What choice do you have?

It’s your garage door for Pete’s sake! You have to fix it or else you are doomed to be greatly inconvenienced by having to manually lift and lower your garage door or not use it at all! Unlike your hair dryer, you can’t simply go out and buy a new one at your local Target store.

But do you really need to call a garage door professional in order to get it fixed? Maybe, but not always! Often, there are simple and easy to do adjustments that you can make yourself. Read on and see what we recommend; you might just save yourself a service call and some money!

Your garage door is complicated

Did you know that your garage door is not just a big slab of metal or wood? It actually consists of hundreds of individual parts including panels, sections, springs, cables, pulleys, opener unit, safety sensors, hinges, tracks and lots more. Each of these parts must be in good working order for your garage door to function safely and reliably.

Our Duluth Garage Door Repair shop recommends doing a simple overall check on some of these components; often a small adjustment is all that is needed to get your garage door back in great working shape!

Start simple; check your battery

That’s right; check your remote’s battery. Why go through extra expense and trouble getting a garage door technician to come out when all that is needed is a simple battery check? Your battery may be low, dead, or leaking. All you need to do is check it.

Do you have a home battery tester? Use it. If you don’t have one, they are very inexpensive and are sold at many stores locally or online. They typically run around $10 but a completely free way to get this simple job done is to take your battery to a local store that offers free testing. Most Home Depot, Lowe’s and Wal-mart stores offer this service so check your battery and make sure that it is in good working shape. 

Next, check your safety eyes

These are your safety sensors that signal each other in order to operate your garage door automatically. These do need to be correctly aligned so be sure to check yours. Proceed if you know how to do this simple task; if not, check your owner’s manual or go online and watch a video on the subject.

There are literally dozens of them that show how to manually adjust your sensors so that the beam connects as it should. While you are it, look for cobwebs, frayed wires, unplugged cords, loose hinges and anything else that can interfere with your sensors working right.

Path blockage

Today’s garage doors have a safety feature that stops them from closing if anyone or anything blocks the direct downward path of the garage door. If your dog or child walks underneath the door while it is closing, this feature will reverse the motion of the door and it will go back up.

This is a good thing but it can make it look like your garage door is not working right if you don’t know that the path is blocked; something as small as a toy or a rock can trigger the safety feature and send your garage door on its way back up.

Check for path blockage and while you are it, look at your tracks and clear them of any dirt, chewing gum, rocks or other debris. This is vital because your rollers can’t move up or down if the tracks are even partially blocked.

Keep garden tools, rakes, trash cans, skateboards and other items away from your safety sensors and from underneath your garage door. This might sound like a lot to do but it’s really not; just be aware of any blockages for your garage door, safety eyes and tracks.