Do Your Garage Door Springs Need Repair? 4 Ways to Find Out

Posted on: 11 April 2017

Garage doors are used every day. Unfortunately, many homeowners rarely take time to inspect the condition or even the performance of their garage doors. This makes it hard for them to spot any faulty issues early enough and they end up with costly repairs. Among the major components of your garage door is the springs. Whether your doors have torsion springs or extension springs, the daily operation of your door subjects the springs to constant stress that may cause their deterioration. Here are some of the signs that your garage door springs could be broken.

Crooked or Slanting Garage Door

If your garage door appears slanted or crooked, you could be having a damaged extension spring. The springs are usually on either side of your door and each of them pulls independently to open or close your door. Therefore, if one of the springs breaks, the side on which it was mounted will not move as it should. This means that side of the door will remain stuck in the tracks or move unevenly, which is why the door will appear crooked.

Your Garage Door Moves Slowly or Falls Too Quickly

This will happen if your garage door uses a torsion spring system. If one of the springs breaks, the entire weight of the door will be controlled by the remaining spring, which means your door will close faster than normal. If your garage door is controlled by motors that start slowly and gradually increase in speed to control the movement of the door, you may notice slow movements of the door if a spring breaks. This is because with the increased weight of the door, the motor may not reach its normal speed.

Loud Snapping Sound When You Open Your Garage Door

It is not uncommon for you to hear some noises when opening your garage door because of the many moving parts in the garage door system. Usually, squeaks are the kind of noises you will hear. However, when you hear a loud snapping sound when opening your garage door, it could be the sound of the springs breaking. Be careful when checking the springs because some parts of the springs may start falling.

Gaps in the Spring

Gaps will occur in torsion springs. This type of spring usually is tightly wound over the top of your garage door. If one of the springs breaks, it will unwind partially, leaving a visible gap.

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Tips on Choosing Security Doors

Over the last couple of years, we’ve seen an increase in burglaries where I live. While we’ve been lucky so far, my husband and I decided to increase our home security to be on the safe side. We both work long hours and like to take long holidays. This leaves our house empty all day during the week and for a good few weeks in the summer. One of the things we looked at was adding security doors to our property. I was surprised at the choice of products and solutions that are on the market, each of which has its own pros and cons. I thought other homeowners looking to beef up their security might find it useful to read about what we learned so I set up this blog!

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