What Should I Do If My Garage Door Is Out of Balance?

by Tony Hall - More by Tony Hall

A garage door is more than panels riding down a pair of tracks. It is a complicated, coordinated dance of door, tracks, springs, and opener all working together. For long-term performance, you need to make sure the door is properly balanced.

You may suspect that your garage door is out of balance if you see the doorjerking or rattling more than normal when it is going up or down; if one or all the panels not being level; or if the track itself is loose. All of these are potential signs of an unbalanced garage door.

How can you tell if your garage door is properly balanced?

You can do a few tests to check the balance of the residential garage or commercial overhead door. Before doing anything, disengage your electronic opener, since you will be performing the tests manually.

Test 1: Close the garage door completely. Then, raise it to 1 foot off the ground. The door should stay in place. Raise it up 2 feet off the ground. The door should stay stationary. Keep raising it up in 1 foot increments and make sure the door stays in place, no matter where you stop it.

Test 2: Open the garage door completely. Close the door. The door should lower in a controlled way and should not slam down when it hits the bottom.

Test 3: Close the garage door completely. Raise the door. It should rise at a controlled pace and not go up at a fast or erratic pace.

Test 4: Raise the door into the fully opened position. Check that the bottom of the door is parallel with the bottom of the door opening. The bottom should be level and straight. 

Once you complete these tests, you can engage the electronic opener again if the door is in balance.

Can I fix the garage door myself?

Don't try to balance a garage door yourself. It can be very dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. If the tests show that the door may be out of balance, the best thing you can do is call a professional, reputable garage door company, like Willow Creek Overhead Door in Amarillo, Texas. Owner Tony Hall come out and verify the balance.

In those cases where the garage door technician finds the door out of balance, the next step is to diagnose and fix the problem. Sometimes the track has worked loose. Other times, the spring tension may have become uneven. Tony can often fix the problem at hand the same day he visits your property. Contact Willow Creek Overhead Door today.

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