How often do you get your garage door serviced?

[NsXMas]

My garage door was making a "click - clak" sounds recently. I couldn't figure it out.

This morning I did a detailed inspection and found out that one of the bracket holding the garage rail was coming loose from the ceiling!

I called for service asap, and got a technician out here to fix the bracket attachment to the ceiling. He also adjusted the springs, replaced a nut that was missing off a door bracket, and lubricated the door.

The ironic thing is not more than 5 minutes after he left, the garage door opener stopped working (nothing to do with his service). Apparently it timed out after I opened and closed it so much in a short period of time. Thank goodness the service technician didn't have to return.

I wonder how often people have their garage door serviced. I take maintenance of the door pretty seriously. Any malfunction may damage my cars or my family.

 

[Zuerst]

The spring in my garage lasted about 7 years and snapped last summer and a technican was called in to replace the spring. I remember I was taking a shower and I heard a BANG! from the garage. Could be life threatening if one doesn't know exactly what they're doing because of the extremely high tension of garage door springs. That's the only time my garage needed professional service. Meanwhile the garage door opener is still going strong 8 years after the install.

 

[lemansnsx]

The spring in my garage lasted about 7 years and snapped last summer and a technican was called in to replace the spring. I remember I was taking a shower and I heard a BANG! from the garage. Could be life threatening if one doesn't know exactly what they're doing because of the extremely high tension of garage door springs. That's the only time my garage needed professional service. Meanwhile the garage door opener is still going strong 8 years after the install.

There is supposed to be a safety wire running through that spring!!!
The same thing happened to me years ago at my parent's house - I was IN the garage at the time - scared the cr*p out of me!

 

[peiserg]

just this week my mom's garage door opener quit working, something about a loose track, that jammed the door. too bad her car was stuck in the garage till the guy was able to fix it.

we did have a "handyman" come and work on the garage once....Now he is just a "man" since he lost the "handy" part when the spring he was working on popped (or something..not sure what) and ripped his hand apart...

 

[hlweyl]

Last saturday I replaced both of my garage doors with new clopay doors with glass. The old doors were a cheap compressed wood/cardboard material that had to be scraped and painted every year so the new ones are a nice upgrade.

I have learned that there are two types of springs used. Torsion springs and extension springs. Torsion springs are mounted above the door against the wall and ARE NOT!!! a diy project. You can lose your life. Luckily mine were extension springs and quite easy to change. They run above the horizontal portion of the door track, perpendicular to the door.

Labor almost doubles the price of a single door and 2 doors took my wife and I about 5 hours total. That includes hooking the garage door opener back up and adjusting.

 

[lemansnsx]

just this week my mom's garage door opener quit working, something about a loose track, that jammed the door. too bad her car was stuck in the garage till the guy was able to fix it.

That happened to my (former) next-door neighbor. The wife was home alone and needed to leave for a medical appointment. She called the police and got told there was nothing they could do so instead of seeking help from any of the neighbors she puts the car in reverse and FLOORS IT! She was a bit wacky to begin with...
When I came home that afternoon I thought that there had been a gas explosion - and the look on her husband's face when he came down the street was absolutely priceless!!!

 

[lemansnsx]

I have learned that there are two types of springs used. Torsion springs and extension springs. Torsion springs are mounted above the door against the wall and ARE NOT!!! a diy project. You can lose your life. Luckily mine were extension springs and quite easy to change. They run above the horizontal portion of the door track, perpendicular to the door.

You are correct: the torsion style is NOT something for the homeowner to mess with. If you have the more common coil-spring style do yourself a big favor and look to see if they have a safety wire running down the middle of the coil and securely fastened at each end. Go out to the garage and look now while you are thinking about it. If one of these springs lets go when you are in range you are in for at least a nasty scare and possibly serious injury, even death.

 

[4AU4LIFE]

Mine broke while I was at work and the wife was home asleep. She jumped out of bed freaking out! I didn't have any clue what it was till I got home and the damn door wouldn't open.
I now have double spring and lifetime warranty for $125.