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Overhead doors or garage doors, in general, have become more and more common nowadays.
In an era where almost all families own a car, garages have become somewhat of a necessity.
When your garage door breaks down, it causes more trouble than good.
It inconveniences the individual a lot and puts your security at home at risk.
But, garage doors will have to break down eventually.
Even when taken care of almost every day, since it is used a lot of every day, it will eventually wear down as time passes by.
One of the most common problems you might encounter with garage doors is off-track doors.
This means that your door will not close properly due to your door being misaligned.
When this happens, what can you do to fix/repair this?
Identifying the problem
Before attempting to repair your off-track garage door, you first need to find out what is causing the problem.
There are a lot of possible things that could be causing your garage doors to become off-track. Some of these can be any of the following:
- The tracks are loose
- Dents are found on the surface of the tracks
- Lack of lubrication
- Grime and dirt accumulation
- Other loose appendages
It is necessary to know what’s causing the problem so that you may be able to act accordingly.
You cannot provide a solution after all without the cause.
There are different ways in how to approach these problems thus, depending on the problem, solutions should vary.
Being able to identify the problem will allow smooth repair on your side as well.
But after identifying the above problems, what can you do next?
The tracks are loose
First on the list are loose tracks. What can you do to fix loose tracks?
If you are experiencing off-track garage doors, then it could be due to loose tracks.
Loose tracks mean that the rails supporting the door’s rollers and guiding their movement has loosened up.
This is usually caused by the vibration being emitted by the motor and constant exposure to these might’ve loosened the screws fixing your tracks in place.
Good thing, loose tracks are such an easy fix. All you need to do is check your door’s tracks.
Try to move them and check if they are loose.
If a loose track is found, make sure to tighten them to secure your tracks in place.
It might be a good idea to replace your bolt and screws with new ones when this happens.
Dents are found on the surface of the tracks
Another possible cause for your off-track garage doors is dented tracks.
This happens due to a variety of reasons.
Dented tracks will be easy to find as they will no longer look the same as the rest as they will be somewhat deformed.
When you encounter dented tracks, all you need to do is disassemble the dented area.
Once removed, check the damage on the track.
If it is just a minor dent, then it might be possible to straighten the track again.
You can do this by hammering the dented area to fix the deformation.
However, if attempting to repair the dented part has failed, then it is best to replace it with a new part.
Replacement parts may be available in local hardware near your area.
Try to find one that fits the exact same specifications of the tracks being installed on your garage door.
Once a replacement part is available, reattach it to the area where the dented track was removed from. It should fit perfectly.
Lack of Lubrication
A garage door is a mechanism where a motor is used to open the huge door up and down. Thus, it can be considered a machine.
A garage door, like any machine, needs to be maintained and lubricated to prevent friction-related problems.
Without proper lubrication, this could cause your garage door to become off-track or even worst – can cause even other problems.
Make sure to lubricate the tracks, rollers, hinges, and springs of the garage door.
This will make sure that the parts in contact won’t cause too much friction resulting in it being stuck or causing damage to the other parts.
Dirty Tracks
Another thing that might cause your garage door to go off track is accumulated dirt.
Small quantities of dirt might not affect the performance as a whole but accumulated dirt over time can eventually harden and cause you some problems.
If this seems to be the case for you, you can fix this simply by cleaning your garage door.
It should be good practice to clean your doors every once in a while to make sure it operates smoothly, however, if you are a busy individual, cleaning consistently might be a hard thing to do.
Try checking your trucks for any dirt that might’ve been causing the rollers to get stuck.
Once found make sure you remove it. This should do the trick.
Other defective and/or loose appendages
Aside from the minor causes stated above, other possible causes may cause your garage door to become off-track.
Your garage door might be malfunctioning due to a damaged spring, cable, etc.
These parts can be hard to fix or repair on your own, especially if you lack technical knowledge.
You will also need the proper tools for this or it might even end up injuring you at worst.
As such, if all the other causes are exhausted and you find out that the cause of your off-track door might even be bigger than you think, please do hire a trusted professional.
Conclusion
An off-track garage door can be inconvenient.
Being unable to close or open your door because of this can be quite the hassle.
It also puts your home security at risk, thus, problems like this no matter how minor must be fixed immediately.
If you are too occupied to do the repairs yourself or unable to find time to examine the door or simply do not have the knowledge to do so, then we would be more than happy to do it for you.
GDR Los Angeles Garage Door has been installing and repairing garage doors for almost 12 years now and still counting.
If you are looking for someone trustworthy for the job, our skills and experience will speak for itself.
We have been offering 24-hour repair services to both our residential and commercial customers alike, leaving them satisfied with our job.
If you need someone who can do same day repair services 24/7, then we are the right personnel for the job.
Why don’t you give it a try? Contact us now!
