Garage Door Repair

If you are in the market for a new garage door than you might be surprised with the number of options that you have. Garage doors can be of the manual or automatic variety. Automatic garage doors made of varying materials can be found but they are typically metal. A metal garage door will be resistant to the weather and will not need to be painted after purchase. Aluminum garage doors are the most common type. The only problem with most metal garage doors is that they are made of lighter metals that dent easily. Automatic garage doors are very convenient and recommended for those who park there cars in their garages or have driveway access to the garage. If your garage is mostly used for overflow storage or perhaps as a tool shop than you might want to consider a roll up garage door instead. Roller garage doors are fitted on a metal track just like an automatic garage door but are lifted up manually by pulling upwards on a handle. Roll up garage doors come in many different varieties. They can be found in plastic, wood, vinyl, or metal. Wooden garage doors are heavier and may not be suitable for those with back problems or of old age. Wooden garage doors also require re-painting. They are however durable and resistant to denting for the most part. Wood doors are also easy to customize as they can be painted to your liking and worked on to install windows. Manually operated doors, especially heavy wood garage doors, can benefit from having a chain hoist. A chain hoist makes a wooden garage door considerably easier to lift.

Garage door repair is something any garage owner will eventually face. Repairing a garage door is not an overly difficult task. You can consult the internet for help or perhaps find how to books in your local library on home repairs. Usually any problems with roller garage doors involve the garage door springs. Your garage door springs may need to be replaces, oiled, or adjusted. Problems involving an automatic garage door might require new garage door opener parts. You might find that the opening device of your automatic garage door has broken. The hand held device or motion sensor that allows the door to roll up is usually failing mechanically or being obstructed. Garage door repair can be expensive if you decide to hire a handyman. It is recommended to do the repairs on a wooden garage door yourself if you are capable of using a few simple tools and have repaired simple mechanisms before. If you have an automatic garage door and you are not familiar with the electronics involved you may want to contact the manufacturer for advice. The manufacturer may be able to direct you to a repair service if they do not offer their own. Take not of the different types of parts available before purchasing replacements. For example an angle mounted track may not be appropriate for your garage. You might need a bracket mounted track instead.

The first step you will need to take to replace a garage door is to conduct measurements. First you will want to measure width and height of the garage door opening. Take the measurements in feet and inches. This will allow you to find a replacement garage door of the proper size. The second step is to measure the amount of side room needed. This is the area from the edge of the door opening to the side of the garage. You will need 3 to 3 3/4^th inches on each side of the door frame to install a vertical track and garage door standard torsion springs. Thirdly you will need to measure the head room. The head room is the distance between the top edge of the door opening and the top of the garage itself. You will need ten inches to install a standard extension spring and twelve inched for a standard torsion spring. An automatic garage door opener will require even more head room to be installed. The fourth step is to measure the back room. This is the distance between the door opening all the way back to the back wall of the garage itself. About eighteen inches is required for most installation purposes and more is needed for installation of an automatic garage door opener.

For the purpose of creating a brief overview the installation of a garage door follows these steps: 1. remove the existing garage door, 2. install any hardware to the door section, 3. put the sections into the opening in their proper placements, 4. install the track and insert the rollers, 5. attach the springs to the track and connect the cables, 6. follow any other details that may be given in the garage door instruction manual.