All Knowers..... So for my 7 years in the casa I have been able to do all the maintanence and repairs on my garage door myself. The hinges crack eventually, the tracks get slightly out of alignment, etc. all of which I have been able to handle until recently. Last month in Houston has delivered a lot of windy days and my garage has front and back garage doors. Last Sunday I stood inside the garage and watch the wind vacuum pull the front garage door out and in a good 6 inches at the center, so i kept it open about 4 inches to aleviate the vacuum pressure, but still keep the dogs in. The front door being a 17 footer and I started having issues with it closing, with repeated stops and starts, which usually means a binding issue. So I spray lubed all hinges, checked the tracks, and chain lube. Yep it's a chain and sprocket actuation, not a screw type. All that being done and no better results. So what I've noticed are cracks forming in the aluminum panel sections between the hinges. I suspect caused by the wind vacuum pulling the doors in and out. So I'm gonna have an overhead door guy come out for a diagnosis and estimate, but need to be educated a little, or mostly prepared. Sooooo, any BBS 'rs have an overhead door business in the Houston area? That would be best scenario! Or anybody have knowledge what I may expect to shell out? Door is now 12 years old, and is used a lot. It's seen better days. It's a 17x7 with 4 panels top to bottom. Probably best to just replace the whole door and tracks. Basically errythang. What say you?
baltimore overhead door co is a riiip offf... 185 bucks to adjust the limit switch and to spray lube the mechanism. they charged us for a can of spray lube. 8 bucks. no way they used it all either. charge is out the door, to out the door. i think i figured they charged us about 120 bucks an hour if i remember right.
Step 1. Back crappy vehicle through door. Step 2. Call insurance company. Step 3. Pay deductible. Step 4. Admire your beautiful new door.
DAMN! Been having door problems too....Seems all I have to do is check my morals and ALL IS GOOD.....
I used to work for the Overdead Whore company in Springfield, VA... a long, LONG time ago. Some things never change
If your(probably steel) panels are cracking, they've flexed too much and need replacement BITD, I worked on mostly wood doors and we would place some stiffening struts on backs of the panels to minimize flex. So see if there's a heavier guage door available, or if the metal doors can have a strut added
Thanks BigT, mine have struts across the back side. In the past I have even Dded screw down points with pretty good results. The flex or deflection of the panels makes a big difference to how much resistance it builds up, and then trips the limit switch. Really just wondering if anybody has had a door system replaced, and how much it set them back. Update... Had the wife work the inside switch while I watch the action up and down, adjusting the tracks here and there. Seems to have helped. I don't trust it's a permanent fix though.
You might want to check the alignment of the roller hinges - they could be bent slightly and no longer parallel to the panel face. That would make the rollers bind in the curve of the track Be sure to never lube the track (tho it sounds like you're well educated in these matters)
Why not lube the track? I haven't purposely done that, but it has some in the track from overspray on the rollers. I will double check the roller hinges to make sure they are level. Thanks! the Beeb delivers
Colin In my past life as a door tech, people would often grease or oil the track in an attempt to make the door go up easier and ignore the obvious fact that there whole system runs on the roller bearings in the wheels, which turn, not slide when they run. A bit of overspray won't hurt, but the track should be clean and dry to allow the roller wheel to run freely
