Get to Know Your Garage Door Support System

Get to Know Your Garage Door Support System

Considering everything about your garage, the garage door is the star of the show. Without the unwavering security it provides, you wouldn’t be able to store anything safely in your garage. Without its ability to easily and quickly open and close, you wouldn’t be able to drive your car in and out of the garage; or simply wheel out your lawn mower, snow blower, boat or anything else, large or small, you keep in your garage.

When movie stars get an award. they often thank all the people who supported them and made the award possible. Well, as the star performer of the garage, your garage door owes its ability to do so many amazing things to a long list of supporting hardware. Every piece works together in order to create the garage door’s support system. 

A Garage Door’s Support System

Without the following list of hardware, your garage door wouldn’t even be able to remain upright on its own.

Springs

Two types of springs work together to make it easy to open and close your garage door. A coil-shaped torsion spring sits horizontally above the door. It counterbalances the huge weight of the door. Extension springs located above the horizontal tracks help keep the door level from side to side.

Door Hinges

 Connecting the panels of the door, the hinges bend to allow the door to rise vertically to open and roll into a horizontal position when fully open.

Rollers

Extending off either side of each door panel, the rollers sit inside the roller tracks. They support the door vertically when it is closed and horizontally when it is open. And they allow the door to roll smoothly between the two positions

Lifting Cables

Located on either side of the door, the lifting cables keep the door stable during its operation.

Roller Tracks

Running along either side of the door from its vertical position to its horizontal position, the roller tracks guide and support the door.

Weather Stripping

Between each panel, along with the bottom of the door and around the outside of the door on the door frame, weather stripping helps to insulate the garage from outside temperatures and wind.

Most homeowners never realize the complexity of their entire garage door system. If you want to learn more about your garage door and garage door’s support system, how it works and how to keep it working, contact us at Markham Garage Doors.

5 Ways to Reduce Your Chances of Needing Garage Door Repair

You might not think of it this way, but one of the most amazing facts about your home is that you don’t need garage door repair more often.

Think about it. It’s the largest, heaviest and one of the most frequently used moving objects in your home. The next largest moving object (maybe your front door?) is a fraction of its size. Even your garage door opener, which lifts and lowers this massive moving object every day, can give you decades of repair-free operation. Wouldn’t life be great if you got that kind of performance from everything in your home, like your washing machine?

But that remarkable track record of worry-free operation can leave you unprepared. Your garage door and door opener aren’t infallible. They can break, stop working and need emergency repairs. For you, the real problem can be that when you need a garage door repair, you’ll be stranded, either inside or outside of your garage.

How to Minimize Your Garage Door Repair

While it’s not necessarily a terrible situation, the need for garage door repair can happen at inopportune times. Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce the chances of it happening.

1. Keep Stuff Away from the Door

If you’re like most people, you use every available space in your garage to store things – even your car sometimes! 

But you should never store anything too close to the door for a number of reasons. First, stacking boxes just inside the door can present a hazard of them falling on you when you open the door. 

But even storing things at the sides of the door can be a problem. The cables on either side of your door help to keep the door balanced as it opens and closes. In the closed position, the cables remain fairly close to the door, making it look like you have more space than you actually do. But when the door opens, the cables are pulled back into space just behind them. Anything you store in that space just behind the cable might get damaged when the door opens and closes, and the cables may stretch or fray over time.

2. Keep Your Eyes Peeled

You should regularly give your door and opener a visual inspection. Check that the bottom of the door meets the garage floor evenly across the width of the door. Look for signs of corrosion metal parts. And watch the path of the door as it opens and closes to make sure it moves smoothly throughout the operation.

3. Listen Carefully

Simply due to its sheer size, your garage door can make some noise as it operates. But any change in the sound it makes can be a sign of an impending repair. Any sort of grinding, scraping or other unusual sounds should be investigated immediately.

4. Make Your Garage Door Part of Your Regular Home Maintenance Schedule

“Clean the eavestroughs” is on it. So is “replace the furnace filter”. And those things get done, right? But “inspect your garage door” probably isn’t on your list of “things to do” around the house. But if you put it there, it’ll get done and you’ll be less likely to need a garage door repair.

5. Don’t DIY

Yes, your garage door is huge. It is very heavy. It’s balanced by cables and springs that are under high tension. And if you decide to work on your garage door yourself, you’ll probably need to disconnect it from the garage door opener, which means all the safety systems are disconnected. The potential for needing even more repairs to the door, and the threat to your personal safety, are very high.
Stating it as simply as possible: do not try garage door repair yourself.

Instead, call the repair experts at Markham Garage Doors at 905-472-9178!