Automatic garage doors are an extremely common feature of the domestic environment these days.
When many people think of or encounter a problem requiring garage door repair they assume it is something for which they will have to call a technician or repair professional.
This person will have to come out to your house and service the garage door opener mechanism.
While in some cases this will be necessary, there are a number of things you, the homeowner, can probably handle on your own. The following is an overview of the types of problems you might experience with your garage door and some approaches you can take to fixing them.
Commonly Overlooked Problems
Before getting too fancy with anything, you should check commonly overlooked and simple causes of your garage door problem, or what might be called problems of the “duh” type. These are things that can result from simple forgetfulness or accidental actions. You would feel very silly if you had a technician come out (and you had to pay for the visit) if any of the following problems were actually the case. So check these types of possibilities before any others:
It’s possible that the garage door opener – the box like mechanism situated near the ceiling which is responsible for opening and closing the door itself – is not plugged in. This can be because someone simply forgot to plug it in, or because it has slipped out of a loose socket. An AC cord usually exits the machine and plugs into an outlet on the ceiling, or perhaps to an extension cord that runs to a wall outlet. Check to see if this is plugged in and you may have the solution to why your door won’t open or close right there.
A side note here is that even if the opener is plugged in you can try unplugging and plugging it in again. This will reset the sensors and this can be part of your problem.
Garage Door Repair DIY Articles
There are a number of other problems of this same general type:
Electrical Problems – (Click To Read Our DIY Article)
There can be a variety of problems of an electrical nature with garage doors as well. Just one example of this might be, say, wires that have become exposed, broken, or have shorted out. Problems of this may or may not be able to be fixed by a homeowner, but often they can. Many such repairs require only ordinary household items like wire crimpers, electrical tape, wire nuts or wire sleeves, and so on.
Mechanical Problems - (Click To Read Our DIY Article)
Mechanical problems with garage doors and openers are common as well. These can include things like a jammed control arm, stripped plastic gears on the box itself, and problems with latches or locks. Many of these problems can be fixed by replacing a part. How easy this is for a handy homeowner to do is based on the part and the handiness of the homeowner, but there are indeed parts easily available for many commercially easily available garage doors, and many of these are not very hard to install.
Structural and Cosmetic Repairs - (Click To Read Our DIY Article)
This category would include any repairs that need to done on the door itself such as repainting it, fixing a damaged portion, or simply replacing the door itself. This might be for weather related and energy conservation reasons or simply to improve the door’s looks, or may involve both at once. It also may need to be done so as to allow the door to open and close properly – a bent or warped door can create big problems of a mechanical nature.
Maintenance – (Click To Read Our DIY Article)
Routine maintenance is also an important part of keeping your garage door up to par and avoiding problems before they start. This is the preventative end of garage door repair. Maintenance in the short term saves you time and money spent on repairs in the long run so you should learn how to do it to at least a minimal degree.
These are some of the categories of garage door repair. Feel free to click the links in this article for more detailed information or just browse through the blog articles to find information of the specific type you need. There are quite a variety of things that can go wrong with a garage door, so it’s important to start by troubleshooting the situation and getting your best sense of what might be wrong. Thereafter it is only a matter of finding the easiest and best means of fixing it. And many times you can do this all yourself.
Useful History Related Article
The History of Garage Doors – How it all started? A short guide for handyman and other interested on the topic.
More DIY Guides That You Should Check Out
- Wooden Garage Door Maintenance and Repair – A whole different set of garage door repair priorities apply to wooden garage doors. This is because wood can rot and deteriorate in ways that the metal or laminate doors on most garage doors cannot. Thus the following are some maintenance and repair tips that deal with wooden garage doors.
- Garage Door Adjustments – Along with routine maintenance and repair of specific problems, there is another category related to garage door repair the deals with adjustments. These are adjustments that you can make to the system to insure that it is functioning optimally.
- Easy and Commonly Overlooked Garage Door Repair Fixes – Often garage door problems of the basic type that the door does not move have very simple causes. Causes that can make you feel a little silly when you find out what the real problem was.
- How to Determine if you Should Attempt a Garage Door Repair Job Yourself – The overall slant of this site is toward do-it-yourself repair. However, you may be unsure as to whether you are handy enough to attempt as certain repair or whether it is a good idea in general. The following are some criteria you can use to judge whether or not you’re the right person for a garage repair job.
- How to Program a Garage Door Opener and Remote – If you have just bought a new garage door system, have had a break in and want to change the control code for your garage door, or just want to update your system for routine security reasons, you need to program the garage door opener and the remote control.
- How to Prevent Garage Door Accidents – Automatic garage doors are a handy convenience, but it is important to use them in a safe manner. The following are some tips for insuring garage door safety for you and your family.
- How to Get into a Locked Garage: The Hanger Trick – If you’ve ever locked your garage door remote or keys in the garage (or most likely both) you know how frustrating it can be. These days most garage doors are automatic.