Is An Uneven Uneven Garage Door A Problem?

Hi, everybody. Jim Klauck, a.k.a. Check A Pro Joe here on the Check A Pro Radio Show. I love what I do, helping you stay safe in your home and bringing you all kinds of cool home improvement ideas.

Today on the program, Adam Greer from EZ Lift Garage Doors and More joins us. Adam shares expert advice on a common issue: uneven garage doors. Is it a problem if your garage door isn't level with the ground? Adam explains that it often is, detailing how issues like shifted cables or weak springs can cause the door to become crooked.

Adam provides insights into the typical causes of this problem, including house settling, objects blocking the door's path, and aging springs. He emphasizes the importance of not trying to fix the problem yourself before calling a professional, comparing it to preserving a crime scene for forensic investigation.

Listen in to learn how to identify and address these issues to keep your garage door functioning smoothly and safely.

 

For more information about EZ Lift Garage Doors & More in Katy, Texas log on to www.ezohd.com or check them out at www.checkapro.com.

 

Visit Us At -  EzLiftGaragesDoors&More

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Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Hi, everybody. Jim Klauck, a.k.a. Check A Pro Joe here on the Check A Pro Radio Show.
I love what I do, helping you stay safe in your home and bring you all kinds
of cool home improvement ideas.
Today on the program, Adam Greer from Easy Lift Garage Doors and more. Hello, Adam.
Hello, how are you? Yeah. I am living the dream. Thank you so much for asking.

(00:24):
Garage doors, that's what we talk about because you're our garage door expert
today here on the program.
And a question has come in and it might seem like a silly question,
but I think it's a fair question.
Is an uneven garage door a problem? And what I think they mean by that,
if it's not level with the earth, is it a problem? And I will say this before
you answer that question.

(00:45):
Years ago, I sent you a a picture of a very
uneven door at my home um kind of
came off the track a bit um so you
know what i'm talking about it's askew yeah yeah
and and that's one of the most common phone
calls we get is the door's crooked it's having struggles uh
there's all kinds of reasons it could be that so

(01:07):
even to answer the question is it a problem most likely
sometimes just the way the house of settled you know
you can't get it straight uh detached garages can
suffer from that a little bit uh they're hard to
level out uh as the house shifts uh because
you still need the door to be as level as possible sometimes you
gotta you just gotta have a cheat in there and it's not

(01:30):
gonna close off but barring that which is
rare it is uh uh isn't a
problem yes because it means that the
cables that's the first thing the drum
that holds the cables that one maybe has slipped just
had this yesterday uh so that's why it's interesting
you're bringing this up um the guy says yeah my

(01:51):
door's crooked all of a sudden we know what's going on got out
there and sure enough the right hand side was one that was low and reach up
there and that wouldn't spin completely free because the set bolts are still
in enough that it would it would catch but it had this movement to it so that
in theory makes that cable longer even if it's half an inch.

(02:11):
Changes out since but then also when it's
opening now the door is opening crooked the time is the top that half an inch
down here has become pretty extreme as it's trying to open and then the door
is dragging the track and just the bets so yeah it usually is a problem uh it's
not necessarily a big problem simply getting there resetting drums then you

(02:33):
have the other issue which is more,
It's not just at the close, but it's just, it's stuck halfway over.
Crooked hanging it's a mess it's because
the cables have jumped off the drum and what
causes that a couple things most common
is that the door has come down on something garbage can
kid skateboard you know something was in the

(02:54):
way and for that second so the the tables
are working in unison that's one spring it's coming
down catches something causes it to
do this that side they got hung up for that
second that cable will slack and get out of track
and even if you quickly move the thing out
of the way so maybe it gets another one time
up and down but it's gonna the cable's no longer tracking correctly

(03:17):
and so when you see that crooked
what that means is the side that's hanging low is the
side that's off so all you're gonna do is simply look
see coils all spaghetti strong around
the tube that's your that's your seven so the most common is it's come down
the second most common is that the spring tension over years is starting to

(03:41):
get weak so you have enough spring tension on the door to keep the cables tight
even when they're in the full open position.
If the spring is getting weak the opener still opens
all the way but now the spring tension's out
so the cables are kind of dangling they're
slack eventually that's going to throw

(04:02):
them off track as well so those are the two most common
reasons for a crooked door um try
to always identify it we come out because you don't
want just to repeat uh but sometimes you just can't can't always give an explanation
and i think i'm not always hearing the whole story from the owner especially
if it's a tenant you know we don't know we just push the button um we know And

(04:26):
it's always funny to hear the explanations.
Because I think, okay, let's get you operational again. But it's very important,
if it's at all possible, we do our best to figure out what caused it.
And the thing that helps us the most, don't try to fix it before you call us.
Because once you've altered it, and you've tried to adjust the drum yourself,

(04:48):
now we can't repeat the situation, can't duplicate it. Because you've altered it.
Leave it alone. Make the phone call. And I know that sometimes you're in a panic. You're in a dorsia.
It just helps the technician, whether it's us or any other company.
If we can see the actual problem, then we can properly identify the case.

(05:10):
So it's like a crime scene. Don't touch anything. Let forensics come in,
okay? Right? That's what they say.
Not that I know a lot. I just watch a lot of crime shows, right?
It's like, okay, don't touch anything.
Just look at it and step away, please. same type of thing with the garage door
right all right treat your garage door incident like a crime scene that's the

(05:31):
moral of the story Adam Greer from EZ Lift Garage Doors and more thank you
so much for joining me today here on the program always my pleasure thanks for having me.