It is common knowledge that garage doors are designed to carry huge amounts of weight. Just think for a moment, what would happen if a garage door is operated despite being off-track. There is a huge possibility that the garage door will fail mid-operation because of insufficient support.
A garage door that breaks down while in motion can cause a lot of trouble for you. Not only will it interfere with the purpose you were using your garage door for, but it can also cause damage to your person as well as your property. Read on to find out about what causes a door to go off-track and how you can timely repair it.
Why fix an Off-Track Garage Door immediately?
Garage doors are big mechanical objects that are designed to be used daily. To use your vehicle once a day, your garage door will have to open and close twice, first to let you out and then to let you in. This makes up 1,460 yearly cycles of your garage door. Using your car more than once a day amounts to even more cycles per year.
Since the majority of homeowners use their garage doors as a key entranceway into their homes, this means that a garage door is used multiple times daily. If your garage door is off track, its continual usage can result in your garage door breaking down, leaving you no choice but to Buy a New Garage Door. Additionally, a malfunctioning garage door can cause a major accident that could harm your property as well as your loved ones.
Repairing an off-track garage door:
If you are looking for a way to repair your off-track garage door, here is the only thing that you should do – call your local garage door experts. You should never attempt fixing an off-track garage door by yourself. This is because repairing an off-track garage door requires you to tinker with powerful springs which, if handled unskillfully, could turn into projectiles thus causing you a serious injury.
Furthermore, the sheer weight of an off-track garage door makes the door handling extremely hard during the repairing process. Therefore, fixing such a door requires you to be proficient with complicated strategies and possess sufficient subject knowledge, without which you will end up causing more harm than good.
This is why we always recommend calling a certified garage door mechanic who is skilled to tackle and fix such complicated problems properly in one go.
What Causes an Off-Track Garage Door?
Even if you are habitual in maintaining your garage door regularly, several factors can cause your garage door to come off its tracks. Here are some of the most common reasons behind an off-track garage door:
Getting hit by a car
More often than we care to admit, we tend to hit the garage door accidentally while trying to back out of the garage in a hurry without allowing the door to completely open first. This can result in damaged garage door panels, and in severe cases, may require you to replace your garage door with a new one.
In minor cases where a garage door gets hit by a vehicle moving in or out of the garage, the impact causes the garage door to jam up, or in worst cases, fall completely out of its tracks.
Broken Garage Door Springs
Over time, the extension and torsion springs of a garage door tend to wear out and break. These springs are in charge of the smooth and even movement of the garage door. If even one of the springs becomes unfunctional, it could cause the garage door to lift and lower in a lopsided manner, ultimately causing a door jam. Continual use of a garage door in such conditions can lead to the breakage of the rest of the springs as well, causing the door to fall out of its tracks.
Broken Garage Door Cables
Garage door cables connect your garage door to the springs. These cables endure an enormous amount of strain as they support the weight of a moving garage door. If one of the lifting cables breaks, the second becomes overburdened with the weight of the entire door, which can cause it to break as well. Just like the broken springs, broken garage door cables also make the door lopsided, causing it to get stuck mid-operation or become unable to fully open or close
Bottom line:
Like all mechanical objects, garage doors require maintenance and can break down at a certain point. Most of the repairs concerning a garage door can be done at home using a DIY tutorial, however, some repairs require a rather skilled approach and technical expertise. An off-track garage door is one such feat that requires professional handling that should only be carried out by a garage door expert.
So why go through all the trouble of attempting a DIY when you can hire the services of the best garage door experts near you. Call Elite Garage Door & Gate Repair and get your off-track garage door fixed today.
Author Bio: Ran Kroynish is an experienced handyman who’s been working for Elite Garage Door & Gate Repair for 10 years. When he’s not fixing garage doors, he likes to share his repair ideas and knowledge with others.