Garage doors are not particularly silent. You will notice the sound of moving rollers at times and maybe some squeaks in the rainy season. But if you find yourself bothered by the squeaks and something feels not right when the door opens or closes, pay attention to these important signs for a squeaky garage door. Chances are it requires repair or maintenance work.
The grinding and screeching sounds are not only disrupting your peaceful mornings but they indicate an underlying issue that needs to be fixed. Getting back to the convenience and safety of your garage doors requires a little elbow grease and attention to detail. Being one of the best garage door repair and installation companies in your area, we have acquired a great deal of experience from the mistakes made by homeowners. They either ignored the issue or made up a mess while DIY repairs. That’s the reason we have compiled the most common causes and possible solutions for squealy garage doors.
When to Call a Professional?
Whether you are dealing with a garage door problem such as a squeaky garage door or a malfunctioned garage door motor for the first time, deciding when to DIY and when to call a professional can be confusing. Here is some expert advice. Tighten the nuts and bolts of your noisy garage door and lubricate the moving parts. If the problem persists and you identify the cause to be improper installation, damaged or broken garage door springs call a garage door professional. Letting sound go as well as DIY repairs can be very dangerous.
When in doubt, get in touch with us at the CityLocal Pro. Our experts not only provide valuable advice but can come to your doorstep and fix the issue in a time-efficient manner.
1. Loose Components of Garage Door
Several moveable and immovable components of your garage door work together. It relies on the smooth operation of rollers, hinges, nuts, bolts, and chains every time you open or closes it. Due to frequent usage, the movable parts will eventually wear down and hence result in the difficult operation of the door. In most cases, loose parts cause a loud garage door in other words called a squeaky garage door.
Solution
First of all, you need to identify the wobbling parts. You need to tighten the rollers or hinges if they get loose. The hinges and rollers need replacement if it does not solve the issue. As replacement is risky, it is best left to garage door professionals.
If you notice jerky movements and loud slapping sounds on door operation, tighten the chain. A broken chain must be replaced without any delays. The nuts and bolts hold up all the components. Tighten the vibrating nuts and bolts to fix the problem.
2. Insufficient Lubrication of Moving Parts
One reason for a squeaky garage door might be that the moveable parts of your garage door need adequate lubrication to reduce friction. Friction not only causes loud garage doors but puts additional strain and may cause some parts to break down. Without enough lubrication, hardware rubs together making a lot of noise.
Solution
The solution to this problem is quite obvious. Ensure that there isn’t any gunk buildup increasing the friction between different components. Clean the accumulated grease and gunk thoroughly and apply a lubricant. The choice of lubricant is important. Light duty lubricants such as WD-40 are suitable for lubricating tracks of automated garage doors. For overhead garage door openers, go for a lubricant such as silicone spray or motor oil. Once completely lubricated, wipe off the excess lubricant.
3. Garage Door Imbalance
Garage door imbalance another cause for a squeaky garage door is pretty scary and often results in gruesome accidents. Unbalanced springs generally cause the garage door to slouch on one side or the other. A broken or malfunctioning spring exerts too much or too little tension on the door putting strain on the opener. It is quite easy to identify imbalanced garage doors by looking at these common signs.
- The door is stuck shut in its place.
- The door appears to be uneven.
- It takes a lot of time to open or close the door.
- The door makes unusual noises.
Solution
Garage doors are heavy and fixing the imbalanced door often requires disassembling it. It’s best not to attempt DIY fixes in this case. Handling such garage doors should be left for experienced professionals.
4. Poor Installation
In several service calls over the past few years, our experts have found this to be a very common reason. When installed perfectly, a garage door must open and close with minimal noise. In many cases, poor installation is the reason for a squeaky garage door. Some of the signs of a poorly installed door are as follows.
- The door struggles to open and close properly.
- It gets stuck halfway.
- Nuts and bolts loosen frequently.
Solution
The only solution is to get in touch with reliable garage door repair or installation services. It takes the eyes of a professional to assess the garage door and resolve the issue.
5. Bent Door Tracks
One of the most common yet neglected causes of squeaky garage doors is bent door tracks. If the metal track is bent, you loud rubbing noise when the garage door is in motion. In general, bent tracks are caused by loose nuts and bolts. A collision can also impact the tracks. Thoroughly inspect the door track for any visible bents. You may also find loose screws or rollers that come undone due to damaged door tracks.
Solution
Track alignment is not a DIY-friendly task. It requires professional expertise as well as heavy-duty tools to realign the track. A lot of homeowner’s attempts fixing bent tracks on their own and end up causing more harm than good.
6. Improper Insulation
It is no secret that all garage doors make some degree of noise during operation. When the garage door is operating without any issues but you continue to hear the squeaky noises, the problem lies with the insulation.
Solution
Such noisy garage doors need soundproofing. Proper insulation of your garage door absorbs the sound before it enters your home and improves the acoustics.
Leave a comment