Your garage door is something you don’t typically spend a lot of time thinking about. Its sole purpose is to keep your garage and its contents safe from the elements and intruders. Unfortunately, when things go wrong with your garage door, major problems can ensue, and you may need to call for garage door repair in Lansing, Michigan. Trying to repair a garage door yourself can be a frustrating experience and can leave your home without a working garage door while you wait for a professional to come and fix the problem. Although there are many good overhead garage door repair companies in Lansing, there are many simple tricks you can do yourself that can save you time and money. Here are some of the best tips that can help keep your garage door running smoothly.
What to Do if the Power Goes Out
Some of the biggest problems that Lansing Garage Door companies see come after the power goes out. When the power goes out, the motor that opens and shuts your garage door won’t work. Luckily, most garage doors have a manual override that allows you to manually open and shut the door. When your garage door is down, you may notice a red handle on the end of a cord. If you pull this cord, you can use the cord to pull the garage door up and down until the power comes back on. If the power comes back on to your house but the door still doesn’t work, you may need to call a garage door technician to come and inspect the power supply to the motor.
Sagging Garage Door
Many garage doors, especially older ones, are primarily made from wood. These wooden models may begin to sag over time, which can make it difficult for the motor to open your door. Most garage doors come with a tool which can help straighten a sagging or warped door. If you look at your door from the inside while it is down, you may notice that there is a diagonal metal rod running from a lower corner of the door to the middle section. These rods come equipped with a turnbuckle metal piece which can be tightened to help straighten the door. If you decide to straighten your door, you should probably only straighten a little bit at a time to make sure your door has enough time to adjust to the additional tension. If your door does not have these tension rods, you can often buy them at home improvement stores.
How to Lock Your Garage Door
If you are like most people, you keep many important and valuable items in your garage. Most people think that it is impossible to open a garage door without the key fob, but this is not necessarily the case. Over time, the metal support on the inside of your door can shift, making it possible in some cases to simply pry the door up from the bottom. Luckily, most garage doors come with a simple solution. Many doors have two horizontal metal bars that go from the center of the door to the far side. These two bars extend onto the side of the garage door track, and when properly aligned they keep your garage door locked. If the bars are out of alignment, you can realign them to ensure that they properly line up into the locking slot and keep your door shut.