just vibrate something else out of whack. The longer it vibrates, the longer other parts will shake until they rattle loose. 

If your garage door opener and garage door conspire to sing out of tune, you may find the culprit hiding among the symphony of parts that are supposed to play a synchronized melody. To find the problem, you may need to through the orchestra piece by piece while paying special attention to the following instruments:

• Nuts and bolts are loose
• Some of the slides and rollers require some lubrication
• A spring or another of the essential performers is broken
• The pulleys, gears or belts that carry the tune from the opener to the door need adjustment

The goal is to ensure that the orchestral performance of your garage door and garage door opener are prepared to play its well-rehearsed numbers cohesively. When everything is in tune, they’ll play those songs, up and down, with the same vigor for years to come (with due maintenance) while bridging your entry and exit from the garage whenever you call.

Don’t ignore a blinking light in your North Chicago garage door opener

You could close the doors so you don’t see the light blinking in your North Chicago garage door opener. If you don’t see it, is it really blinking. But, unlike a refrigerator, where there’s no to tell whether the light stays on when the door is closed, with your garage, you can stand inside the garage door and see if the light continues blinking when you lower the garage door.

You may be tempted to ignore the blinking light. After all, it’s annoying. Just close the doors and you can forget it. But you may want to consider ‘why’ the light on your North Chicago garage door opener is blinking.

Garage door openers are designed to provide warning signs if there’s a problem. A blinking light in the garage door opener is one of those signals. Now the trick is to figure out what your garage door opener is trying to tell you.

A blinking light in the garage door opener generally indicates one of two specific problems: either there is an issue with the lock button of a problem with a reversing sensor.

Check the lock button first

The lock button is on the remote control. If the lock button is depressed and engaged, a remote control will not open the garage door; the only way to open the door is to use the controller on the wall inside the garage.

This is a security feature designed to ensure that someone can’t hack into your garage with another remote control.

To fix the problem, hold the lock button for five seconds. The light should flash twice. When you see this, press the control button and it should fix the problem.

Not the lock button? Probably the safety reversing sensor

You’ll find these sensors near the floor on either side of the garage door. First, check to see that nothing is in the way blocking the light beam between the sensors. If that’s not the case, it’s possible that the sensors are out of alignment. 

Finally, it’s possible that the sensors or some other component of the garage door opener is malfunctioning. You may want to call a qualified garage door technician to take a look. What you don’t want to do is to ignore a blinking light on your North Chicago garage door opener.