3 Issues That May Be Causing Problems With Your Garage Door

Has your garage door started making terrible noises when it opens and closes? Are you planning to fix it before your neighbors start complaining about the racket? While it does nobody any good to have a garage door loud enough to wake the dead, it may not be something that you should fix on your own. Instead, you may need to get a professional in to resolve the issue. If you're dead set on trying to fix it yourself, here are some things you can check while waiting for the garage door professional to arrive:

Loose screws: During a garage door installation, perhaps dozens of screws are used to hold the track in place to support the weight of the door. Over time, vibrations created by the door going up and down can cause these screws to start to unscrew themselves. If it's just one or two screws, you may not even notice. But when it's multiple screws, the track will start to rattle and bang against the wall in an alarming fashion. If you tighten these screws, the rattling should diminish or stop entirely. If there is still loud rattling, you'll need the garage door professional to inspect the door to find the fault.

Lack of lubrication: Anything with moving parts needs to be greased or lubricated on a regular basis in order to allow everything to move smoothly. After a garage door installation, you should be given an owners manual or instructions that explain exactly when, where, and what to use for lubrication. Without proper lubrication, the garage door will start to squeak and make metal-on-metal grinding sounds. Proper lubrication, per the instructions, should eliminate the squealing. If you've lost the instructions, a garage door professional can explain the proper maintenance schedule and procedure to keep the garage door functional.

Too much lubrication: Some people are under the impression that if a little of something is good, more of it is always better. When it comes to adding oil or grease to moving parts according to the instructions given after the garage door installation, this isn't always true. Adding too much oil or grease runs the risk of it pooling and collecting dust and dirt. This can be an even bigger problem than not having enough lubrication. All that dust and dirt can act like sandpaper to cause wear and tear on the gears and moving parts. You may not realize that there's anything amiss until the garage door suddenly starts not functioning for seemingly no reason at all. Due to the wear and tear, you may need a garage door professional to replace multiple parts before your garage door will work properly again.

Contact a garage door installation service for more help.