One of the most common garage door repair problems homeowners face is breaking a section of the overhead door. Replacing the broken piece involves cutting out the section, welding it to the new section and securing it with new screws.
This repair is not only time-consuming and difficult, but if you do not replace the damaged section before the next scheduled garage door repair, you risk the door becoming unstable and falling. The first step you should take to repair a broken section of your door is to identify the part that has broken. Here are the most common broken sections:
Broken spring: Many garage doors have a large torsion spring installed on the bottom of the door. The springs are responsible for lifting the door up and down, and breaking them can be extremely dangerous. Even if you only have one broken spring, and factor in labor and materials, estimate that it will cost you between $150 and $ 200 to fix the problem.
Rubber Mallet: It's rare that anyone will cut a hole in a rubber mallet and successfully fix the problem. Garage doors are typically made of heavy-gauge, insulated rubber, and a broken rubber mallet in the garage door repair process can severely compromise the integrity of your garage door. Before attempting to make a repair with a rubber mallet, check to make sure the tool is loose.
If the rubber mallet appears to be jammed in its socket, remove the tool and start over with a new one. You may also want to try cutting the drum from the broken rubber; however, cutting a drum from the inside of the garage door repair job may void any guarantees of a good job.
Springs: If your garage door still does not open or close, chances are it's suffering from some type of garage door repair issue. Unfortunately, springs just don't come back like they used to. While there are numerous garage door repair companies out there who specialize in spring replacements, most do not have the time or the equipment to make such repairs unless they must. If your door uses extension springs to hold your door up, you may be able to get by with replacing the springs (bolts) with new ones, but this requires special knowledge on your part and is best left to the experts.
Electronic Door Opener: As mentioned above, the garage door repair service in Fort Washington MD that you choose depends on whether you want to have the door repair company replace the remote control, fix the batteries in the remote control, or install a new remote control with a new battery. These are all do-it-yourself jobs that most homeowners can take on themselves. However, if you are having problems with the garage door repair because your door opener is stuck in the open or closed position, then the experts are called in. They have the tools to make the necessary changes to the door openers to correct the problem. This is not something most homeowners can accomplish on their own and requires knowledge of electronic door openers.
Sometimes, the problem lies in the tracks, which need to be shimmed and smoothed out. This is another job that will need to be done by a professional to properly protect the tracks from damage and injury. Many times, when garage doors are involved, people see broken or bent track sections and assume that the damage is due to one of the other parts, only to discover later that it was the tracks that were bent. Broken tracks are a very common garage door repair, but because they often lead to injury, most homeowners just put it aside and wait for the next repairman to arrive. Be sure to have any broken or bent tracks replaced as soon as possible!