The garage door is a machine, plain and simple; and as with all machines, it is bound to breakdown every once in a while. In the instances when it breaks down you’d need the help of a professional to come fix it up.
However, in order to be in the know about what the professionals are going to fix, you have to have an idea of the workings of a garage door. This way you’ll feel less frustrated when doling out cash for repairs. You can look up the basics of garage door components and their functions on the net to give you better understanding. But here we have written a few things that could make your door function improperly, making it impossible to use if they are damaged.
It’s Spring Season
Most garage doors are equipped with springs that help to lift the heavy door off the ground. This makes your garage door springs a very important part of this contraption and one that you should pay close attention to. Springs have a life-cycle ranging from 10,000 to 13,000 stretches and contractions (for extension springs) and windings and unwinding (for torsion springs). If your springs grow weak they can make your door function slowly. It can also be dangerous: snapping springs have been known to cause severe injuries, and even death. If you notice a problem with your spring, call an expert right away.
Ruby on Rails
If you have ever seen a train, you’ll understand the function of garage door rails better. In this analogy the garage door is the train and the rails are the tracks. Heads up: the rails are also called tracks. Cool, right? The rails help to guide the door along in its voyage up and down. That said, any damage to the tracks or rails eventually mean your door will not function properly. If your vehicle damages the rails for instance, they would be unable to guide the door upwards or downwards smoothly. In severe cases the door would not go past the section of the rail that is damaged. And if not repaired quickly it may cause other components to get damaged as well.
Let’s roll up
Garage doors literally roll up or sideways (depending on the kind of door you have), and they achieve this through rollers attached to the edges of the door. Though the garage door is heavy, the rollers ease the movement up or down by reducing the friction, much like the wheels of a bicycle or a car. If the rollers go bad, it will be increasingly difficult for the springs and opener to lift the door.
Of course, there are other important components that contribute significantly to the proper operation of garage doors and this article is not in any way belittling them. However, without these three it will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to use your door.