Garage doors require lots of movement. You likely use your garage door several times a day, perhaps more than a thousand times per year. And a garage door can weigh hundreds of pounds. It’s natural the parts will wear out, sometimes even break down. And if something should get caught in the grooves, the track can easily bend. This can cause your garage door to go off track.
Lubricate All Moving Parts Regularly
One way to avoid bent garage door tracks is to keep the tracks and wheels well lubricated. All moving parts should be well oiled with suitable lubricant such as aerosol lubricant, light oil or silicon oil, especially rollers and hinges. It should be a regular home maintenance task, done several times per year.
Checking Your Garage Door Tracks
The easiest way to avoid your garage door going off track is to catch bent tracks before it happens. It’s a good idea to check to see if your tracks are straight. They should be in a completely straight vertical position with both sides an even distance from each other in top to bottom. If they aren’t absolutely straight, your garage door is bound to come off track, eventually.
If your garage door tracks aren’t straight, loosen the bolts holding the track in place. (Do not remove them!) Gently tap the track back into a completely vertical position. If the track is bent, use a pair of pliers to straighten it. Once the track is completely straight, tighten the bolts back into place.
Repair Yourself or Call a Professional?
Bent vertical tracks on your garage door can usually be repaired using a claw hammer to bend the track back into shape. It’s usually a fairly easy garage door repair. If this doesn’t work, you’ll probably have to replace it. Purchase a new track off your local home improvement store. Once you reinstall the track, make sure you have the right track spacing. Not sure? Give us a call. We’ll be glad to inspect your work.
If your horizontal tracks are bent, you should probably consult a professional. This is a complicated and dangerous job.
Either way, don’t simply ignore a bent track or a garage door that’s gone off track. It may work for the time being, but overtime you will cause other damage to the garage door. This can not only become very expensive if ignored, but be a serious safety issue. Malfunctioning garage doors are known to kill thousands of people every year.
24/7 Emergency Garage Door Service: Call Us!
This kind of situation is exactly why we offer 24/7 emergency garage door service. You really shouldn’t risk forcing the door — otherwise this fairly simple repair will end up being a several hundred dollar endeavor. You might damage your door as well as the garage door tracks. Call us and then call Uber. We’ll get to it right away. Find yourself an alternative way to work this morning, and we’ll have it fixed up by your lunch hour if we can. Even if the Uber is at peak commute times it will be a fraction of what you save by dealing with this situation immediately in a way that doesn’t cause further damage. Our emergency vans are waiting your call, ready to help with all your garage door repair needs.