Ideally, a new garage door is planned for. It’s a great way to improve curb appeal, temperature regulation, and let natural light into the garage.
Unfortunately, many homeowners find themselves in a situation where they have no choice but replace their garage door because their current one has been damaged beyond repair.
*Many of the most common garage door models are no longer in production, so one damaged panel could mean a whole new door!
These are three common ways that garage doors get destroyed:
Hit by a Vehicle
This is most common in homes with extremely short driveways – people try to park too close to the door because they would otherwise leave their vehicle hanging over the sidewalk or street. There’s not much to say besides don’t feel bad if this happens to you, it is incredibly common.
Flimsy Metal Doors Bend and Crack
Low quality metal doors can fall apart on their own simply through use. For the last few decades, garage doors have been a prime area for home builders to cut corners (with cheap products that are put up FAST by inexperienced installers).
Most new homes come with light duty doors – after all, they all look the same from the front. Several models, especially the ubiquitous Wayne Dalton 9100/9600 series, are known for the hinges pulling out. The thin metal construction means that they tend to strip out and are difficult to reattach (but I have a technique for this).
that accounts for more than the first two combined. It is a ticking time bomb.
Flimsy non-insulated doors also tend to bend and eventually crack in the center. This is especially common with 16 foot wide doors, which are the standard for two car garages – in the open position, they aren’t strong enough to support their own weight (which is well over 100 lbs for even the lightest duty doors).
If you catch it early, this can usually be reinforced before it is so bad that the door is ruined. I recommend that all non-insulated doors have an additional reinforcing strut added to the second section. This is an inexpensive fix that can save you the cost of a whole new door.
But in terms of total number of doors damaged and destroyed, there is one thing that accounts for more than the first two combined. It is a ticking time bomb.
Improper Garage Door Opener Installation
There are a few things that must be done in a specific way when a garage door opener is installed:
- It cannot be mounted too high above the door. If it is, the opener arm will push down on the top section as the door closes instead of driving it forward. This is extremely common with DIY opener installations since the hanging material that comes out of the box might not be long enough.
- The opener arm that attaches to the door must be at the correct angle when closed. Otherwise, it will pull backwards on the top of the door instead of upwards on an angle that matches the turn in the track.
- The opener arm mount should be reinforced, not screwed directly into the door.
- Most importantly, the “force sensitivity” must be adjusted so that the door will stop moving if it encounters unexpected resistance while both closing AND opening.
A bad opener installation is extremely sneaky. Your garage door could go for years without having any obvious problems. But eventually something will go wrong. The spring, which counterbalances the door and makes it feel light, will break one day – guaranteed. It happens to every door that gets used regularly (here’s more information about broken springs). If the opener doesn’t stop pulling when it feels that the door has become dead weight, it will pull until it cracks the top of the door, damaging or destroying it.
There is also the risk of the door hitting something while it is moving. Garden tools stored next to the track, car bumpers, kids toys, and boxes on shelves are the common culprits. If it doesn’t stop, it will bind and go crooked, the lift cables will pop off the drums, and the whole door can end up coming out of its track.
I love garage doors and hate to see them needlessly destroyed. Therefore, I charge a meager $79 to do a garage door “Wellness Check”. This covers double checking the key points of your door and opener installation, lubrication, and adjusting the opener’s force settings if needed. It is a quick and affordable way to make sure nothing tragic happens to your garage door.
Reach out today at 503-545-5762, info@beezgaragedoors.com, or use the contact form below
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