Is your garage door struggling to open? Take note of your garage door’s tracks, are they significantly bent? If so, your garage door is off track. First, stop using it. And don’t allow children, pets or anybody near it until it has been properly repaired. A garage door that has jumped off track is an extreme hazard and could result in injury if you continue to operate it. Seeing as your overhead door is pretty much inoperable right now, the last thing you want to do is force the door back into position. This is not only dangerous but can seriously damage your garage door, resulting in a costly overhead door replacement. Stay calm and understand that this is a garage door repair that requires significant patience.
This is a door repair you can do yourself but it’s always suggested to contact a garage door repair service or company if you feel unsure. Garage doors jump off track quite frequently, so don’t feel singled out or embarrassed if you’re struggling with the repair – that’s what the professionals are for.
How To Fix An Off Track Door
First, disconnect the opener by pulling the overhead rope to disconnect the door. Open the door by hand. Locate where the wheels jumped the track, and apply a pair of locking pliers underneath the door to hold it in place. Use a pair of pliers to pull the outside of the track open and put the wheels back on track. Knock the track back into place using a rubber mallet.
Check Your Work
Raise the door manually at first. Check to make sure the rollers are moving easily and nothing gets caught in the process. If it’s sticky, adjust the track with the pliers to smooth it out.
Then raise the door with the opener. The door should automatically catch the release and reattach.
If you have trouble or the door has been seriously damaged, give us a call. We offer 24-hour emergency garage door repair service in the Greater Sacramento and Rancho Cordova areas.
Realigning Garage Door Tracks: A DIY Repair
The reason your garage door went off track in the first place is one of the tracks wasn’t perfectly vertical. While this can happen naturally as the overhead door goes through wear and tear, it’s also possible that you’ve accidently damaged your tracks by bending them too far. Perhaps you hit the garage door tracks when you were backing out, failing to realize the damage. It happens.
Fortunately, dealing with a track that isn’t vertical is a fairly easy DIY garage door repair. Unscrew the bracket securing the track to the wall. Reposition the track so it is perfectly straight. Use a ruler or even just a piece of shoe string if necessary. Then screw the bracket back into the wall and make sure it is tightly secured. Any slight give could cause the tracks to come out of alignment and your door to go off track again.
If your tracks are significantly damaged and need to replaced, contact local garage door service experts.