You most likely have paid very little attention to your garage door springs if you are like most home owners. While understandable, this carelessness is also a little bit unfair. There's definitely no other part in your overhead door and garage door opener that is more vital to the raising and closing of the door. That's just one reason for giving some recognition to the springs. Here's another: Overhead door springs are dangerous! Very hazardous, in fact. Do yourself a favor and read Garage Door Safety Tips before thinking of repairs or replacements.
In the event that you are having trouble with your overhead door, it can be due to some problem with the springs. Overhead door springs sometimes break, and they can be replaced. There are companies out there who offer replacement springs to DIYers, and there are DIYers who have correctly and successfully replaced their own springs.
This post is not a how-to on overhead door spring replacement. It is designed to acquaint you with garage door springs and a number of the service duties you can execute by yourself.
Two Types of Garage Door Springs
There are two different sorts of springs used in overhead door. Torsion springs are attached just above the closed down overhead door, while extension springs are located over the upper tracks on both sides.
Overhead door Springs and Your Basic safety
Garage door springs are tightly wound, meaning they are under a lot of tension. The moment they break, or when some naive DIYer attempts to fiddle with them, they can easily cause a great deal of suffering. Sensible DIYers know that this is one household task that is best entrusted to the expert. (For tips on finding a certified garage door professional, see How To Find the very best Overhead door Installers and Repairmen). If your overhead door is old, or if it is showing indications of aging, allow an accomplished expert inspect your garage door springs.
Utilize some garage door lubricant to the springs and watch if it makes any change. For recommendations on the best lubricating substances to apply on your overhead door, check out this site. For some additional advice on reducing the noise of your garage door, see How To Quiet a Noisy Garage Door.
Garage Door Safety Cables
The two types of garage door springs discussed above work differently. A garage door with extension springs will have a safety cable on each side of the door get more info running through the spring and attached to the wall or ceiling. These cables are an important safety feature. Extension springs are under a great deal of tension, and if one was to break, it garage door repair could cause serious injury. Safety cables help deal with a broken spring.
In the case that you have extension springs on your overhead door but can not identify any safety cords, contact a garage door professional and get a pair mounted.
Out of Balance Springs
The best sign of a well-functioning overhead door is that it opens up and closes down easily and quietly. Try operating the garage door by hand (pull the cable secured to the arm connecting the rail trolley system to the door). If the door continues to be tricky to operate, the issue might be that the springs are out of balance.
Garage Door Spring Brackets
Garage door springs are attached to brackets on the bottom of the garage door. Similar to the springs, those brackets are also under a great deal of tension and should only be adjusted or otherwise serviced by a master. Newer versions of garage doors have tamper-resistant brackets that prevent the newbie yet curious among us from getting into trouble.