It’s always frustrating when any of your garage door’s moving parts fail to work. It’s even more frustrating when a moving part is visibly damaged, as can be the case with a bent garage door track. Any garage door technician can easily provide bent garage door track repair services. Understandably, you’re probably wondering what causes a bent garage door track and what the bent garage door track repair process involves. Learn more about both by reading this blog.
Bent Garage Door Tracks: How Do They Happen?
First, you’re wondering how bent garage door tracks even happen. One of the most common causes of this problem is accidentally hitting your garage door with your car when backing up, which can throw the tracks out of place and even bend them. The track could also be bent or misaligned due to wear, tear, broken cables, poor door balance, or poor maintenance. Whatever the reason, a bent garage door track shouldn’t be left unaddressed, or it can lead to greater problems.
Bent Garage Door Track Repair In 6 Steps
Now that you know how bent garage door tracks occur, you’re ready to learn about bent garage door track repair. Here’s how you can approach this problem in just six steps.
1. Gather The Right Supplies
Before fixing your bent garage door track, ensure you have the correct supplies to do the job. These supplies include a ladder, a hammer or pliers, vice grips, and lubricant. If necessary, see if you can get a replacement track and the necessary tools you will need in case you cannot repair the bend. For the purposes of this blog, however, the focus will be on correcting the bent track rather than replacing it.
2. Secure The Garage Door
Once you have the necessary tools, you’ll need to open your garage door and secure it with vice grips so it stays in place. For extra security, power off and disconnect your garage door opener. After that, you’ll use the ladder to access the bent track and perform the necessary repairs.
3. Straighten The Track
Going up the ladder, you’ll use your hammer or pliers to straighten out the bent part of your garage door track. Don’t use too much force with the hammer or pliers, or you could end up inflicting more damage than it already has.
4. Adjust Alignment
After straightening the track, ensure that your garage door tracks are properly aligned. If not, adjust the alignment as needed until it’s satisfactory. This involves using your hammer or pliers to keep the tracks nice and aligned.
5. Clean And Lubricate The Track
While not a requirement, cleaning and lubricating your garage door track is still a good idea to see if it helps improve its performance. A silicone-spray garage door lubricant is your best option. This is also a good opportunity to ensure your garage door rollers are clean and in good shape.
6. Test The Garage Door
After cleaning and lubricating your garage door track, the final step of bent garage door track repair will be to test your garage door. First, test it manually by ensuring the track hardware is secure, removing the vice grips, and seeing if it remains aligned or makes noises while opening and closing it. If your garage door is quiet and remains aligned, operating smoothly in motion, your garage door is back in business. If not, it’s time to call a professional for help.
Our Technicians Will Fix Your Garage Door Tracks!
If you have the skills and experience, you can approach bent garage door track repair as a DIY project. If you don’t have the necessary experience, you’re better off calling a garage door technician to take care of your garage door tracks. Luckily, you can contact us at M.G.A. Garage Door Repair to get your tracks back in action.
713-936-2255