An off-track garage door is a major inconvenience and can cause enormous frustration. It can also cause property damage and serious injuries. Fortunately, fixing off-track rollers is a simple DIY project.
How to Identify if Your Garage Door is off Track
The first step for DIY garage door repair is to identify the source of the problem. When a garage door is off-track, it may get stuck, hang loosely from the tracks, or sit at an awkward angle.
If you experience any of these issues, don’t attempt to force the door open or closed. Trying to force a door to work is dangerous and could bend your tracks, cause more rollers to pop out and damage your system.
Knowing why your garage door came off-track can help you prevent the situation from happening again. Most garage doors have between 10 and 12 rollers, and if any come off the track, you can spot them with a quick visual inspection. Taking care to ensure your safety, enter your garage and look at the tracks mounted on either side of the door. Common causes for garage doors to come off the tracks include:
- Damaged tracks: Bent or damaged tracks can force rollers out of alignment.
- Loose tracks: The vibration of your door can loosen the bolts that hold the tracks in place.
- Force and impacts: If you hit your garage door with your car, you could send rollers off-track.
- Dirt and lack of lubrication: Built-up dirt and grime along with a lack of lubrication can throw rollers off-track.
How to Fix Your Garage Door & Why Professional Help is Best Advised.
Once you know the cause of your issue, you can be confident in your repairs and fix the off-track garage door. If your rollers came off due to a problem with your tracks, for instance, you’ll want to address the tracks before setting the rollers back into place.
If there is an issue with your garage door track causing the rollers to be off, it’s important to have a professional take care of the repair.
A professional garage door repair technician will tighten and secure all your hardware, clean your tracks using a household cleaner and lubricate all your metal hardware with a silicone spray. To fix off-track garage door rollers, they’ll follow these steps:
- Disconnect the power: Pull the rope hanging down from the motor to engage manual operation for the door.
- Align the door: Line the rollers up to the spot where they jumped off the track, locking the door in place with vice grips.
- Open the track: To make room for the roller, use a pair of pliers to work the track open, then guide the roller into place.
- Close the track: Using a rubber or wooden mallet, hammer the track back into shape to prevent the rollers from coming off again.
- Check the door: Open and close the door a few times to check the repair before reconnecting your automatic garage opener.
Preventative Maintenance
Now that a professional has put the rollers back on track, you can perform some simple preventative maintenance to prevent the garage door rollers from going off-track again:
- Regularly assess the rollers and track: Remember to check your rollers and track every now and then. Make sure rollers are in the proper places and that the track is free of debris.
- Apply lubricant: For the rollers to run smoothly on the track you can also apply lubricant.
Conclusion
Taking care of off-track garage doors can be a rewarding DIY project, but it’s important to prioritise safety and understand your limitations. The best course of action is to seek professional assistance if you ever feel uncertain or uneasy about any part of the repair process.
Professional garage door technicians have the skills and knowledge needed to identify and resolve complex issues, ensuring the dependability and security of your garage door system over the long term.
Keep in mind that your garage door is a vital component of your house and that both convenience and security depend on it working properly.
When necessary, you can confidently address off-track roller issues by collaborating with knowledgeable experts, ensuring a secure and efficient operation that adds value and peace of mind.