DIY Repair Risks and How to Save on Professional Services

The modern garage door is a model of efficiency and dependability. It was one of the first domestic devices that could be operated remotely and one of the first to be added to the internet of things. But as rugged, attractive and clever as contemporary garage doors are they are, unfortunately, neither maintenance-free nor indestructible. At some point - should you own your home long enough - something’s sure to break down on your home’s garage door. While it may be tempting to fix the problems yourself when money’s tight, this can cause serious harm to your door, jeopardize your safety, and cost much more of your hard-earned cash to fix than you’d planned to save.

In other words, most homeowners need to periodically schedule professional garage door repair and maintenance work. Still, we understand that money’s a concern for almost every American, and there’s no reason to spend more than absolutely necessary for the services you need. In this article we’re going to touch on some ways you can reduce the number of times you need to call the garage door repair company - leading to serious savings in time.

Ways to Reduce How Often You Need to Fix the Garage Door

The key to making sure you maximize ROI on your overhead door is to minimize the amount you spend on repairs and to ensure that the intended life of your garage door is not cut short. Here are the best ways you can reduce the number of times you’ll need to call for garage door repair.

Preventative Maintenance

The old adage “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure” is just as true with garage doors as it is with your own personal health. By far the best way to avoid having to call for Broomfield garage door repair is to make sure you have qualified garage door technicians in on a regular basis to conduct a top-down inspection of the door and all its components. It is during these regular checkups that small issues are spotted and dealt with before they have the opportunity to grow into big problems.

During the periodic checkup the technician tests everything from the auto-reverse feature to the rollers, drive mechanism, pulleys, springs, keypad and more. These quick inspections typically cost only a fraction of what it would cost to repair the door after a major breakdown and are always money well spent.

Fixing Problems Quickly

Sometimes unexpected things happen to the door that require emergency repair work. Perhaps a weather event causes a tree branch to slam into the door cracking and loosening several panels, or someone inadvertently backs up into the door before it is completely open. In many cases, if the door continues to operate in a more or less normal fashion after such an incident, the temptation is to let any repair work wait for a later day. This response is understandable to some degree but it’s bound to wind up costing you big in the long run and shortening the life of your door.

Loose panels change the structural dynamic of the door, leading to uneven distribution of the load. This in turn can put undue stress and strain on rollers, tracks and springs and cause the opener to have to work harder than it should. All these things will eventually wind up necessitating expensive repair work. Even something as seemingly harmless as a baseball breaking a window on the door can have dire long term consequences if it’s not repaired promptly.

Not Letting Amateurs Work on the Door

There are a lot of handymen out there who claim to know everything there is to know about almost everything; including garage doors. While we don’t want to cast aspersions on other hard-working folks trying to make a living the fact is today’s garage doors are not the manual garage doors of 50 years ago. They’re high-tech devices built to exacting tolerances and incorporating state-of-the-art materials, energy efficient motors and Wi-Fi interactivity that allows you to open and close them from the other side of the planet.

Messing up any single component of a modern garage door can have a cascading effect that winds up rendering the entire door inoperative. In which case you’re back to disengaging the motor and opening the door manually like it was 50 years ago. If you are having an issue with your garage door make sure you always call for qualified garage door repair in Boulder, CO and not the guy with the retro business card and the beat up tool box. It might be tempting to hire an amateur in order to save a few bucks but in the long run it’s bound to wind up undermining the integrity of your door and costing you big

Garage Door Springs Are Dangerous

A garage door includes up to two possible spring systems: Extension systems and torsion systems. Torsion springs are a common feature of garage doors, and broken spring repair can be dangerous if you do not know what you are doing. They sit horizontally above the garage door. When the door opens, the springs unwind, raising the door off the ground. As the door closes, the cables attached to the bottom corners force the springs to rewind.

Torsion springs hoard mechanical energy as they are wound, making them dangerous if they are damaged. If torsion springs break, a spring can unwind and project in an unknown manner. It could result in serious injury or even death.

The Garage Door Might Fall

Garage doors can weigh hundreds of pounds. An average steel door for a single car garage could weigh up to 130 pounds; a steel door for a two-car garage, up to 225 pounds. Wood, overlay, and full glass doors are even heavier – some pushing the scales at 500 pounds. A garage door that is dropped or falls while attempting DIY repairs could be deadly, cause serious injury, or damage tools and other items in your garage.

Finding the Right Company for the Job

Anytime you need garage door repair work done it’s imperative that you enlist the services of qualified professionals. But if you have no experience hiring a company to do garage door repair in Loveland or Broomfield how do you go about finding one? A little online research will turn up any number of potential garage door repair companies. Choose several and then call them and ask the following questions:

• Are you fully licensed and insured?
• How long have you been in business?
• Can you provide me with references?
• Will you provide a written estimate?
• What kind of warranty do you offer?

If they balk at answering any of these questions you should think twice about hiring them. Particularly the questions about insurance and references.

The keys to minimizing garage door repair costs and ensuring a long, effective life for your garage door are:

• Head off problems before they become serious.
• Make sure you don’t allow amateurs to work on the door.
• Find the right pros to conduct maintenance checks and any emergency repairs.

We value members of our community, whether or not they schedule our services. Whether you’re also in Parker or across the globe, we can’t stress enough that we’re not advocates of DIY garage door repairs for the sake of your safety. Garage doors are heavy, and you could be seriously injured if one fell on you. Garage door springs – basically, torsion springs – are just as dangerous. There are many reasons why you should not attempt DIY garage door projects, including the ones we have listed below.

You Might Make a Bad Problem Worse

Not even the best online video or advice from a neighbor can prepare you for working on your garage door. You may lack the necessary tools or experience or could even make a single mistake – resulting in a worse problem than before. It is tempting to try repairs on your own and save money, but the potential risks cannot be ignored. Our recommendation is to find a qualified garage door repair team in Northglenn and beyond.

You May Not Have the Right Tools

The likelihood of you having the right tools for repairs is slim to none, and we would never encourage you to play those odds. Why spend money on expensive tools you may never need again? I can tell you from experience that you will be tempted to do repairs with whatever tools you have lying around your garage – but do not try this. Such an attempt could put you in a dangerous situation, damage the door, and destroy your tools.

You Could Fix the Wrong Thing

One of the hallmarks of many DIY repairs – especially with something as complicated as a garage door – is that I have seen clients inadvertently fix the wrong thing. That leads to a more expensive repair than if you had just called me to begin with. Remember, more than 24 years in this business – plus regular training and education opportunities – has provided our team with the knowledge and experience to handle any garage door repair you can imagine.

The Repair Might Not Be Dependable

A DIY garage door repair could result in unreliable fixes. You may think you fixed whatever was wrong, but without the expertise, can you really be sure? This can worsen the problem over time, which can be hazardous.

Ignoring underlying problems could result in expensive garage door replacements, property damages, and bodily injury.

You Could Cause Permanent Damage

It is unfortunate to say but attempting repairs without knowing what you are doing could lead to permanent damage that cannot be fixed. One incorrect part, or a part installed wrong, could make the entire garage door stop working.

You Could Utilize the Wrong Parts

Every garage door includes unique parts. If you know hardly anything about a garage door or how it functions, you could buy the wrong replacement parts. And if the parts are wrong – even if they appear to work – the problem could happen again.

You Can Spend More Money Than Saved

You get what you pay for, and in this case, that could be more parts and tools than you will ever need or know how to use. If this happens, you may be forced to call a professional garage door service in Broomfield anyway.

And garage door repairs take time because of their complexity and relative danger involved. Remember what we said about torsion springs?

Work With the Experts in Garage Door Service in Broomfield

A Better Garage Door is locally owned and proud to serve. For more than 20 years, our expertise in garage door repairs and installation has earned hundreds of satisfied clients throughout Broomfield and many other communities. Contact A Better Garage Door today for a free quote at 303-920-2267, or reach out to us online for more information.