When your garage door is not opening the way it should, would you immediately start searching online for ‘garage door repair near me’, or would you try to do it yourself first?
This guide will let you know whether you can DIY a garage door repair problem, or if you need to find a repair professional to do the work for you.
Garage Door Repair That You Can DIY
The difference between having a repairman or doing your own repairs is quite sizable when it comes to maintenance costs. These are a few scenarios where you can do your own repairs.
Tightening Your Garage Door
When temperatures change, whether inside or outside your garage door, it may cause your garage door’s hinges, nuts, and bolts to expand or contract. This means you will have to readjust them so that the garage door opens well.
This is something you can do yourself because all that’s needed is for you to tighten things up with your toolkit.
Lubricating Your Garage Door
Lubricating your garage door is a necessary routine because your garage door needs to move up and down and constantly rubs against other moving parts. If you don’t lubricate every now and then, the opening and closing of your garage door will be less smooth, and you will hear a lot of noise as a result of the metal parts scrubbing against one another.
To prevent your door from being damaged beyond your ability to repair, make sure you properly lubricate with a garage door lubricant.
Maintaining Your Garage Door Remote and Sensors
What happens if your garage door is not responding to you? The simplest way to fix this is to replace your remote batteries and to check the sensors under your door. These sensors will be responsible for making sure the door opens and closes according to command.
If you see that the sensors are dirty or are not aligned, make sure you clean them and straighten them in place.
Replacing Your Weather Seal
Your garage door’s weather seal stops rain, debris, and more from entering your garage, especially during extreme weather. If you can see that water is coming into your garage when it rains, or that leaves and more are coming in, it may mean that your weather seal needs replacement.
It’s also easy to tell by seeing if you can see light coming into the garage from under the door.
Repairing a weather seal is simple and quite cheap to replace. All you have to do is make sure you buy the right size from the hardware store.
Garage Door Repair That You Should Not Do Yourself
While it may seem simple and cost-effective to repair your garage door all alone, sometimes it can be risky to do so and you can end up damaging the door or injuring yourself.
In reality, most of the maintenance issues with your garage door should be done by a handyman who knows what they’re doing. This prevents the possibility of accidents, which would simply cost you more. Sometimes it’s better to be safe than sorry!
These are the scenarios when you should find a garage door repair near me instead of doing it yourself.
When Your Garage Door Spring Breaks
Your garage door springs are instrumental in the ability of the doors to open and close properly. There are multiple reasons why your garage door spring may have broken.
Sometimes you’ve just had them for too long and they begin to wear and tear and grow rusty; other times, it’s because of improper maintenance, especially when you try to fix it without truly knowing how to do so.
Repairing your springs yourself involves the risks of harming yourself or breaking the entire door, which means you’ll have to pay even more for better maintenance.
Repairing Your Garage Door Tracks
Maybe you’ve noticed that your garage door is not aligned with its tracks, or that the tracks are bent or filled with debris. It may be tempting for you to try to clean or fix it on your own, but if your door is malfunctioning because of the tracks, it’s actually very dangerous to do your own maintenance.
This is because the tracks are the ones holding the garage door in place, and if something happens and they no longer do this, the garage door can collapse.
Installing Garage Door Cables
What is a garage door cable? These cables reduce tension on your garage door springs, allowing the door to move more smoothly. It also protects your garage door and from the possibility of accidents when a spring breaks.
Replacing your garage door cable is something that you can do yourself, although you should make sure you properly understand the procedures before attempting it. Otherwise, you should go with the safer option and have someone else repair it for you.
Do I Need to Find a Garage Door Repair Near Me?
Overall, you may need to find a garage door repair near me to solve most of your garage door repair issues. In some cases, however, you can choose to do it yourself. This involves tightening your nuts and bolts, lubricating your door, maintaining your remote and sensors, and replacing your weather seal.
If you don’t really know how to fix something, or if you’re slightly worried that it may be dangerous, listen to your gut feeling and call a professional!
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