Garage Door Repair NJ

Garage Door Repair in South Jersey

For many homeowners, the garage door is the new front door. It gives you convenient access to your home, but if your garage door is compromised, it could spell trouble for your safety and the security of your home. If you don’t know how to maintain a garage door, frequent use could lead to damage, and you’ll be left without convenient access to your home until a professional repairs the entryway.

With a few garage door maintenance tips, you’ll be able to recognize the common signs for when your door needs to be repaired, along with how often to maintain your garage door. In this garage door maintenance guide, we’ll discuss how to keep your door running smoothly until it’s time to call in the professionals at Hunter Door.

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Five Common Signs Your Garage Door Needs Repair

Frequent use of your garage means, over time, it will need some attention. A damaged or malfunctioning door compromises your family’s security and the convenience of entering your home through your garage. So keeping an eye out for common signs of needing repair is essential.

The average American uses their garage door over 1,500 times a year. With such consistent use, the hardware can succumb to normal wear and tear. If the door is not repaired as part of routine maintenance, it can break and require replacement. The most common garage door issues are a result of:

• Malfunctioning garage door openers
• Errors with safety sensors or remote and keypad programming
• Worn rollers
• Track misalignment or damage
• Worn pulleys
• Broken cables
• Broken hinges
• Broken or worn springs

A compromised garage door is a risk to you and your family, so it’s vital to know when you need to take action. There are five common signs to look for that may indicate your garage door need to be repaired:

1. The Door Will Not Open or Close

The most obvious sign of needed repair is if your garage door can’t open or close. While this is an inconvenience, it can also be a sign that trying to use your garage door could be dangerous. In this case, the door will either not move at all when you attempt to use it or open or close part of the way before stopping. When your garage door doesn’t open or close all the way, it could be a sign that you have:

• A damaged spring or other components
• A door off the tracks
• A broken or malfunctioning garage door opener
• A problem with the photo eye sensors
• A problem with the connection between the control panel and the door opener or the door

However, some garage door issues are simple enough to fix yourself. Before you call a professional for garage door repair, look for signs of:

• An obstructed sensor: Something could be in the way of your door’s sensor, preventing it from moving. Make sure nothing is in the way of the door, then try to open or close it again.
• A locked door: It is possible to lock your garage door manually, which many homeowners do when they go away. If you’re back from vacation and your garage door won’t open, double-check that you didn’t lock it.
• An engaged disconnect switch: If you disconnected your garage door from the opener, it will not open until you reconnect it. Homeowners disconnect their garage door for manual operation in the event of a power outage or other issue, so check that you didn’t disengage the door.
• A power outage: It may seem obvious, but in the event of a power outage, you may not think about how your garage door will not have an automatic function. Ensure the power is on to your home and garage if the door cannot open with the control panel or remote.

If you’ve eliminated any of the minor problems, you may have an issue with the overall mechanism or hardware components of your garage door.

2. The Door Is Off-Balance

One sign of an off-balance garage door is a slanted appearance as it opens or closes. An off-balance door may not sit flush with the ground once it closes. If your door doesn’t close all the way, you have a safety and security issue. Intruders and pests could have access to your garage and your home, and with a wider gap between the door and the ground, this is an even bigger risk. An off-balance garage door is also a sign of damage to components of the door, such as:

• Tension springs
• Rollers or tracks
• Door panels

When the tension is uneven between one side of the garage opener and the other, the opener doesn’t hold your garage door evenly, and, as a result, it appears to sag. A sagging door puts more pressure on the opener than necessary and can lead to more issues over time, requiring even more garage door maintenance.

3. The Door Makes a Lot of Noise

Over time, you may notice your garage door has gotten louder when it opens or closes. While the excess noise can be annoying, it’s also a common sign that your garage door needs repair. Depending on the issue, the system will make different noises, like:

• Grating if there are bent or damaged coils.
• Squealing if the garage door is off-balance.
• Rattling if there are loose chains or rails.
• Rumbling if there are loose springs.
• Banging if there is a problem with the door’s panels.

To the untrained ear, it can be hard to tell some of these noises apart from each other. Our professional technicians can tell what sounds correspond with what particular garage door problems.

4. The Door Has Come off the Tracks

Garage doors can come off their tracks when a car hits the door while pulling in or out of the garage. In that case, the damage is obvious, but sometimes the door is old or damaged, and that causes it to come off the tracks. A garage door that is off its tracks will have a loud operation and may not open or close correctly, if at all.

Regardless of what caused the door to come off the tracks, you need professional garage door service and repair to resolve the problem. Avoid using the garage door when you know it’s off the tracks, as it could lead to further damage or injury to yourself or others.

5. The Door Responds Slowly

To judge if your garage door takes too long to respond, all you need to do is push the button on your remote or control panel. If you have to wait a few seconds for anything to happen, the issue could be:

• Corroded or damaged pulleys in the opener system
• Broken opener cords
• Faulty remote circuitry
• Damaged rollers

Sound could be another indicator of a problem here, so be sure to listen to your garage system if you also notice a delay in response. Another indicator of garage door problems is a door that opens slowly. If the door takes a while to open, the cause may be:

• A slow speed setting on the opener’s control panel.
• A lack of lubrication and excessive friction on the rollers and track.

Slow response and opening times may also be due to other damage, so if you rule out certain causes and your door is still slow, it’s time to get help from us at Hunter Door.

How Often Should Garage Doors Receive Maintenance?

You should try to conduct preventive maintenance annually on your garage door. That maintenance includes steps like lubricating tracks and a balance test, which you can complete once or twice a year. If your garage door system is older or you use it more often than the average homeowner, extra care may be necessary.

No matter how often you use it, you should get a professional to service your garage door once a year to avoid expensive replacements and improve the overall safety of your garage door system. Due to the amount of tension and weight of the garage door, it’s recommended that an experienced professional perform garage door repairs and particular maintenance steps.

Top Five Preventive Maintenance Tips for Garage Door Owners

Mechanical systems require regular maintenance to run smoothly, and your garage door is no exception. Servicing garage doors will help them last longer without damaging crucial parts. Some of those steps are more simple and safe than others, meaning you can conduct some of your own garage maintenance.

If you have any concerns with how your garage door is operating and don’t feel comfortable conducting garage door maintenance yourself, be sure to contact us at Hunter Door to service your garage door. Some preventative maintenance steps you can take to extend the life of your garage door include:

1. Inspect the Cables and Pulleys

Over time, the hardware of your garage door can become corroded, rusted or damaged. Because these components all work together to help the garage door opener function, even one damaged piece can compromise the entire system. Cables and pulleys experience some of the most movement in a garage system, meaning they are more likely to experience wear and tear due to use and time.

If you notice frayed cables or other damage, contact a professional right away to repair the issue. These components are under high tension and could cause injury if you don’t have the proper experience or knowledge to repair the system.

2. Tighten the Door’s Hardware

With frequent use, the screws and bolts that hold your garage system in place can loosen. If the hardware isn’t tight, it could cause:

• Loud operation
• The rails to become loose
• An off-balance door
• Other operating issues

A single screw is more important than you may think, so checking these components to ensure they are tight will save you from major damage down the line. Tighten these as you would other screws, but ensure not to over-tighten or interfere with springs in the mechanism, as those have to be under a particular tension.

3. Check the Tracks and Rollers

These components enable the garage open and close. Over time, the tracks can become:

• Bent
• Dented
• Crooked

Uneven or warped tracks mean the rollers will not lift the door smoothly. While you can sometimes correct this damage by fixing hardware or taking care of dents with a mallet, the problems have the potential to be more severe and require expert maintenance.

Be sure to lubricate the chain and rollers of your garage door, as well. That garage maintenance will reduce the amount of friction in your garage door system, which can, in turn, help reduce noise and damage to the tracks.

4. Ensure the Door Is Balanced

In most cases, it will be obvious your garage door is off-balance. You’ll see an uneven gap between the floor of your garage and the bottom of the door, which may be large or small, depending on the extent of the issue. Sometimes the door panels are the cause of an off-balance door, but the most common problem is with the hardware. If you aren’t sure if the door is off-balance, you can confirm by:

1. Disengaging the door from the opener for manual operation.
2. Moving the door up and down to test if it’s aligned with the tracks.
3. Opening the door halfway and letting go to see if it stays in place.

If the door moves up or down more than a slight adjustment, you have an off-balance door. Depending on which way the door moves, you most likely have a problem with the tension in the system’s springs — falling indicates too little tension, and lifting indicates too much.

5. Check the Door’s Auto-Reverse

The auto-reverse feature on a garage door opener ensures that if something — or someone — is in the path of the door, the door will not close. Instead, the door stops and reverses. Auto-reverse is a vital safety feature that prevents injury to you and others as well as damage to your belongings. Photo eyes on either side of the garage opening just above the floor produce a beam that, if something or someone breaks, will prevent the door from closing. To maintain this safety system, you should:

• Clean the lenses of each photo eye with a clean cloth.
• Check that both sensors have a steady light.
• Adjust the sensors if one of both of the lights are flashing.
• Test the sensors by interrupting the beam with an object like a block of wood and trying to close the door.

If your garage door begins to close then stops and opens again, the problem could be the photo eye sensors, so troubleshoot the issue with the above steps. Sunlight can also impact whether your garage can close, as it affects the photo eye sensor. In that case, a professional can recommend a sun shield or other solutions.

Trust the Garage Door Repair Experts

Your garage and entry doors are essential investments. These entryways improve your home’s facade and provide priceless security for you and your family. For the ultimate protection, look no further than Hunter Door. We are committed to keeping your doors functioning and safe for years to come. We are expert door installers that can repair any brand.

If you need trustworthy garage door repairs, call the professionals at Hunter Door. We offer garage door repairs for homeowners throughout South Jersey. Since 1969, Hunter Door has answered the call for the garage door needs of Burlington, Camden and Gloucester County residents and provided reliable repairs and maintenance.

Garage doors are heavy, and opener systems are under a lot of tension. Without the experience we have, the average homeowner could not safely conduct required maintenance and repairs for their garage door and opener. With our commitment to minimizing inconveniences and offering garage door repair in New Jersey, we’ll get a trained, background-checked technician dispatched to your home right away.

Hunter Door — Your Source for Garage Door Repairs in South Jersey

For responsive, reliable and experienced garage door repairs in South Jersey, work with us at Hunter Door. With over 50 years of garage door repair and service knowledge, our professional technicians will restore your garage door to a safe and reliable system.

Contact us today to request an estimate or local garage door repair. We know a garage door in need of repair can slow down your busy life, so with Hunter Door, you’ll get efficient, affordable and high-quality service. As the trusted garage door repair and service company in South Jersey, we aim to provide residents with exceptional repairs, maintenance and products.