When a garage door or the opening mechanism breaks down, many people realize how dependent they are on it every day.
When this happens, most people call a garage door maintenance company to do the repairs. Sometimes the job is quick, yet the customer is left with an expensive service call bill.
Other times, the repair takes longer and requires much effort even for the trained technician, and the bill is still costly.
Bills may encourage homeowners to do the repairs themselves. It is challenging to know which repairs a homeowner can do alone and which problems require a professional.
Regardless of the issue you’ve decided to solve yourself, there are a few things to always remember including:
Dangerous Task
Working with garage doors and their opening systems can be extremely dangerous, even life-threatening.
Manipulating the springs is very dangerous; when they are stretched, they act like a cocked gun and, if released, will recoil at high speed with tremendous force.
Garage door accidents have led to blindness, bodily injury, and even fatalities. Make sure to read all instructions on every part you use thoroughly.
Also, when working with the entrance open, beware of falling parts, and the door itself.
That’s why you need to at least hire a professional to handle all the grun work. A1 Garage offers a garage door repair in Boise, Idaho should you happen to be in the area.
Types of Garage Door Openers
The most popular type is the chain-driven since it’s cheaper than the others. It pulls the doors open using chains that rub to the metal trolley. While this is cheap, it makes a lot of noise when you are closing or opening the door.
A less noisy but slightly more expensive alternative is the screw-driven type. Instead of using chains, it uses a rod that is inserted into a metal hole.
The rod is the one that pulls the doors up and closes it backs down. Because there are fewer parts in this type of operator, it produces less noise.
The best one is the belt-driven types. It uses a belt-like structure that produces the least noise. It is more expensive than the other two.
Inspecting The System
Inspect the entire system. Make sure you know precisely why the entrance is not working before you take everything apart.
Is there a visibly broken part, disconnection, or loose screw? To determine if the opener is working. Release the entrance from the opener and attempt to open it manually.
Only attempt to repair yourself if you know what needs to be fixed. Otherwise, you will end up with a garage door, and its entire system is taken apart without knowing what needs to be done.
If a part is broken, replace it and any other matching piece.
For example, if the other spring is close behind on spring busts, if you are going to replace the one, you might as well save yourself the time or another service call fee and return the other at the same time.
Know what you are capable of fixing. Roller, hinge, and pulley replacements are manageable for do-it-yourselfers.
Let a professional do the spring replacements; homeowners can install garage door openers if you are following instructions carefully.