Converting Garages to Living and Working Spaces: Garage Door Blog

Reasons Why Garage Door Repair Isn't So Easy And What To Expect From Your Professional Repair

14 April 2016 by Landon Little

Garage door repair and repairs to your garage door opener are not as easy as you might think. If you attempt to fix these issues yourself, you may find that your opener is not the simple machine you thought or that the repairs needed for the garage door to open properly and/or open manually without difficulty. The complications with these doors and devices lie in the numerous styles of doors and several different types of garage door openers. Even if you manage some repairs on your own, eventually you will need some help from a pro. Here are reasons why garage door repair is not so easy, and what you can expect from the professional you hire to fix the problems with your door and opener. 

Complications with Garage Door Opener Systems

Most people are probably familiar enough with their garage door openers that they know if theirs has a chain pull or a cable pull. However, there are other system types to choose from, and different tensioners too. 

Problems you may encounter if your opener system is different are:

• Custom garage door openers for fancier doors might jam up when you are trying to open the doors.
• Electric gate-style garage doors may suddenly stop working correctly, and it could be because the electrical signal to the doors is not reaching them effectively.

In most cases where there is a problem with the opener and not the actual garage door itself, the repair technician may have to take the opener apart somewhat to study its inner workings and then try to diagnose the problem before fixing it. This is a much longer and complicated repair process than simply tweaking the door's track frame or replacing some of the door's casters that help it roll up and down.

Complications with the Actual Door

Garage doors, as a whole, often open up and in. While most repair issues have to do with the frame, the casters or the dented panels of this type of door, other types of garage doors have their own set of problems. 

For example:

• Doors that open outward or inward like barn doors might have problems with their hinges. You might need assistance from a concrete contractor to lift the foundation of the door so that the garage door hinges you have will work.
• If you have roller feet on an airplane hanger-style garage door, the roller feet often give out. Because the roller feet may be built into the inner core of the door, the door has to be dismantled in order to replace the roller feet. 
• Carriage house-style doors have a tendency to droop on their hinges when your garage ages and settles, sinking downward and pitching the doors at a slight angle. The doors will need to be braced and raised on their hinges before they can open and close as they should. 

Your garage door repair-person (such as one from G & R Door & Gate specialty door repairs) may even find a combination of problems with both your door and your opener that need to be addressed simultaneously in order to restore your door and opener to good working order. 

Share