Garage Door Tips

We thought that if you are mechanically inclined you may want to review some of the more common issues that can cause you garage door to sound weird, act strange, or just plain stop working.

These tips, especially the garage door sensor one, are often the cause of unnecessary service calls. We are not like "Out of Town" competitors trying to stick you for every dime and nickel. We want your repeat business by doing a great job and earning your trust. We also thought it was a good idea to try to save you time and money with these garage door repair tips.

How to align the safety reversing sensors on your garage door opener



Garage Door Sensors

Garage Door Sensors

Save time and money fixing this one yourself in less than five minutes. Probably one of the most common issues with garage doors that we see. Here is a step by step procedure that you can follow to realign them. Some common signs that you need to make an adjustment are that the garage door jumps or sensors blink.

  • Visually inspect the sensor. They should be pointing toward each other and look somewhat level.
  • Clean any cobwebs or dirt off of the sensor.
  • Make sure that the sensors are about 4-6 inches from the ground.
  • Loosen the mounting screw on one of the sensors.
  • You should be able to move the sensor until its led lights up.
  • Once it lights up that means it is seeing the other sensor.
  • Re-tighten mounting screw.
If you are unable to get the sensor light to come on give us a call us at (303) 791-7700 because it may mean the sensor has gone bad.

Lubricating Your Garage Door

Our recommendation is to use a lightweight PTFE spray lubricant on anything that moves. All the rollers, hinges, etc. Never use Axel Grease!

Do This!

We recommend that everyone paint the inside side of their garage door. Just paint everything including the hinges. What this does is add an extra layer of insulation, keep stuff tightened up and protects the door. This has huge impact on the life of the door and can be done fairly cheaply. Makes a great "Kids Project".

Garage Door Drive Chain is Loose

Garage Door Drive Chain is Loose

Visually inspect the chain for looseness as they can wear over time and stretch. This procedure should help fix the problem and it will only take under 60 minutes.

  • With the door in the closed position, remove the power cord for the garage door from the ceiling outlet.
  • Unlock the emergency handle so that the door is not engaged and can be opened and closed manually.
  • Where the opener arm connects to the rail, locate the outer/inner adjustment nuts on the top of the carriage.
  • Use an open-end wrench to loosen the inner nut by approximately 1".
  • Turn the outer nut clockwise. Hold the chain between the opener motor and the carriage with pliers or a small adjustable crescent wrench to prevent the chain from twisting while turning the nut.
  • Stop tightening the nut when the chain is 1/2" above the base of the track.
  • Re-tighten the inner nut to lock the chain in place.
  • Reconnect power.
If this doesn't do the trick, please give us a call at (303) 791-7700 so one of our technicians can help diagnose the problem.

Garage Door Remote Does Not Work

First, check and see if you can open the garage door from your wall mounted garage door opener. Many of these units have a lock out button that stops your keypad and garage door opener from working. It usually has the picture of a lock on it. If this is the case simply reactivate your opener by pressing the lock out button.

If this is not the case and your garage door opens, your garage door opener batteries should be replaced. If that fails then it is possible that you either need it reprogrammed or need a new opener. Give us a call at (303) 791-7700 and we can get you a price for your new garage door remote.

Loose Garage Door Hardware

One of the biggest causes of hardware loosening up on your garage door isn't opening and closing your garage door every day. It is your wooden garage door expanding and contracting throughout multiple temperature changes every season. A simple and very inexpensive way to keep this from happening, and I recommend everyone do this, is to paint the inside of your garage door. It will only take a few hours but save you wear and tear over the life of the garage door.

We are your residential and small commercial garage door installation repair specialists.

Advanced Door Works is locally owned and operated. When you call our shop you will speak with one of us not someone in a call center located in another state. We appreciate all of our customers and work twice as hard as the big box stores to gain your loyalty and trust.

Call Advanced Door Works Today for a
No Obligation Quote - (303) 791-7700