If you have a garage, chances are your garage door sees some action each day. With extensive use, keeping your garage door system in tip-top shape is important. However, even with the utmost care and maintenance, your garage door system involves a lot of parts and components, and one small issue could cause the entire system to malfunction.
One common issue that can cause your garage door to not open and close properly is a bent garage door track. The tracks your garage door’s rollers ride through are two of the most important parts of the system, but its easy to overlook them. If they become bent or damaged, the rollers will not be able to roll through them as smoothly and could potentially lead to serious damage to your property and belongings stored within your garage. If you are dealing with a bent garage door track, contact Garage Door Doctor for same-day repairs! Until then, we’ll use this blog to help you figure out what you should do if you have bent garage door track.
How Do Garage Door Tracks Become Bent?
There are a variety of ways that the tracks of your garage door system can become bents. If any of the following events have occurred or you notice signs of a bent garage track, contact a garage door contractor to perform an inspection!
Collision
While it may seem silly, there are plenty of people that hit their garage door with their vehicle. Maybe it was an unlucky day, maybe it was dark outside, maybe they thought the door was already up — whatever the reasoning, colliding into a garage door is more common than most people would think but it happens, and when it does, your tracks can become misaligned or bent.
Broken Cable or Drum
The cables and cable drums are what is responsible for pulling and supporting your garage door. If one of them breaks or malfunctions, it will release a massive amount of unsupported weight onto your garage door tracks, causing them to bend or become misaligned.
Age
Just like most things, especially with extensive use each day, your garage door tracks may become rusty or corroded. Any damage to the structure of the tracks can — and likely will — cause them to bend or become misaligned.
Obstruction
Obstructions of any kind can throw off the mechanics of your garage door system. Sand, dirt, and other grit often accumulates in the tracks and can prevent the rollers and cables from moving, and the tension created can cause the tracks to become misaligned or slightly bent.
Signs Your Garage Door Track Is Bent or Misaligned
Ideally, you’ll be able to detect when your garage door track becomes bent or misaligned before it causes any damage to the rest of your garage door system. If you notice that your garage door has slowly become stiffer overtime, or doesn’t open and close as smoothly as it used to, this is a sign that the tracks have been damaged. If you suspect that your garage door tracks are bent, its best practice to contact a garage door repair company.
Can You Use Your Garage Door With Bent Tracks?
If you detect that your garage door tracks are bent or misaligned, you should halt any use of your garage door. Further use will likely cause the damage to spread and it could even lead to your garage door falling off its track. To prevent further damage and repair expenses, its best to not use your garage door until a professional can take a look at it.
When To Contact A Professional For Garage Door Repair
As soon as you notice that your garage door track is bent you should contact a garage door repair contractor to fix the issue. If the problem is addressed soon enough, your garage door contractor may be able to realign the tracks rather than completely replace them. Regardless, a professional garage door technician will be able to repair your tracks and keep you and your garage door system safe.
If you bent garage door tracks and need garage door repair in the Indianapolis area, contact Garage Door Doctor. Request a free estimate today!
This post first appeared on https://www.garagedoordoctorllc.com