If you have never done repairs to your garage door, you might be forgiven for removing an entire garage door just to fix one of the torsion cables. Repair work requires a certain level of expertise, but luckily, even those who have never done similar jobs before can do it successfully. DIY can be a cost saver in such instances and more so because of the little cost involved to complete a job. The following steps will help anyone to feel like an expert as they find and fix problem on their garage door.
Inspect the profile of the metal tracks on the inside of the garage – if the tracks lack a definite path, it means that the garage door is unstable and needs to be fastened tightly. This is the time to look for the cause of this instability. An inspection of the wall mounting bracket which is the point at which the garage door is fixed to the wall should be able to offer greater insight into the extent of garage repairs needed. The best side of the garage door from which to look for defects is the inside because the low lighting compared to the outside. Any damaged spots on the door can be repaired by simply pounding on them with a rubber mallet, block of wood or hammer.
Check for the alignment of the tracks – a level is the best tool to use in checking if the tracks on both the horizontal and vertical sections are in line. On the horizontal side, the tracks should be slightly slanted towards the back while on the vertical, the tracks should be plumb. Misaligned tracks can be loosened without the need to remove bolts or screws. Every time there is an adjustment, the level should be used to check if proper alignment has been achieved.
Clean the tracks – garage door repair Sherman Oaks cleaning should involve removing hardened grease and dirt on the tracks. Concentrated household cleaner is a good solution for removing garage dirt from the rollers and tracks. Commercial gate repair done occasionally will help reduce the level of dirt accumulation gained on garage surfaces.
Check if any hardware has become loose and tighten – especially swing-up doors that have springs mounted on them, check to see that the screws are tightened. Hinges on doors that hold them together should be tightened to ensure that the door remains closed shut when it is closed. At times the door due to loose hinges sags and this causes the door not to fit in the doorway. Servicing the hinges often corrects this. In cases where there is a crack on the hinges, the hinge should first be removed before the cracks are filled with food filler and the hinge re-fixed.