Garage doors are perhaps one of the most underrated appliances in your home, but if they stop working it can have serious consequences—you could be stuck with no way to get your vehicle out if the door won’t open, or you might be leaving your garage and home vulnerable if the door won’t close at night. For that reason it’s a good idea to have a basic understanding of some of the things that can go wrong, and the ways you can fix them—or when you might need to call a professional for garage door repair in Utah.

1: A Broken Door or Spring

This is one of the most common problems that occur with automatic garage doors, and a broken spring is actually pretty likely to happen if your garage is getting older. Since the spring is responsible for opening and closing the door on average a couple times a day, every day of the year, eventually the metal will wear down and snap. You might notice a problem when the door falls too quickly as it’s lowering. If you want to be proactive, try disconnecting your garage door springs and lifting it manually to check the balance, and listening for signs that there is a problem. Repairing or replacing a garage door spring will usually cost a couple hundred dollars.

2: Broken or Obstructed Track

The track is what keeps your garage door in alignment, but over time it can get bent or damaged, or it could become obstructed with debris and dirt. When the latter happens you might notice the garage door shimmies or you hear loud screeching noises when opening and lowering the door. A sudden impact on the door could also knock the garage door off the track. If there is dirt and debris you can try to clean it on your own, but any issues with a bent track or a door that has come off the track should be handled by a professional garage door repair company in Utah so you avoid causing any more damage.

3: Damaged or Broken Cable

A fraying or broken cable should be replaced immediately.it might seem like a minor issue, but leaving a frayed cable without repairing it could lead to a garage door that slams shut on your car—or worse, on someone walking underneath—if the spring ever breaks.

4: Sensor Problems

Sensors on the door are designed to protect against someone getting hurt or something getting damaged that is in the path of the door as it closes. The two sensors need to be able to “see” each other on either side of the door before it can close; if something is obstructing the sensors they assume something is in the path and the door will remain open. If there’s nothing obvious in the way but the door won’t close it might be that the sensors are misaligned. If they are damaged, the sensors might not be able to properly do their job of keeping people and belongings safe and should be replaced immediately.

The garage is an often-unappreciated, but still very critical, part of your daily life. If you have a problem with yours, call Price’s Doors today to come and repair it for you.