When Should You Replace Or Repair Your Garage Door?
You can apply the popular phrase “out with the old, in with the new” to many areas, but it’s not a complete decision-making strategy. Whenever you’re faced with options, there are usually important considerations to make. Some of these are your circumstances, needs, wants, and the feasibility of the alternatives.
Only after thinking things through effectively can you hope for optimal results. What if you have a damaged garage door? Naturally, you want the door to work right. You should be able to live and work the way you’re used to. As most people do, you want the safest, quietest, newest, and best garage door, you can get your hands on. You can go about this in several ways.
Signs That a Replacement Is in Order
Scenario One: Dented Section After Run-in with Car
Here are some things to consider:
- A safe and efficient sectional repair is not typically feasible. Sometimes, replacing the section may run you half the cost of a new door. Just get a new one then. If you do, you get a better weatherstrip, new color options, greater insulation, access to better features, a new warranty, and maybe even a window row.
- What happens when the new product you get isn’t going to match the old one because there are two doors in the garage? In the same breath, the replacement section will likely stand out because the rest of the door is faded. Based on the location and age of the garage door, this may be quite noticeable.
- If the door has been used a lot, cables, rollers, and other components could be troublesome, which is a recipe for great future expenses.
- How many service calls have you had throughout the garage door’s lifetime? Extension and torsion springs are not permanent fixtures, which means that they can fail after a certain number of uses. Imagine that happening not too long after you just replaced a damaged section.
- What is the door’s age? What is your age? The question may seem weird, but it is something to consider before making any major purchase.
- Do you intend to stay in the house?
- What condition was the door in before it got hit? Did a service call about the accident already take place?
Signs That a Repair Is Your Best Bet
Scenario Two: The Door Isn’t Working Optimally
Here are some things to consider:
- Have a thorough look at the garage door for obvious red flags, such as broken springs or cables.
- Close the garage door, and disconnect the operator from it if one is present. Proceed to open the door. If you find the garage door is noisy, close it again and lock it in place. Call your garage door repair technician to have a look at what is happening.
- If you notice any major issues, apply the principles discussed above. These include evaluating its overall condition, age, frequency of use, how long you intend to stay in the house, etc. There are a lot of scenarios in which a simple repair is your best bet.
- It’s also possible that the door may be disconnected from the operator’s drawbar arm.
Scenario Three: The Operator Is Not Working
Here are some things to consider:
- There may be no power reaching the unit.
- The photo-eyes could be out of alignment or dirty. Note that service technicians will not repair an operator that is not equipped with external safety devices, such as photo eyes. In such cases, total operator replacement is the only choice that a homeowner has.
- An obstruction could potentially be present in the opening.
- The problem is not always with the operator. Sometimes, the door is the source of the issue.
- The low voltage wiring that runs to the wall button could be broken or loose.
- The transmitter batteries could be running low. Note that it isn’t a hard task to complete a light bulb replacement.
- The age of the unit is always something to think about where an operator is concerned. That’s because the technology available in this area consistently improves, which means that homeowners can access better security and convenience than before. Unless the solution is a very clear-cut and simple one, it’s normally best to replace the operator and enjoy the benefits that come from doing so.
Let Us Assist You
Now it’s time for you to decide. Consider the position you are going to be in when the job is complete. Fixing a garage door problem requires special tools and knowledge of the techniques needed, which means a homeowner likely cannot do much. Whether the issue is fixing the current operator/door or installing new equipment, you need to question what kind of value you are getting.
The best way to do that is to think of the facts at play and evaluate the advantages and disadvantages, so you end up making the best choice. Normally, the pros outweigh the cons or vice versa.
What if you want a locally licensed company with a staff complement of highly qualified technicians? In that case, Ben’s Garage Door and Gate Supply can help you with that, so your garage door repair and replacement needs are handled efficiently.
