Garage doors can pose a great danger to you, your children, and your pets. These large doors are heavy and can fall with great force, easily crushing anything in their path. Keep an eye on, and properly maintain your garage’s door to keep them safe. Here are a couple parts of your garage door you should pay extra attention to.
Automatic Door Sensors
When you have an automatic door opener, some type of safety system will cause the door to stop going down and immediately go back up. This could be a set of photo-electronic sensors that will sense anything in the pathway of the door and stop it, or it could be a pressure-sensitive sensor that will stop the door as soon as it feels pressure on the bottom of the door.
Both sensors can have problems that will cause the door to go up and down improperly. The photo-electronic sensors need to be wiped clean from time to time or the dust and dirt accumulated on them may disturb the beam between the two, so the door goes back up suddenly instead of closing all the way. If cleaning them does not stop the problem, call for a professional.
When the sensor is pressure-sensitive, it can be difficult to determine the cause. The one thing you can do is to check the bottom of the door and the gasket. If something is stuck in the bottom, carefully take it out and check the operation of the door. If this does not fix the problem, you will need to get professional help.
Rollers and Tracks
Garage doors go up and down on a set of tracks placed in the doorframe and the ceiling of the garage. The door has a set of wheels or rollers that follow the track to ensure the door stays in place. Sometimes the weight of the door will pull on the tracks, which pulls them out of alignment. You can use a plumb line or level to check that the tracks are straight.
If you find that the tracks are not straight, or they are out of alignment with each other you can attempt to move them slightly. However, trying to move them can also cause the door to move around and you may end up with it falling on you. To be safe, have a professional adjust the tracks.
When you find a loose screw in the tracks, you can easily screw it back in to allow the door to move freely. If the same screw keeps coming loose it is a good idea to have a professional look at it as it may be time to replace the tracking or to put the screw in a different place. Both of these solutions should not be done by someone without experience with garage doors.
A loose or wobbly wheel may also keep the door from moving up and down correctly. When you notice this, you can attempt to tighten the wheel yourself. However, it would be best to call for help if your repair does not solve the problem.
When the problem with a garage door has something to do with the springs, contact a professional to determine if the door needs replaced or if it can be repaired. Garage door springs are under a great deal of pressure and can cause serious damage if mishandled.