Garage Door Maintenance: 3 Signs That Your Door Is Unbalanced
Sometimes your garage door looks odd when it opens. It could be because you have an unbalanced garage door. An unbalanced garage door doesn't just ruin your home's aesthetics—it can pose serious hazards in your home if it is not fixed immediately. However, since garage doors experience various kinds of problems, you have to know how to identify balance issues. The following are some of the signs that indicate the door is unbalanced.
Uneven appearance
If you have a roll-up garage door, the bottom should look even when the door is fully closed. However, if you notice that it looks uneven, slanted, or as if it is dented on one side, this is an indication that it has balance issues. Usually, an uneven appearance may result if you accidentally hit the garage door with your car when reversing towards the door. It could also occur if the cables or torso springs are broken or due to physical damage on the mechanical parts. Failure to fix this problem immediately can cause the door to come off its tracks and crash down, especially if there is a problem with the springs.
Erratic movements
When you open the door, it should remain up on the tracks until you close it. Similarly, it should not open on its own when you close it. However, if your door starts to close or open without any manual or automatic trigger, it may be having some balance issues. In most cases, when this happens, the door won't open or close all the way—it will hang in the middle. This may be a sign that the high-tension springs are broken; hence, they can't hold it in place. Also, there could be a problem with your opener or sensor which triggers the door's operations.
Noisy operation
A well-maintained garage door should have a quiet operation. So, if your door starts to make loud noises when you open and close it, some of its parts could be faulty. Defect in mechanical parts affects the operations of the door, and this may cause it to look uneven. If you notice weird noises coming from your door, inspect it to see whether it looks slanted. If that's the case, the door has balance issues. Note that the inspection is essential because noises could also be a sign of a lack of lubrication.
Contact a garage door service so that they can inspect your door, fix the balance issues, and restore its operations.