Garage door Tracks

One of the things that most often requires repairing is a garage door's tracks. They require a good deal of maintenance and when not maintained properly can cost a homeowner dearly if not attended to. If you are a home owner that has noticed a new sound, or a stuttering garage door then these tracks being misaligned or damaged in some way could be the culprit. Diagnosing faulty tracks can be tough, but today we will go into a few of the things that might go wrong with them and some of the ways that you might be able to tell. While a garage door and a garage door opener may not be your most valued or prized possessions, and certainly won't be your most expensive ones it does not mean that they aren't best kept in working order and easily replaced. A new garage door can be an unwanted and unexpected expense, especially if you already own a garage door and garage door opener that you feel serve your home well. Garage doors typically when maintained correctly and not otherwise damaged can last many years even a few decades if you are lucky. And who doesn't want to put off needing something like a new garage door or garage door opener for as long as they can? Faulty or damaged tracks however can quickly create a domino effect resulting in more damage to the garage door and garage door opener than you can hope to repair.

A rusted track or rusted area of your garage door track is most likely a problem with not lubricating your track properly, which can lead to the metal being vulnerable to rust. Rust then causes the metal to lose its strength which can lead to things like bending or even in very bad circumstances collapse. Rust doesn't just increase the likelihood of disaster striking it also affects how your garage door operates everyday. Rust will get scraped away from the tracks which could potentially land on your car causing unsightly stains or marks, or it could simply spread rust on your floor or into some of the things that you keep stored in your garage. A rusted over patch on your tracks will also cause your garage door to catch and stutter as it opens and closes. This means that your garage door opener will have to work harder at times and so will cause it to wear down much more quickly from the jerking and otherwise irregular motion. Another reason for a rusted over piece of garage door track is that your garage has a leak of some sort, meaning that water is getting into the parts of your garage door opening system which can be dangerous and potentially quite costly. If you have any sort of notion that a piece of your garage door tracks may be rusted over do a bit of research yourself or get a professional out to take a look at it before it ends up causing you a hassle or costing you big time.

Another way that your garage door's tracks could be damaged is with a small bend or or bump in them. This will cause the doors to move and shift while they are being raised or closed and so can cause major problems by disrupting the garage door opener and could create a problem especially with a chain or belt drive garage door opener. These could easily become uncalibrated with misuse resulting in faulty operation. This incorrect operation could be something like one side of the garage door being raised higher than other while it is opening or even bending of the garage door or some of the garage door's panels. This could mean irreparable damage to your garage door or your garage door opener as well as possible damages being made to things within your garage door. While a small bend or bump in a track may not seem like a big deal the precision to which many of these garage doors need to operate in order to be working efficiently and correctly is very high. A bend or misshapenness in a garage door track can occur for a variety reasons. The most likely culprits for these horrific bends or bumps are really only one of two problems. Your garage door tracks could have been installed with a poor quality track that was defective to begin with, which would point to either a cheap installation or a cheap garage door system or some combination of the two. The other possibility is something like the garage door or garage door track being impacted by something or the garage door being forced to stop when it shouldn't. In order to avoid the first situation it is best to always go with a garage door installer that you can trust and one with a warranty is even better than that. Another tip is to make sure that the materials used of your garage door installation are from a reputable quality company and are something that your installer stands by. If your bend or bump is from something like a baseball or car hitting your garage door or garage door tracks then you should be able to figure out when the problem started and when the impact occurred. When your garage door system undergoes some extra stress it is best to do some self inspection or to call someone out to investigate your garage door to make sure that the garage door is not in danger of getting damaged further, in the end costing you more money.

A misaligned garage door track is another problem that could befall your garage door. This could occur from one of the strong impacts that were described above, faulty use, simple age or an installation error. As was said previously a garage door installer whom you can trust and call back again if you think there was a problem with the original installation is the best way to fight buyer's remorse when you find a misaligned garage door. Another way to figure out if your garage door's tracks might be misaligned is to look at the garage door when it is totally closed or closing. If there is a gap between the garage door and the floor or the garage door stutters or jerks you may be dealing with poorly aligned garage door tracks. Misaligned garage door tracks can cause all sorts of problems and can put a lot of unwanted stress on your garage door, garage door opener and the springs used to open the garage door. Misaligned garage door tracks make certain parts of your garage door system work harder than they are meant at different points while opening or closing. This can mean that your garage door system could break fantastically or simply cause unwanted wear and tear leading to replacements being needed more often. Misaligned garage door tracks should be fixed by a garage door professional, and should be fixed as soon as is possible in order to safeguard you from further damages. If you think that your tracks might not be aligned properly call up your local garage door professional or whoever installed your garage door and have them take a look.

Garage door tracks are really a finicky part of the whole garage door opener system. Small problems with your tracks can result in improper functioning doors which will have repercussions throughout your garage door opener system. Problems with your garage door tracks may initially be slight and harder to spot, but as soon as they are spotted should be fixed. These sorts of problems can get worse very quickly and end up forcing you to replace your entire garage door system because of a leak that caused your garage door track to rust over in a certain spot. Don't let these type of problems go on without repair and make sure to get the rest of your garage door opening system while you can to check for problems that may have been caused by a less than perfect garage door track. If you notice these sorts of problems then you should not hesitate to call a garage door professional and get someone out to your home to investigate and fix whatever problems you may be experiencing.