Don’t Wait for Spring Breaks: Replace Garage Door Springs Before They Fail

Garage door springs are so reliable that most people don’t notice a problem until the springs completely malfunction. However, waiting until it’s too late may cause further damage to the door or cut off the homeowner’s access to the garage, compounding the issue.

Here are the most common reasons why garage door springs suffer damage, along with some helpful maintenance tips.

Rust buildup

The springs need regular lubrication to function correctly. As the rust spreads, it eats away at the steel and weakens the springs. Over time, the coils won’t withstand constant movement, causing the springs to break. Older doors come with only one spring, and when damaged, homeowners are left with no way of opening their doors.

Springs exposed to wet or humid climates are particularly prone to rust accumulation. Engaging a professional ensures that both the door and springs remain in perfect condition.

Colder weather

Sudden temperature drops impact the life span of garage door springs. The coils become more fragile due to the cold and snap easily. The increase in moisture also raises the chances for corrosion.

Increased usage

We measure the durability of garage door springs with a certain number of cycles. Whenever the springs work to open and close a garage door, it counts as one cycle. The standard spring can perform up to 10,000 cycles, equating to about 6-10 years of operation. However, when homeowners use their garage as an additional home entrance, the springs will quickly go through their cycles.

Frequent use may damage the steel or stretch out the coils, causing the door to malfunction. It’s best to use the garage door only when necessary to help the springs last longer.

Door jams

Dust, dirt, and waste latch onto the edges of the door, infiltrating the cracks and crevices. When this buildup grows, it stops the roller and jams the garage door. This puts pressure on the springs, wearing them out until they stop working correctly. Alternatively, they could cease functioning altogether or leave the door halfway open.

Improper maintenance

Applying a silicone-based lubricant to the door springs twice a year will combat rust and maintain the garage door system’s high performance. When trouble occurs, fixing the issue without professional help can be dangerous and expensive. Inexperienced homeowners without the proper tools could damage other elements of the door system.

Garage doors are also weighty, and mishandling them can lead to bruising, abrasions, and even severe injuries.

Not replacing all the springs

Homeowners usually have a technician replace only the malfunctioning spring. However, the first failure is a warning sign that the second spring will soon fail. Replacing both springs helps the door system last longer and spares homeowners from the cost of additional repairs. Also, using a newer spring in tandem with an old one puts pressure on the door roller and may result in more extensive damage.

Contact a reputable garage door service today

Broken springs endanger the other elements of the garage door system and the home’s safety. Once homeowners notice a problem with the springs, it may be too late to avoid costly replacements.

Reaching out to a professional team ensures that the springs are healthy and working correctly. Through regular inspections, they’ll identify the weak spots and replace the damaged springs before they can harm other parts of the door system.

The Importance of Lubricating Garage Door Chain

Garage doors open and close every time we push a button—until they don’t. While the doors are built to withstand bad weather and impacts over a long period, they still require maintenance to get them up and running again if something goes wrong.

One of the standard procedures to care for the garage doors is lubricating the door chain. The chain is responsible for pulling the doors open and closing them again. For that reason, it gets a lot of use and wears over time.

Lubricating the garage chain might not seem important now, but it’s better to do it regularly than put it off until it’s too late.

Benefits of lubricating the chain

The garage door chain needs lubrication to perform effectively. Here are the main benefits of periodic maintenance:

Smooth operation: A well-lubricated chain ensures no snags while the doors are opening or closing.
Prevent damage: Garage doors are bound to break down eventually. However, lubing up the chain will help prolong the door’s lifetime and minimize damage.
Save money: Regular maintenance of the garage doors can help prevent significant snags or damage. In severe cases, the doors and the entire mechanism would need to be replaced entirely, which can be costly for a homeowner who has more than enough on their mind already.
Lower noise: A rusty old chain will make unwelcome rattling noises when the garage doors open or close. A high-quality lubricant will help the process be as quiet and quick as possible.

What products to use

Most people would usually grab the trusty old WD-40, but it is not a viable replacement for a high-quality chain lubricant. While the water-repellant oil-based formula will remove some rust from the chain, it won’t provide the long-term lubrication it needs to work correctly.

Check the garage door specifications to see if they mention particular lubricants to use on the chain. Otherwise, contact a garage door service. They know the specific models of chains and doors and will provide accurate advice on the best product to use for your chain.

Cleaning the door chain

The first step in the cleaning process is to turn off the power to the garage doors. It prevents the doors from opening by accident while a new coat of lubricant is being applied.
Before applying the lubricant, the chain and surrounding parts need to be cleaned thoroughly for old grease, lubricants, dirt, and rust. Piling more lube on without properly removing the previous application will make the chain more likely to clog or deteriorate faster. Keep old rags at hand, as cleaning old chains can quickly become a messy ordeal. Also, we recommend using eye protection.

Once the chain is cleaned up, apply the lubricant of choice to the entire chain, making sure to cover both sides and ends.
Lastly, plug the power back in and test the garage doors a few times. If there’s still some noise or difficulties opening or closing the doors, use a bit more lube.

Sometimes, the doors might not work, even with adequately lubricated chains. If that’s the case, don’t hesitate to call us to inspect the doors and troubleshoot any problems.

Broken Garage Door Remote?

Is your garage door remote broken?

If the day arrives that you drive up to your garage door and it doesn’t respond to your door remote, we hope that you have the key for your front door, or someone else is home who can open the door for you. In any case, we have created a list of reasons the garage door won’t open or close to help you troubleshoot the possible issues. Here are some tips to help you get your garage door working again:

If the remote won’t close the door

If you try to use the garage door remote, and nothing moves, but the wall control still functions, it might be an issue with the eye sensors. So long as they’re lined up correctly and are clean, the light on the eye sensor ought to be glowing and not blinking.

If the door closes, but immediately goes back up, it could be a couple of things. The first is that there’s something in the way of the door closing. Another possibility is that the door’s open and close limits are incorrectly set. Your garage door works by identifying when it hits the ground. It will register that there’s a foreign object and stop. To get assistance with calibrating the limits, consult the owner’s manual.

If there’s an extra remote, try using that one too. If it doesn’t work, there are a few more things you can try.

Identify the power plug on the ceiling and investigate if the remote has been unplugged. It’s startlingly simple, and yet so often it is overlooked.

Next, look at the control pad. It may be locked, which will prevent the door from opening. Try unlocking it and see if that fixes the problem.

If only one of the remotes has failed, there are two possibilities. The first is that the battery needs to be replaced. The other is that it needs reprogramming. Since every garage door is programmed differently, you might need to consult your instructions or investigate online programming tips.

Signal interference

Occasionally, LED lights inside the garage can prevent a remote from working. The lights can block the signal from the remote to the antenna. In this situation, you may want to change the light bulbs to CFL. Also available are Genie LED bulbs that work without creating any interference.

Mysterious happenings

If your garage door opens and closes mysteriously without prompting, you might feel like there’s a ghost in your garage, someone else’s remote is on the same frequency, or that burglars have found a way to open the door. Usually, it isn’t as exciting as that. There might be a short circuit. It’s not as enthralling as the other situations, but it’s the most likely to occur.

If your garage door remote doesn’t work anymore, or the door has stopped working, consider these suggestions. If you can’t get your garage door working on your own, call us. We would be more than happy to help.

Arizona Garage Door & Repair offers professional, affordable garage door tune-up, repair, and replacement services for Phoenix Valley area residents. Same day and emergency service! Call 602-600-6069 today!

Avoiding Garage Door Injuries

For every home, a garage door serves more purpose than one, making lives easy and convenient. Homeowners often don’t pay heed to the fact that garage doors can be unsafe if not used carefully. The fact that they cause around 30,000 injuries and several casualties every year is enough to consider them as a hazard. A garage door is one of the heftiest moving objects in a home, weighing over a hundred pounds; therefore, it is essential to be conscious of its dangers. Most garage door injuries occur either due to the carelessness and thoughtless actions of the victim or the malfunctioning of the door.

It is vital to not only be aware of the potential dangers posed by a garage door but also the ways to avoid it, helping to ensure the safety of yourself and the family.

Moving garage door

Though modern garage doors come with sensors and other technologically advanced features that make them a lot safer, injuries caused by a lowering garage door are still very prevalent. It can happen when you try to run underneath the garage door while it opens or closes, or some component or feature of the door malfunctions. Either way, it can seriously injure you and the fellow passengers and damage the car.

The best way to avoid it is to stay away and never duck under the door when it operates. Educate family members, especially children, about the operating techniques, precautionary measures, and the potential danger or injury that may occur if they are careless with the garage door. Also, get the door regularly inspected by a garage door service and repair specialist to ensure that all the parts are working.

Fingers getting caught in the sections

It is another common cause of garage door injury, which is easily avoidable. Getting the fingers caught in the tracks is not only painful but can also result in broken bones and amputation, owing to the heavy weight of the door.

To avoid accidental trapping, keep both fingers and toes away from an opening or closing garage door.

Being locked in

A garage door has many components that aid in its smooth operation. If the door’s springs are old, outdated, loose, or cracked, it will lead to total operation failure, leaving you locked in the garage. If you stay stuck for long in an unattached garage, it can cause dehydration and other problems.

Get a professional to regularly inspect the springs and repair or replace them as needed to ensure the springs are in good condition.

Some of the other points that should be kept in mind to avoid injuries

Keep the remote control of the garage door opener out of children’s reach.
Get the door inspected at least once a year by a professional garage door repair and service company.
Never attempt DIY garage door repairs.
Stay mindful of the sharp edges on the tracks
Install photo eye-sensors.
Don’t let the children hang from the garage door.
Replace the glass of the windows in the garage with shatterproof glass.

Many garage door injuries can be easily avoided just by being a little cautious. Make sure that the door is installed correctly, and call a professional to carry out regular garage door maintenance.

Repairing Garage Door Dents

Garage doors not only serve to keep your home safe and secure, they can add to the overall look of your property, and increase your property value. The garage doors of today are available in wide variety of materials including wood, vinyl, aluminum, steel, and fiberglass.

Among the many materials available today, aluminum garage doors really stand out, as they require minimal maintenance – until, that is, it is dented from some foreign object or scarier still, your vehicle.

Whether it is the result of inching the Honda a bit too far, the handiwork of your kid’s bouncing balls off of it one too many times, or for any other everyday occurrence (or not so everyday!), the ugly truth is that garage door dents happen. More often than we’d like.

You may feel the urge to run out and purchase a new garage door. But replacement is not your only option. Minor garage door dents and dings are relatively easy to repair. You will, of course, need to gather a few tools and materials to pop the dent out.

What You’ll Need

Here are the items you will need to perform garage door dent removal:

Clean water
A Sponge
A clean cloth/rag
A medium bucket
Ordinary dish soap (Dawn)
Quality aluminum foil
A lighter or similar source of heat
An air compressor or can of compressed air

What You’ll Need to Do

Fill the bucket with water and add 1 teaspoon of dish soap. Mix well.
Thoroughly wash the dented area with a clean sponge.
Rinse the area with clean water and dry it with a clean cloth/rag.
Once the area is dry, cut off a sheet of aluminum foil that is big enough to cover the dented area, plus has some slack. Hold the foil sheet against the dent. Hold the foil with one hand only.
Using your heat source, apply heat to the foil over the dent. Move the heat source in a back and forth motion. Keep heat for approximately one minute.
Now remove the foil and quickly blast the dent with compressed air from your can or compressor. Keep the compressed air trained on the dented area for approximately thirty-seconds.

If everything works as it should, then your garage door dent will simply disappear into thin air, like magic. This is because the temperature variance between the heated garage door surface and the cold liquid from the compressed air cause the dent to “pop” out. Leaving your door looking like new.

An Important Warning for Garage Door Dents

While the above technique can be a simple, fast, and virtually free way to free your door from unsightly garage door dents and dings it is important to note that the impact may have damaged other parts of your door – such as its alignment.

To that end, it is definitely a good idea to have a garage door repair expert come out and give your entire garage door system a professional look over to make sure everything is in good condition, and that everything works as it should.

New Year, New Goals!

Every New Year brings new goals! While some people are setting fitness goals or changing eating habits, we are hoping to inspire each of you in a new way. Instead of waiting for spring, we are sending out a new years challenge to start this year on a clean slate. Or should we say, with a clean garage!

Here are our favorite tips for how to get organized this New Year!

1. The Sift Through

If you have used your garage more as a storage unit for “stuff”, instead of a place to park your car, then this is the perfect place for you to start. Over the years we all collect random knick-knacks, and when we can’t find space for them in our homes, we toss them into the garage. But not in 2015! We encourage you to sift through everything in your garage. If you can throw it away, TOSS IT! But if it’s something that you can donate, stop by a donations center like Good Will or Savers. Help bless someone else, while simultaneously doing yourself a favor.

2. No storage? Buy storage!

We try to keep this tips as cost effective as possible. But let’s be honest, if you are going to spend the time cleaning everything in your garage, invest into some necessary storage solutions. Visit your local Container store, and find the perfect storage bins or shelving. If you find that your garage is filled with loose screws, scraps of crafting supplies, bike pumps, or basketballs, you need to find the exact kind of storage that will fill your needs. This will make a huge difference in the look of your garage.

3. Clean up

Once all the unnecessary things are thrown away or donated, and the rest is properly stored away, we recommend actually cleaning your garage. Sounds more exhausting then it really is. If you have an outdoor hose that reaches your garage, we suggest hosing the floor off. (Please be careful with this step. We do not want you to hose your garage door censors, found at the bottom of each garage door tracks, and knock them off balance. So be conscious of that.)

We believe that this is going to be a great year for you! We want to be able to help you feel organized and “put together” so you can tackle everything 2015 has for you. For all your garage door needs, we can help. From garage door replacements, simple garage door repairs, or just for any of your garage door questions, we can assist you.

Contact us today at: 602-396-4717

Visit us at: Arizona Garage Door Repair