How can I tell whether the door or the opener is at fault?

With the door closed, pull the manual release and lift the door by hand. If it rises easily and stays in place, the door is sound and the operator requires attention. If it is heavy or uneven, the fault is in the door.

Should both springs be replaced when one breaks?

Yes. Both have completed the same number of cycles, and the second will not long outlast the first. Replacing the pair also keeps the door in balance.

How long does a repair take?

Most spring, cable, and roller repairs are completed in a single visit of one to two hours. Work that requires an ordered part takes a second visit.

Do you repair doors of every make?

We do. Counterbalance and track hardware is largely common across manufacturers. Sections are specific to the make and model.

Is a noisy door a cause for concern?

A gradual increase in noise usually indicates wear or a need for lubrication. A sudden bang, grinding, or scraping warrants inspection before the door is used again.

Will you advise if the door is not worth repairing?

We will, and we will give the cost of both repair and replacement so that the two may be compared.

Residential service

Garage Door Repair in Hartland, Wisconsin

A garage door is a counterbalanced machine of perhaps three hundred parts. When it misbehaves, the fault is nearly always in one of a dozen of them, and finding the right one is the substance of the trade.

(000) 000-0000

Two tradesmen fitting hardware at the head of an opening

Method: Diagnose, then repair
Most frequent fault: Counterbalance
Parts: Matched to the door

How a garage door works, briefly

An understanding of the mechanism makes its failures easier to follow.

The door is a stack of hinged sections that travel on rollers within a pair of tracks. Its weight, commonly between 130 and 250 pounds for a residential door, is carried by a counterbalance. In the usual arrangement, one or two torsion springs are mounted on a steel shaft above the opening. As the door closes, cables attached to its bottom corners unwind from drums at the ends of the shaft and wind the springs. As it opens, the springs unwind and return that energy, lifting the door.

When the system is in balance, the door may be raised with one hand and will remain wherever it is left. The electric operator, if there is one, merely guides a door that is already nearly weightless.

Almost every fault disturbs that balance, the guidance of the track, or the operator’s control of the door.

The four systems, and how each fails

The counterbalance

This is the source of the majority of repair calls.

Springs have a finite life, measured in cycles of opening and closing. The standard rating is about ten thousand. When a spring fractures, usually with a sharp report, the door becomes too heavy for the operator and very heavy by hand.

Cables corrode at their lower ends, where they sit near a damp floor, and fray. A cable may also leave its drum if the door meets an obstruction or a spring fails in mid-travel. The door then hangs out of level.

Drums and bearings wear slowly. A cracked drum or a rough bearing shows itself as noise, uneven winding, or metal dust beneath the shaft.

The guidance

Rollers lose their bearings or wear flat, and then slide in the track when they should turn.

Hinges wear at their pivots and, on heavily used doors, crack.

Track is knocked out of line by a vehicle, or drifts as its fasteners loosen in the framing over the years. The door rubs, binds, or in the worst case leaves the track.

The envelope

Sections are dented by impact, bowed by an operator working against an unbalanced door, or corroded at the bottom edge.

Seals harden, tear, and admit water and cold.

The operator

Faults in the opener itself are treated under garage door opener repair. It is worth noting here that an operator is very often blamed for a fault that lies in the door.

Extension spring and pulley on a counterbalance assembly — Reference photo: extension spring and pulley on a counterbalance assembly.

Our method of diagnosis

We follow the same sequence on every repair call, since a consistent method is the surest way to avoid mistaking a symptom for a cause.

The owner’s account. What the door did, when, and what was heard. This often identifies the fault before we arrive.
Visual inspection, door closed. Springs, cables, drums, and bottom brackets are examined for breaks, slack, and corrosion.
Disconnection of the operator. The door is then tested on its own.
The balance test. The door is raised by hand to knee, waist, and shoulder height and released at each. A balanced door holds its position.
The travel test. The door is moved through its full range while we watch each roller, hinge, and track joint, and listen.
Inspection of the sections. Stiles, struts, the operator bracket, and the bottom rail.
The operator. Reconnected and tested for travel, force, and both safety reversals.
The explanation. We show the owner what has failed and why, and state the cost of the repair before it is begun.

An operator is very often blamed for a fault that lies in the door.

Repairs we carry out

Spring replacement Torsion and extension springs, sized from the door’s weight and replaced in pairs.
Cable and drum work New cables on both sides, with bottom brackets renewed where corroded.
Rollers and hinges Worn parts replaced, with nylon rollers recommended for quiet running.
Track alignment Track reset plumb and level and re-anchored. Damaged lengths are replaced.
Section repair Struts added to bowed sections. Individual sections replaced where a match exists.
Weather seals Bottom seal, retainer, and perimeter stops renewed.
Bearings and shaft Center and end bearings replaced. Bent shafts renewed.
Rebalancing Spring tension corrected after any change to the weight of the door.

Before and after

Dented, punctured steel and a sound door face

The first image shows steel door slats that have taken a hard blow. Several are creased, and one has been punctured outright. Damage of this kind weakens the door at the point of impact and frequently disturbs the hardware behind it as well.

The second image shows slats that are straight and unmarked, with clean, even lines from edge to edge. Restoring a damaged door to that condition means replacing the affected sections or slats, checking the track and rollers for the effects of the same impact, and rebalancing the springs to the door’s new weight. The door then closes flush and travels without catching.

Before: Dented steel door slats with a puncture in one panel — Illustrative comparison using licensed stock photography. It shows the kind of change this service makes and is not a documented customer project.

After: Straight, undamaged steel door slats — Illustrative comparison using licensed stock photography. It shows the kind of change this service makes and is not a documented customer project.

On the matching of parts

A repair is only as good as the parts chosen for it, and in this trade the choice requires measurement.

A torsion spring is defined by its wire diameter, its inside diameter, its length, and the direction of its wind. Together, these determine how much torque it delivers per turn. Two springs of similar appearance may differ in lifting capacity by a wide margin. We therefore size springs from the weight of the door and the diameter of the drums. We do not assume that the spring being removed was correct. It often was not.

Cables are specified by diameter and length for the height of the door. Rollers are specified by stem length and wheel diameter. Sections must agree in thickness, joint profile, and panel design. Where a part cannot be matched from stock, we secure the door, order what is required, and return.

Repairs an owner should not attempt

Much garage door upkeep may safely be done by the owner, and we describe it under garage door maintenance. Any work on the counterbalance is another matter.

The springs, the cables, the drums, the bottom brackets, and the center bearing plate are all under tension whenever the door is closed. A torsion spring on a double door stores enough energy to raise two hundred pounds through seven feet. If that energy is released without control, the result is serious injury. The work requires proper winding bars, a set order of operations, and familiarity. We would ask owners to leave it to us.

The effect of the seasons

The climate of southeastern Wisconsin has a direct bearing on the pattern of repairs.

Cold makes spring steel less resilient, and fatigued springs tend to fracture during the first severe weather of the winter. Lubricants thicken, and rollers that were merely worn begin to bind.

Frost lifts and tilts concrete slabs. A door that sealed well in October may show a gap at one corner in February, and the photoelectric sensors mounted near the floor may drift out of alignment.

Ice bonds the bottom seal to the floor. If the operator is run against a frozen seal, the seal tears or the lowest section buckles.

Salt, carried in on tires, attacks the bottom brackets, the lower rollers, the cable ends, and the bottom rail of the door.

Humidity in summer swells wooden jambs and wood doors, and can cause a door that ran freely in spring to rub.

A good many of these faults may be anticipated. An inspection in the autumn, before the cold arrives, is the most useful single precaution.

When repair is not the answer

There are doors on which further repair is poor value: those with perforated bottom sections, fatigue cracks at several hinges, or a design that can no longer be matched. In such cases, we say so, and we provide figures for both courses. The alternative is described under garage door replacement. Where a door has failed in a way that leaves the house open or a vehicle confined, see emergency garage door service.

Questions and answers

Garage door repair: questions and answers

How can I tell whether the door or the opener is at fault?: With the door closed, pull the manual release and lift the door by hand. If it rises easily and stays in place, the door is sound and the operator requires attention. If it is heavy or uneven, the fault is in the door.
Should both springs be replaced when one breaks?: Yes. Both have completed the same number of cycles, and the second will not long outlast the first. Replacing the pair also keeps the door in balance.
How long does a repair take?: Most spring, cable, and roller repairs are completed in a single visit of one to two hours. Work that requires an ordered part takes a second visit.
Do you repair doors of every make?: We do. Counterbalance and track hardware is largely common across manufacturers. Sections are specific to the make and model.
Is a noisy door a cause for concern?: A gradual increase in noise usually indicates wear or a need for lubrication. A sudden bang, grinding, or scraping warrants inspection before the door is used again.
Will you advise if the door is not worth repairing?: We will, and we will give the cost of both repair and replacement so that the two may be compared.

Estimates in Hartland and Lake Country

Describe the fault and we will advise.

Describe the door, the building, and what you would like done. We will reply with any questions and arrange a time to measure or inspect.