3 Electric Garage Door Sounds You Should Never Ignore

Electric garage doors are very common due to the security they offer and the ease of opening or closing them from a distance. However, they can periodically develop defects that affect their smooth operation. This article discusses three sounds that your electric garage door may make in case it has developed a problem. Use this information to help you know when you should call a professional to examine your electric garage door and take remedial action before the problem gets out of hand.

Scraping Sounds

Have you ever dragged a wooden chair across a concrete floor? That scraping sound you hear when you are dragging an object over a surface may be heard as your electric garage door opens or closes. Do not regard this sound as a normal aspect of an aging garage door. That scraping sound indicates that something is wrong and needs to be corrected before it gets worse. The most likely cause is that your garage door is loose and is now rubbing against the edge of its track. A wheel may have become loose or the door track could have become twisted out of its normal position. You can tighten the wheels and track using simple tools like a screwdriver and wrench. A tension spring may be defective in case you tighten the wheels and track but the scraping sound persists. Call a technician to examine and adjust the springs.

Creaking Sounds

This sound is similar to what you hear when you open or close an old wooden door. Your electric garage door can emit this sound too. Fortunately, the cause of creaking sounds is not as serious as the cause of scraping sounds. Electric garage doors may creak due to a lack of lubrication and you can easily solve that issue. Read the garage door manual and buy the lubricant recommended by the garage door maker. Apply that lubricant to all bearings, wheels and any other moving parts that the manual advises you to lubricate on a regular basis.

A Bang

This sound of a heavy object that has been dropped with a lot of force signals major issues with your electric garage door. That bang may point to a failed tension spring or a broken cable. Each of those causes is serious and should only be resolved by a trained technician. For instance, tension springs store a lot of pent up energy and it may injure you if you attempt to re-set or replace it.

Be alert for any changes in the sounds that your electric garage door makes as it operates. Treat any abnormal sound you hear as a warning sign and get help if you can't fix the problem on your own.