Many homeowners complain about their garage door making a lot of noise. If your garage door is noisy, it’s because of a number of reasons, which we shall go into in this article. The good thing is, this is not usually a big deal for garage door repair professionals – noisy garage doors are easy to fix.
So what are the reasons for a garage door to make a lot of noise?
Reason #1: It’s old and worn out: This is the most common reason – it’s possible the garage door has been around for many years, and now the rollers and pulleys have been worn out or damaged because of overuse. This is not a big issue. A garage door professional would be able to replace them easily.
Another issue could be that the spring coils are bent and pushing off against each other every time the garage door is opened or shut. In that case, just get the spring replaced. You may want to get the metal rollers replaced as well, if the noise still doesn’t go away. Finally, it is very important to maintain and lubricate the garage door on a regular basis.
Reason #2: The springs and hinges have worn out – Often times, as a garage door gets old, the springs and hinges get worn out. The garage door professional shouldn’t find it difficult to replace the springs on the sides of the door.
However, the torsion springs on the top of the door are very difficult to replace, and even dangerous. Never do this yourself – this is not one of those DIY things. It can collapse on you and cause a fatal head injury. Always hire an experienced garage door professional to replace the torsion spring.
If the garage door makes a grinding noise, the problem is probably with the hinges. In that case, oil them properly and see if that reduces the squeaking sound made by the door. Otherwise, call a garage door technician and get the hinges replaced.
Reason #3: The garage door opener has been malfunctioning – Okay, so the garage door opener is causing all the noise. What sort of garage door opener have you got? There are generally three types –chain drive, belt drive and screw drive.
Chain drives make the most noise although they allow for a reasonably smooth operation of the garage door. They are also cheap, and durable and last for many years. To reduce the noise, you should lubricate the chain drive regularly.
Screw drives are not so noisy when they are new, but get worse after a couple of years. Belt drives are super efficient and make the least noise. So you may want to replace your old garage door opener with one consisting of a belt drive.
Reason #4: The garage door is unstable – The garage door may be making a lot of noise because it is unstable or unbalanced. Pull the emergency cord so that you can open and close the garage door manually to check the balance. Just lift the door as much as you can and release it. If it’s stable, it won’t move at all. If it’s unstable, it starts to fall by itself. In that case, step away from the garage door. Limit access to the garage door so that no one gets hurt. And call a garage door repair company to evaluate your garage door and repair it so that it is safe.
