A garage door is like a feature wall for the front of the house. It can be a subtle feature or can help your house stand out! If you like the idea of a funky garage doors, you can experiment with different colours, different textures or different styles of garage doors. I love seeing the different approaches that people use, and I like to include really cool technology trends for garage doors on my blog. Who knows what a standard garage door will look like in a few years - but isn't it fun to imagine what the future holds?!
Funky garage doors
When to Call a Contractor for Garage Door Service
Kirk Gomez
Minor problems with a home's garage door can often be fixed by the homeowner; a quick spray of lubricant along the chains can be all that's needed to get the door moving again, or you might need to remove debris inside the frame so nothing is in the way of the door. However, there are times when needed repairs to a home's garage door should be left to a contractor; note when that is, and why it's best to call a professional in these cases.
When it simply won't budge
If you've cleaned the tracks along the garage door frame and have used industrial lubricant on exposed metal pieces, as mentioned above, but the door still won't budge, you want to call a contractor. The chains, spring, arms, or other such pieces of the door have probably rusted so severely that they're now jammed and unable to move. Trying to force the door open can cause any of those pieces to break, and this could be very dangerous; you might also break other pieces of the door, resulting in an expensive and otherwise unnecessary fix.
When you've had a break-in
If the garage door is bent or broken because of a break-in, you don't want to try to fix this damage yourself. A bent door that is not fixed properly can add undue weight and stress to one side or the other, leading to even more damage down the road. If the door's track has been pulled away from the door frame, this also needs to be replaced evenly so that the door opens and closes smoothly. Leave this type of repair to a professional so you know it gets done right, and your door is secure once again.
When it hums and you can open it manually
If the garage door motor hums but won't operate the door, and if you can still open and close the door manually, there is probably an electrical problem with the opener. It can be difficult to pinpoint this problem if you're not accustomed to electrical repairs; wiring inside the motor or inside your home could be frayed, or there may be a bad chip or connection inside the opener itself. If wiring is not delivering enough power to the motor, or if the chip is not sending out the right electrical signals, the unit may hum but not engage the chains to work. Since pinpointing and then fixing electrical problems is often somewhat complicated, this is a repair best left to a professional.
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