What to Do If You Damage Your Garage Door

What to Do If You Damage Your Garage Door

You rely on your garage door working day and night, whenever you need to get in and out of your garage whether you’re leaving for the day or simply trying to take your garbage cans out to the curb. So we understand the frustration that you must feel when you click your garage door remote and nothing happens — and that’s assuming your garage door doesn’t fail while it’s in motion. At American Veteran Garage Door, we’ve seen it all; from derailed garage doors to stubborn safety sensors jamming for seemingly no reason. But what are you to do if you damage your garage door?

Common Garage Door Issues

Before you can attempt to fix your garage door, you need to have an idea of what’s broken first. Here are a few common garage door damage issues that we run into.

Broken Spring

Regardless of whether your garage door relies on torsion springs or extension springs, the one thing that you can rely on is that those springs will eventually break. Garage door springs have to carry a lot of the weight and hold your garage door in place. As these springs approach the end of their life, you run the risk of them causing your garage door to slam shut.

Snapped Cables

Another common garage door issue that is caused by wear and tear is a broken lift cable. Lift cables are also called “aircraft cables.” These cables are always under a lot of tension stress so it is no surprise that at a certain point, they can snap and render your garage door operator dead in the water.

Photo-Eye Sensor Issues

Most, if not all, garage doors are equipped with safety sensors that prevent the door from shutting on any person, pet, or object that obstructs the doors. These sensors can become obstructed by dirt, sunlight, or even misaligned. This will prevent your door from shutting altogether.

Wear and Tear

Your garage door opens and shuts thousands of times between the times that you have it serviced. All of this motion will likely cause natural wear and tear on the rollers, tracks, lift cables, and torsion springs. In some cases, your garage door opener may fail and need immediate repair.

Garage Door Track Derailing

Last but certainly not least, garage door rollers prone to taking your garage door off of the tracks when they are worn down. Derailed garage doors can be a huge safety concern if it comes off of the track while the door is being operated.

What Are Your Options for Repairing Garage Door Issues?

So what do you do when you experience these garage door issues? Luckily you have a few solutions.

Have Your Garage Door Inspected

The first thing that you should do when you notice that there is an issue with your garage door is called a professional to come and inspect your garage door. Having an experienced set of eyes on your garage door can help you quickly identify any issues that need repair or replacement. Apart from looking for already damaged components, we can help you identify any worn down parts that should be taken care of to prevent any future damage.

Damaged Garage Door Solutions

  • Broken Spring – have your torsion/extension springs replaced by a professional every 10,000 cycles (or 5 years) or when you notice that they are damaged.
  • Snapped Cables – have a professional properly install and replace snapped lift cables to prevent any injury or future damage.
  • Photo-Eye Sensor Issues – clean the photo lens and realign the sensors to ensure that they are not obstructed.
    Wear and Tear – Replace rollers, springs, cables, and tighten any loose hardware that comes undone due to frequent use.
  • Garage Door Track Derailing – have a professional place your garage door back on the tracks to prevent further damage or future injury.

If you feel out of your depth, contact American Veteran Garage Doors and we’ll send one of our experts out to inspect your garage door. They will let you know what the issue is and can repair your damaged garage door right away.