Stanley Garage Door

Overhead garage doors are of two types. They can roll up in sections, or they may swing up as one piece. Both of these two types operate on spring tension. Metal tracks present on the garage walls are the paths along which the door moves. The power is provided by hefty springs. Repairs of the door when it fails to move smoothly can be done quite easily.

First, check the metal tracks and the mounting brackets that fasten the tracks with the garage walls. If the screws at the brackets are loose, tighten them. Close the garage door and move inside the garage. Then examine the tracks for the presence of dents or creases. In case there exits a damaged spot, use a rubber mallet or a hammer and some scrap wood to strike those out. However, if the tracks are damaged at several places, you would do better to replace them altogether.

The second task would be to check whether the tracks are properly aligned. This can be ascertained with a level. Horizontal tracks are supposed to slightly slope back towards the inside of the garage. The vertical sections of the tracks of roll-up doors should be accurately perpendicular. The tracks should reach the same height on the garage wall. You may try to realign the tracks yourself by slackening the bolts or the screws that support the mounting bracket, but without removing them, and carefully beating the tracks back into their correct position. After the work is done, you should confirm if the tracks have been returned to the proper location, and after that tighten the screws or the bolts.

The tracks in roll-up garage door are somewhat more complex because these bend from vertical to horizontal. You must ensure that both the parts are aligned accurately.

The third step in routine maintenance of garage doors is to cleanse the tracks and remove hardened grease and accumulated dirt. This can be done using any household cleaner. The rollers must be cleaned scrupulously. After all the parts are cleaned, these should be wiped with a dry cloth so that these are not left damp.

Garage door lubricants are available in spray forms that can be applied on the tracks and the rollers as well to lubricate these parts. Otherwise, lubrication of the track can be done using graphite powder, and the rollers can be greased using silicone sprays, or even household oil. Pulleys, if present, need to be lubricated using the same material that is to be used for the rollers.

All loose hardware must be tightened. Proper maintenance of garage doors is imperative to prevent undue wear and tear and for ensuring longer lifespan of the garage door.

Garage Door Repair

Sometimes, your garage door is not functioning the way it should. For simple problems, you could almost certainly do some of the fixing yourself. Here are some common garage door problems you can repair yourself:

Your garage door goes up and down by itself. No, it’s not the bogeyman. The explanation is actually simple – there must be someone in your neighborhood that uses a security or access code similar to the one you are using. This can cause interference with your radio receiver. Radios in police cars and airplanes also have the same effect. How do you make sure this does not happen again? Simply change your code.

The process for changing a security or access code differs from one garage door opener to another. As a general rule, you just need to hold the transmitter close to the opener’s box and push a certain transmitter button for thirty seconds (consult your manufacturer’s manual to find out what button to hold down). Most openers that are new models are equipped with a rolling code that changes automatically once the transmitter is used.

Your garage door goes halfway down and back up when you try to close it. In this case, you might y be using a garage door that has a safety sensor system that detects if there is any obstruction to the door coming down and tells the machine to pull the door back up. Your door automatically opens up again when it senses any obstruction – a bucket or broom, maybe. Just remove the obstruction and your door should again work perfectly.

This problem may also happen if your sensor’s lenses are dirty, dusty or has a condensation built up (sometimes spider’s web). The system will think that something is in the way, causing the door not to close. Keep the lenses clean.

Nothing happens when you press the transmitter. If you suspect that your transmitter is not working, you may want to change the battery or look for the power source to see if it is working. If this does not fix it, your transmitter might be damaged and needs to be replaced. Call the service company.