Garage Door Dilemmas

Why do garage doors malfunction? Though not the sole culprit, moisture plays a large part. It warps doors, rusts hardware, and causes framing members to rot away. While you're looking for problems, check to make sure that water is not building up around or dripping onto the door. If it is, find the source of the water and make the needed repairs at once.

Sagging Swing-Up With swing-up garage doors, sagging is the biggest problem. The reason: The lifting mechanisms usually aren't adequate to support the weight. If this is the problem, replace -- don't repair -- the mechanisms with extra-heavy-duty ones. Position them so the screws will be driven into new, solid wood.

Illustration 1: Cable slack.

Cable Slack Cable slack causes pulley-type doors to malfunction. Tighten the cable without stretching the spring; see Illustration 1.

Illustration 2: Tension spring.

Loose Tension On doors with tension springs, tighten the spring by hooking it into the next adjustment hole in the door framing or track; see Illustration 2.

Illustration 3: Torsion spring.

Note: Never try to repair or replace torsion springs (see Illustration 3). These springs are under tremendous tension and can cause severe injury if not handled properly. Call in a garage door contractor to repair or replace these.