1. Broken Springs
There are 2 types of garage door springs- torsion and extension springs. They can break due to repeated use or misuse. The broken springs of a garage door can cause a deafening noise as if someone is breaking in.
If the springs break, your garage door might move in a crooked fashion. With time and use, excess pressure on the springs might break them. To avoid all this, one must repair or replace the springs of a garage door from time-to-time.
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2. Worn-Out Rollers
Rollers are small wheels placed inside the track of your garage door. There are at least 10 rollers in each track. These rollers may be of steel or plastic. Steel rollers have metal ball bearings molded on to the roller itself. Your garage doors have rollers to make it slide up and down the track in a smooth manner.
With time and use, the metal of the bearings stretches causing them to fall out. This breaks the roller. Plastic rollers have no bearings but can drag and break with use. Rollers might get stuck due to wear and tear. When the rollers get stuck, the door is unable to move. Or it might move with a sudden jerk. This can be dangerous. The only way to prevent rollers from wearing out is oiling them and replacing them often.
3. Loose Hinges
Hinges are small in size but play a major role in the working of your garage door. They attach the panels of the garage door and help it to move sideways. Any damage to these hinges may cause the door panels to detach or come loose. This results in great damage to the garage door.
The garage door hinges rust in the winter. Repeated opening and closing of the garage door cause the hinges to wear out. Sometimes, the metal plate holding the hinges gets damaged with use. Then, the screws fall off and the hinges become loose.
If the hinges are loose, it is very dangerous as the door might come crashing down at any time.
4. Cut Cables
The cables of a garage door lift it up or down. With frequent use, these cables might tear or get cut. If one cable gets cut, the entire weight of the door shifts to the other cable. This causes the garage door to become crooked. This might leave the garage door open halfway, exposing your home and leaving it unsafe. Never leave cut cables unattended.
The lifting cables lift the garage door up and down, They might tear due to frequent use. Cables might get cut also due to opening and closing the garage door again and again.
5. Malfunctioning Pulleys
Pulleys are an important yet ignored part of a garage door. There are 4 pulleys, one on each corner of a garage door. They have ball bearings that help the door to slide up and down. These pulleys distribute the weight of the garage door in an even manner.
The pulleys may get damaged due to broken springs or ball bearings. If this happens, the garage door may tilt to one side. Or it may stop midway while opening. Or it may make a huge squeaking noise. Defective pulleys can make the garage door collapse.
The pulleys of your garage door help the torsion cables to run smoothly. They also balance the weight of the garage door. With regular use, the bearings of the pulleys might get worn out. Then, the pulleys fail to cause the garage door to tilt to one side.
6. Rusty Bolts
The garage door is fitted with bolts to add to its security. These bolts are on either side of the door frame. They prevent forced entry by keeping the door locked until opened with a key. The bolts of your garage door might get rusted. This happens due to climatic conditions also.
The bolts of a garage door rust in winter. This causes the door to get jammed and it fails to open. Prevent this by calling garage door experts to service the bolts from time-to-time.
7. Misaligned Tracks
Tracks are the paths on which the garage door moves. These tracks may get clogged with dirt and grime. Or the door may move out of track due to repeated use. If the tracks are not aligned, the door can fall on you and cause fatal damage. So, watch out for any damage to the tracks. See if the door is moving slowly or unevenly. If so, call a garage door expert at once to check the tracks.
Due to repeated use, your garage door might move out of the track. If ignored, this misaligned track can damage the other parts of your garage door. Call a garage door expert at once.