How’s the balance on your garage door? A well balanced garage door is important not only to its performance, but also it’s safety. An unbalanced garage door is a sign your springs are wearing out and may need replaced. If left to go too long, the door can come crashing down, which can be extremely dangerous to kids and pets. An unbalanced door can also easily go off track, which can damage both the tracks and the garage door itself.
How Many Springs Does Your Garage Door Have?
Most garage doors have two springs, one on each side. Balance is the reason we always recommend replacing garage door springs in pairs. If one spring is worn out but the other isn’t, this can lead to an unbalanced garage door, which is extremely unsafe.
The Importance of a Well Balanced Garage Door
Having a balanced garage door is critical. When your door is properly balanced, both sides rise up and go down at the same time, at the same speed. If the door is unbalanced, the sides go up and down at different speeds, which can cause problems. If it gets bad enough, you’ll probably hear the issue first — unbalanced garage doors can be very noisy.
What Happens if Your Door isn’t Balanced
There are serious safety risks to operating a door that isn’t properly balanced. If only one spring works properly, this puts considerable strain and weight on your garage door. If left to go too long, the door can drop suddenly — a scary and dangerous phenomenon. An unbalanced door will also warp your garage door tracks. This could cause your garage door to go off track. If the tracks become too badly warped, you may need to replace the entire system.
What to Do About an Unbalanced Garage Door
A professional garage door technician can come out and adjust the tension on your springs. This could fix the problem, unless of course the springs are worn out, which is common with unbalanced garage doors.
If you see gaps in your springs, serious rust, or general slackness, this is a good sign your garage door springs need replaced. Call a professional for spring inspection and replacement.