HOW TO PROLONG THE LIFE OF YOUR GARAGE DOOR

1. Keep your garage door in tiptop shape. We don’t usually think much about our garage door, but the fact is, it plays a large part in your home’s curb appeal and value. Deciding to install a whole new garage door is a major purchase, so it’s a big decision. On the other hand, it’s often better to simply keep the garage door you now have, and responsibly maintain it, so it will remain in good condition for many years. In all likelihood, you’ll keep it functioning and looking as outstanding as you can, for as long as you can.

These days, garage doors are of better quality than decades ago. They’re manufactured according to strict safety standards. A prime-quality garage door provides an effective barrier for optimized reduction of heat transfer into your garage. The door sections of excellent-quality garage doors are painstakingly tested and come with superior warranties.

With regular wear and tear, how long should you expect your garage door to last? It depends. First, the manufacturer lists an official estimate in your operator’s manual. Also, if your garage door’s materials are of exceptional quality, your garage door will probably last far longer than average.

Particularly if your garage doubles as an office, shop, or game room, all the more reason to keep your garage well-maintained ~ which means starting with a garage door that’s durable and resilient. The truth is, your garage door is the biggest operating appliance of your household, so it’s important that you keep it in working condition.

2. Establish a routine maintenance schedule. Follow a schedule for proper upkeep of your garage door, which is what’s recommended by expert garage door technicians. For optimum safety, inspect the components of your garage door system once each month. Replace worn-out parts and tighten loose bolts. If you hear any strange noises when the garage door opens or closes, don’t procrastinate, investigate! If you observe any problems with springs, wires, pulleys, or cables, then professional attention is required. Moreover, you should schedule a yearly inspection with a trustworthy local garage door repair company.

It’s surely worth the time and effort to maintain your garage door properly, and you’ll save money overall, also. You won’t spend a lot on repairs, and you won’t have to replace it for a good number of years.

3. Lubricate. Garage door springs normally last for about ten years. The typical reasons garage door repair is required are broken springs and cables. To do all you can to prevent the need for repairs, be sure to lubricate the springs, rollers, and hinges.

Without lubrication, your garage door springs are going to rust, and eventually the coils will bind. A light coating is all you’ll need. Don’t use anything too heavy, or it will attract grime and dirt.

Most garage door professional technicians will tell you to lubricate the springs each year, before winter arrives; some even say to lubricate every three months. In any case, it’s best to choose a top-name brand.

You can also do your part to effectively extend the life of your garage door opener. Most garage door openers last about twenty years. Take a close look at the opener’s main gear periodically: Open the case, and lubricate the main gear using white lithium grease.

4. Keep it balanced. Check your garage door’s balance twice each year:

• Disconnect the garage door opener from the garage door, to operate it by hand: Pull on the rope that’s hanging from the opener to disconnect the door, so you can lift it up manually.
• The owner’s manual contains instructions on how to reattach the garage door opener to the garage door.
• Your garage door should balance at about three or four feet above the floor. If there’s any resistance, if the door is too heavy, or if it won’t stay up all the way, the spring requires adjusting. Call a garage door repair technician.

5. Keep it working.

• Operate your garage door for one full cycle (shut and open), to make sure it’s working smoothly.
• Assess the automatic reversing garage door opener feature: As the door goes down, grab it to give it a bit of resistance, to see if it reverses. If it doesn’t, then a professional technician has to adjust the opener’s sensitivity.
• If your garage door isn’t reversing, or if you discover any additional issues, hire a garage door professional to inspect, replace, adjust, or repair whatever is needed.

6. Keep it safe. Examine the garage door’s safety features regularly: to Test out the safety sensors by waving in front of the electronic eyes. The garage door should now go back up each time the beam is broken.

7. Keep it clean. The garage door will last much longer when you wash it thoroughly, front and back, at least annually, with a sponge and clean water with mild dish soap. Rinse well. Don’t forget the garage door opener sensor eyes: Use a clean, dry cloth. Keep the area around the sensors free of dirt and cobwebs.

• Do you have a steel garage door? Wash it every other year. Apply car wax for added cold-weather protection.
• Do you have a wooden garage door? If you notice any signs of peeling or chipping, you’ll maintain great curb appeal with a fresh coat of paint.

8. Be careful! DON’T TRY to adjust the spring tension yourself, unless you’re an engineer! Only an eminently qualified garage door repair technician can suitably carry out the servicing required. A garage door spring packs a wallop, so if it isn’t repaired, adjusted, or replaced correctly, the springs can cause serious injury, and even death. Along with the garage door springs, the drums, the bottom brackets (to which the cables are attached), and the cables, are all under a great deal of pressure.

If any garage door components ever require adjustment or replacement, track down a reliable local garage door repair company you know you can count on. If you are in Englewood, Colorado, consider hiring a dependable company such as Englewood Garage Door Repair.

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Englewood Garage Door Repair: Identifying Garage Door Spring Issues

Your home has many important entrance ways including your front door, your bedroom door, and even your bathroom door. When these begin to creak or otherwise show signs of damage, we immediately begin to find ways to fix them using either WD-40 or replacing the whole door itself. There is one more entrance way that needs the same consideration but often gets neglected, the garage door. The garage door protects our vehicles and miscellaneous knick-knacks from the elements yet, we don’t know something is amiss until the day we can’t seem to get it to open or it falls down completely. While most companies will tell you to “replace the whole thing completely”, Englewood Garage Door Repair in Englewood, CO wants to teach you what to look for instead. The typical culprits are garage door springs.

Garage door springs come in two categories: torsion springs and extensions springs. Their basic function is to counter the weight of the garage door itself. Think of it this way, if a garage door weighs around 100 pounds, then you need a spring capable of producing an equal 100 pounds of “spring force”. So when even one of these springs begins to stop serving that purpose, you can imagine the issues that arise.

So what are some ways that can be used to identify when a garage spring needs replacing?

While springs can last upwards of a thousand open and shut cycles, inclement weather as well as extended wear and tear from multiple users can make this process that much quicker. The first sign of a bad spring is typically one of three things: low tension in the spring, lack of regular maintenance, and them physically snapping.

Low tension in the spring can be spotted rather easily by an expert or if you happen to know what to look for. The reason low tension is a major indicator of a spring needing replacement is because they no longer serve their primary focus (as mentioned earlier) but in addition, increases the risk of the coil snapping while your car is backing out and bringing the door down on it. If you or an expert notices that there is something amiss with the garage spring in regards to tension, do not wait! Call a garage repair service immediately.

Outside of tension, the second most important factor to consider is maintenance. When was the last time you or someone you know oiled the garage door springs in your home? If your answer was never, then you probably are in need of replacing them. Garage door springs, like anything else, require constant maintenance to continue to work. In addition to oiling each one, there is also a process of rebalancing that needs to happen within the first two years of being installed.

Most home owners, unless specifically told by the realtor or construction company, will neglect to rebalance their garages and this causes a massive amount of wear and tear that shortens the life cycle of the springs significantly. It’s no surprise that a spring in need of rebalance is called “failing” however there are some tests to see if your springs are unbalanced.

Users with or without an opener can move the garage door to the up position and watch for any discrepancies in the track. Typically, if either bottom roller is uneven with the vertical or horizontal track, this is a sign of spring failure and they need to be serviced ASAP. The other way to test for an unbalanced spring is to pull your door down to where it is about in the middle of the track. If it is able to rest in that position without outside help, then there are no major Issues. However, if it slowly moves up or down, then the door is no longer being fully supported.

Finally, the best way of identifying garage door spring issues, is if they simply snap! This can happen in a wide variety of ways but is often accompanied by a large bang that can be heard from just about anywhere in the house. This sound is the one of the coils snapping in two, leaving just the bare cable exposed. While the garage may still operate as intended for a short period of time, each cycle you place on the door from then on is a gamble.

Another way to tell if they’ve snapped (if you never heard the noise) is to look up when you open the garage and see if the attached springs are separated, loose, or in two parts which is a telling sign that it’s time to get your garage springs replaced.

Now that we know how to identify it, how can we fix it?

This is a simple answer, call an expert!  At Englewood Garage Door Repair, they can tell you all kinds of horror stories of people with general knowledge attempting to fix a garage door on their own. While this is definitely doable, imagine trying to support a 100 pound sheet of metal as you reconnect another large coiled piece of metal that needs to be placed exactly where the tension is just right.

If you imagined all the horrible things that can happen and go wrong, then you’re absolutely right! The reason for garage door repair specialists is because it’s not a simple mechanism that anyone can replace like a light bulb. Calling a professional when you see any signs of low tension, lack of maintenance, or snapping of a garage spring is the right thing to do.

Another benefit of having someone else look at the springs is peace of mind. Sometimes, we overlook crucial details that seem insignificant to us. An expert will spot this in a second and when deciding a course of action, make sure that the garage door is replaced and fixed right the first time.

So before you head to work, why not check in on those springs that keep your most important entranceway operational. They may be overlooked but proper maintenance can keep an inevitable problem from turning your great morning into a horrible one.

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Signs You Have a Garage Door Problem

You might think it’s all in your mind or that you are doing something to cause the reaction that you are receiving when you attempt to open or close your garage door. The truth of the matter is that it is probably something wrong with your door and it isn’t all in your head. The biggest problem that we see at Englewood Garage Door Repair is that people in Englewood, CO wait too long to seek the help they need. They either notice that there is a problem and ignore it or they try troubleshooting it on their own but when they don’t see any visible sign of a problem they go on about their business thinking that they have done all that they can to address the problem. The one thing that we would highly discourage anyone from doing is ignoring a problem that they may be experiencing with their garage door. The problem could be more serious than you know. If there is a problem and you continue using your garage, you can either harm yourself if the door comes down on you or the repairs could be far more expensive than if you were to address the problem at the onset.

If you listen carefully whenever you are using your garage, you’ll be able to save yourself the added expenses of expensive repairs and eliminate the possibility of being harmed by your garage door. We are often too busy to pay attention. Most people simply go on, day after day, doing the same thing without paying much attention to the way their garage door is functioning. The only time they pay attention is when they notice something or the noise they hear is so loud that they cannot ignore it any longer. By the time the sound has become so loud that you are unable to ignore it, this tells us that there is something seriously wrong that needs to be addressed by a professional technician. Your garage door will generally continue working until there are some indications that it is about to stop. It hardly ever just stops working without notice. If you are able to identify the warning signals that your garage door is about to stop working, you might be able to prevent this from occurring. You are likely able to be able to catch the problem while it is still small before it turns into a much more expensive repair job.

Signs There Is A Problem

Door Not Closing Completely

When you notice that your garage door will not go all the way down to the ground, this means that there is something blocking your sensors. The sensors are located toward the bottom of the door. If there is something blocking them, it will not close completely. Over time, debris may develop on the lenses and this makes it impossible for the sensors to work properly. You can clean them with a soft cloth. Gently wiping away any debris on them. We stress ‘gently’ because if you wipe them too hard, you could damage the lens. If there is something as simple as a trash can or a shoe blocking even one of the sensors, it should be removed in order for the door to go to the ground. If they are not correctly aligned, this will also prevent the door from going all the way to the ground. If you sense that this might be the problem, allow an expert service technician to evaluate this for you. They will open the garage door opener and make the needed adjustments. Finally, it there is any loose or damaged cables, this could prevent the door from opening.

Unusual Noises

You will have to deliberately listen for any noises that your garage door makes. You shouldn’t wait to address the issue when the problem is so loud that you can’t ignore it. If you’re hearing noises when your garage door is in use, it is likely that there are some loose hardware or parts that need to be lubricated. A technician will lubricate the moving parts of your door system with WD-40. They will only apply a light coating so that debris doesn’t quickly begin to build up. They also examine the bolts and screws attached to the door along with its connecting hardware and make needed repairs and adjustments.

Door is Difficult to Open

When your garage door does not appear as though it will not close, there may be a problem with your springs. The door balance will need to be checked. Since the springs are tightly wound, they can become dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. We recommend that you allow a qualified professional to handle the job of assessing your spring problems. However, to get out of your current situation, disconnect your garage door opener and pull the override cable in the rear of your opener. This will enable you to open the door manually. If there are problems with your garage door springs, allow a trained professional to repair or replace them as soon as possible. If you allow the problem to get worse, the springs can break and the door will fall down. If the door falls down, it will make the problem a lot worse. Your car can be damaged or the falling door may harm you.

These are simply some of the most common things that we see our customers ignoring. Pay attention to what is going on when you use your garage, it can mean the difference in the amount of money you ultimately end up spending to get your garage door working appropriately again. The best way to avoid an incident from occurring is to schedule routine garage door maintenance. Every inch of your door will be evaluated to ensure that there is no problem that can stop your door from functioning the way that it should. You can also avoid any potential harm due to a faulty garage door.

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SPRING SYSTEM VS PULLEY SYSTEM – GARAGE DOORS

We often hear the term “garage door springs” and while many folks know exactly where they are and what they do, many others do not. Here at Englewood Garage Door Repair, we sell, service, repair and install garage door springs of all types, sizes and categories. Our local customers often ask us about the main differences between the two types of springs – torsion and extension. These are often called by other names including spring system (torsion) and pulley system (extension).  Read on and see how these two main garage door spring types work tirelessly to make your life more convenient and safe.

Torsion garage door springs (spring system)

If you have a newer garage door opener system, chances are you are using torsion springs. These are located at the top of your garage door. They consist of a torsion spring bar mounted on the header on the inside of your garage door opening. The actual torsion springs are mounted on this tube that runs parallel with your garage door. At each end is a drum with cables that connect to the bottom bracket on each end of the garage door. As your garage door opens and closes, these cables move up the length of the door and around the drums. The actual torsion springs provide the strength to open and close the door while the drums and cables do the lifting. Torsion spring sizes depend on how heavy your garage door. This is calculated with all attached components and not by simply weighing the garage door itself. These torsion springs tend to last longer than the older, less used extension springs. We measure the life cycle of torsion or extension springs as one open and one close. This is different from saying that something lasts 5 years or 10 years. Instead, we measure springs in these life cycles which average 10,000 to 20,000 cycles for torsion springs and 5,000 to 10,000 for extension ones. Also, some lighter garage doors will only use one torsion spring while larger, heavier ones will use two or more.

Extension garage door springs (pulley system)

If you hear some people say that they have the pulley system in their garage; it is their extension springs that they are talking about. These are still being used today even though this system is older and the springs tend to not last as long. Your extension springs are mounted on either side of your garage door and yes, you will always have two of them. These springs use pulleys and cables to pull your garage door open and closed. They need to be balanced and in good shape if you want your garage door to move evenly up and down. Our Englewood, CO garage door repair techs have found that it is best to replace both extension springs if one goes out as they tend to fail about the same time. If only one spring is working, it will give your garage door an obvious tilt to one side. If your garage door uses extension springs, they will stretch as your garage door closes and loosen when it opens. Extension springs also use safety cables that attach on each side to the track while running through the middle of each spring and then further attaching to the track support brackets. Why all this extra support? Namely because extension springs can be dangerous. They pack a lot of power and when they snap or break, they can fly through the air with tremendous power – even to the point of crashing through a windshield! Every year people and/or pets are hurt or even killed when an extension spring is mishandled during amateur repair or replacement is being done. The safety cables mentioned earlier help to keep these dangerous springs from flying everywhere but they are no guarantee that havoc will not commence if handled in the wrong way.

OK – which should you use?

That’s entirely up to you. If you already have extension springs and you are careful, keep using them. If you are still unsure which kind of spring set you have, call a local Englewood, CO garage door repair shop and get further clarification. If you like, get replacement estimates from your garage door pros and see if this fits within your budget. You can always wait until one or both of your extension springs needs repair or replacement and then make the switch to torsion springs. Many local garage door installation and repair shops (including ours) offer free price quotes and no obligation, free details on new installations, upgrades, replacements and maintenance service.

Does it really matter?

Actually, yes it does! Your garage door springs are the true heavy hitters in the industry. They are hardly thought of (until there’s a problem, anyway!). Think about it – how many times have you opened and closed your Englewood, CO garage door over the years? Did you once think about what a great job your set of springs is doing? Be honest; no, you didn’t! Yet, without those hard working, powerful springs your garage door opener would not be able to lower or raise your heavy garage door. It doesn’t matter if you have a single sized residential garage door, a double sized one or even a massive industrial garage door – springs are the force behind opening and closing each one of them.

Security feature

Springs not only afford us convenience, they provide safety, as well. Without garage door springs, we would have to manually move our own garage doors up and down each time we used them. No opener on earth could work without the use of either extension or torsion springs; that much is a given. On the security side, you would have to actually leave the safety and comfort of your car in order to lift your garage door open. This puts you outside the vehicle where someone could accost you, force their way into your home or even steal your car, complete with insurance, registration and driver’s license inside!

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