There are a bunch of different factors that can increase your chances on replacing your garage door, or repairing it. It depends on what’s broken and can be repaired, or what’s broken and cannot be repaired.
Some signs when you need to replace your door and all the parts entirely are:
- Your door has damage from wear and tear
- Obvious signs of damage on the door
- Your energy bills are going up
- Your door is a safety hazard
- Your door isn’t opening or closing
Brings value into your home
Replacing your garage doors is actually a pretty good investment for homeowners. first, you can recover of an average 97.5% of the cost back, and then it raises the house value up to 4%.
Every 15 – 30 years, you should replace your garage door. If you were to sell your home very close to when you installed a new garage door, then you can sell the house for more money than what you bought it for.
Disadvantages or advantages?
Let’s say a couple of springs were damaged in the process of opening the garage door, it wouldn’t be worth it to replace the entire garage door including all of the parts. instead, you could always hire a professional to fix the springs, and you’re done. But if the entire door were to be lopsided for example, it would be worth it to replace the door, with some advantages, and some disadvantages.
The disadvantage of replacing the garage door completely would be, that it would cost a lot more than just replacing the parts, it would take much more time scrapping and taking apart the door as well as installing a new one. But the advantages would be it lasts longer than repairing it, and it raises the house value by a tremendous amount.
The disadvantages of repairing a garage door would be it doesn’t last as long and there is still a higher chance of each part breaking, but the advantages would be that it is more cost-effective, and does not take as much time to do.
Why should I replace it?
Getting a new garage door is worth it, for another reason. It is an important security practice that you have a working garage door that thieves cannot get into. An old garage door without a modern lock would be easy to bust into, thus you should replace your garage door if more of your parts start to rust and wear away.
Why should I repair it?
Though repairing is a good thing to do as well, if you have a relatively new garage door, then its worth it to repair it and then to replace it entirely. Sometimes garage doors develop cracks, but depending on what kind of material door you have, it may be easy to repair. Metal and vinyl garage doors can be fixed fairly easily with a simple weld but if you have a lighter type of door, then it is near impossible to get rid of the crack. If more were to appear then it may be time to replace the door.
Professional repairing
the amount of cycles a garage door is good for is around 10,000 cycles, that with average use. It has that many cycles because of the torsion spring. the torsion spring is a very dangerous thing to try replacing yourself, because if its squeezed too hard. it could rapidly fall downward, and can cause injury or death. So it is always best to call in a professional to fix any of your parts, because of the risk of your garage door falling and crashing down.
You should immediately replace the parts of a garage door if they appear to be rusted, broken, or wearing down. they are serious safety hazards because even if a single part is missing, it’ll put more pressure on the other parts causing it to have a chain reaction.
Garage door rollers and track are a serious nuisance, and if a track was too warped then it would be a real pain to repair because of the big risk of the entire garage falling down. If both the track and the wheel were damaged, then the garage wouldn’t be usable at all in any situation.
Winter garage doors
Insulated garage doors are a very good investment. They are a bit more expensive, but they pretty much pay the bills for itself. a regular non-insulated door requires more energy so you can keep your garage heated, but since an insulated one keeps in the heat, it’s less money for you to spend on the garage door.
Garage door freezing during winter is also a big problem since it takes a while to unfreeze but for others, they have worse luck and the door breaks a piece off.
A broken door can cost thousands of dollars to repair and also leaves the door unusable. a precaution you can prepare for yourself before the winter months is to lubricate or replace your weather strips. because that might’ve been the cause of your frozen garage last year.
The garage door motor
Garage door motors come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but all perform the same basic function: to open and close the garage door. Some motors are attached to the wall inside the garage, while others are mounted on the ceiling. The type of motor you choose will depend on your needs and budget.
If you’re looking for a motor that is easy to install and requires little maintenance, a belt-driven motor is a good option. These motors use a rubber belt to power the door, which makes them durable and reliable. They are also relatively affordable compared to other types of motors.
If you’re looking for a motor with more power, a chain-driven motor might be right for you. These motors are slightly more expensive than belt-driven motors, but they are much more powerful and can handle heavier doors.
If you do want to replace the motor on your garage, then you should check the rating of the unit in your garage. Because you would want a motor with equal or higher horsepower, and not anything lower because it wouldn’t pull the garage door open.
Maintenance tips so your garage lasts longer
You should always look and listen. If your garage appears wobbly or lopsided then you might have to replace a garage door arm or a spring. If You listen and the garage door sounds very loud, then the track may either be misaligned, warped, broken, or the wheel are worn out or there might even be something in the way of the wheel and track that makes it so loud.
You should always tighten up the hardware, preferably once every couple of months to prevent them from falling out and a part breaking.
Test out the garage door balance, maybe with a leveler or even with your phone to see if its perfectly straight. if it is, then you should be fine in terms of it going off balance for a while.
You should always test your rollers and your tracks, to see if they’re doing okay in terms of moving. It may need some lubrication after a year at a time, because it might vibrate rapidly if not maintained.
In severe weather, you should lubricate more often. Because of the intense weather, the moisture from outside can form on the tracks, causing rust, so you should use some sort of non-drip Lithium base oil, to prevent slip and rust. to extend the life of the wheels and tracks, you must do it once every 3 months or possibly more if needed.
You should replace your weather strips, otherwise your garage door may freeze shut. You should replace your strips once every couple of years, to make sure no cold air can pass through your door.
Always check on your cables. Because if they start to get loose or frayed, then it could become a serious problem on the garage door and the other cable.
one last maintenance tip you should follow is to always check the auto reverse sensor. Its one of the most important parts of the garage to check, because the garage could turn on and lift itself up without any explanation, and also close on its own as well.
This is important because if a child or a pet were to go under the door while it were closing, the door could keep going and not activate the sensor and they could get crushed, leading to serious injury.
If you don’t like how loud your garage still is, you can do a multitude of different things to achieve your quietness.
- You can install a quiet garage door opener
- You can tighten everything up, since some noise is caused because of loose parts
- You can insulate the garage door
- Completely replace and renew the garage springs so they’re at their quietest
- lubricate moving parts so they don’t squeak and vibrate and wear down the other parts faster.