It’s once again that time of the year when drops in temperatures usher in fall season. These days where the daytime temps. are in the 70s and the night temps drop into the 50′s and even in the upper 40s, this can cause metal parts on garage doors that are fatigued and have weak places to fail.
One of these are the garage door springs.
The garage door springs provide the counterbalance the weight of the door so that it can easily be lifted either by hand or with a garage door opener. The springs are either pulling or twisting this weight 6 to 8 to 10 times a day or more. This is the main factor causing metal fatigue or a weak spot in a point along the spring. When the cool weather comes in and there is a sudden drop in temperatures, the one of the other factors causing metal fatigue, temperature, and humidity, comes into play. Basically, the result is a broken spring.
When the springs do break, there is a violent release of the tension that is on the spring, This violent release and shaking is often transferred to other parts of the door like the cable system. If there happens to also be a weak spot in the cable system, the combination of cool temps. with wear from metal fatigue, and the shaking from the release of the spring tension, there often times will be break points along the strands of cable will also appear. The end result is a door that will not open but also seriously worn parts.
This where the need of the homeowner to call on a garage door repair company that is experienced and well qualified to handle this situation of correctly replacing the springs and worn parts. Springs must be engineered to several factors about the garage door. There also must be an inspection of the other parts of the garage door, like the cable system as well as the bottom brackets where the cables attach to the door itself, the rollers, hinges bearings, etc. to ensure that they too are not worn and can continue to function properly. There needs to be an inspection of the garage door opener as well. As the springs age, they weaken, and the garage door slowly becomes heavier. This additional weight is transferred to the garage door opener causing it to work harder to lift the door. If the opener is not set within the safety limits and it continues to lift a garage door that is becoming heavier with each use, severe wear and tear will occur to the opener. If you have the Liftmaster brand of opener, Liftmasters use a plastic main gear assembly in their openers and the additional weight from a worn spring will wear the gears out.
Homeowners should carefully research garage door companies to ensure that they are experienced, qualified and are recommended the various websites to repair your garage door and openers properly. Covenant Garage Doors proudly partners with several websites that are promoting our company to homeowners. They are: Kudzu.com, Angieslist, Facebook. Check out our profiles on each.