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March 7, 2025 6 mins

"It's the springs and, the people say, well, that door, it doesn't take anything to lift it all today. I can't lift it off the ground.And why is that? You know and it's that spring."  

- Adam Greer, Garage Door Expert

 

On the Check A Pro Radio Show today a listener called in with the following question - "What Makes A Garage Door Work?"

Well, that's a great question.  Here to answer that question is a garage door expert, Adam Greer from EZ Lift Garage Doors & More.

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

 

 

You Can Call Anytime:  (832) 497-4260

Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Check a pro Joe here on the check,
a pro radio show with a good friend of mine,
a prequalified home service professional from Check A Pro.
It's Adam Greer from EZ Lift Garage Doors and more.
Adam,
how are you?
I'm doing fantastic,
Joe,
how are you doing?
I am living the dream.
Thank you,
my friend.
You know,
I call on you when questions come in here to the radio show and one has come in and that is what makes a garage door work.

(00:30):
And I know what a lot of people are thinking before you answer because you are the professional.
Ok,
I'm an amateur.
You're a professional.
I know what people are gonna say.
It's the button and then it's the garage door opener.
That's not really exactly the answer is it?
That is absolutely not the answer.
Um,
that's what makes the garage door open or work and for sure.

(00:51):
Uh,
but that's not what makes the garage door system work.
Um,
and it is a question that gets answered,
uh,
gets asked,
it doesn't get asked,
but it is assumed on how it works a lot.
And then we have to try to help people understand why it's not working.
And what is the major component that actually drives this system?
Yeah,
it's the springs and,

(01:13):
uh,
the people say,
well,
that door,
it doesn't take anything to lift it all today.
I can't lift it off the ground.
And why is that?
You know,
and it's that spring.
Just imagine the average homeowner version door,
16 by seven,
just standard door is weighing in around £170.
And,
uh,
it,
it feels like nothing when you're operating.

(01:35):
And,
uh,
because the springs,
if you look above the door,
you'll see a,
uh,
a coil looking,
uh,
spring in the middle of the door or sometimes two of them depending on the manufacture and install.
And,
uh,
with that the amount of energy that is in that coil,
uh,
is what's making that door lift or,
and shut.
And so the opener is only designed,

(01:57):
I don't care what brand it is,
how big the horsepower is.
It is only supposed to guide a working balanced door.
So when that spring breaks,
the call is always,
hey,
I try to open my door today.
It goes up about a foot and it goes back down.
It won't,
won't open.
I try to open my hand,
it won't open and it will on the phone.
Hey,
if you look above the door,
what are you seeing?

(02:17):
Oh,
I see AAA gap in the,
you know,
the coil like thing up there and well,
that's a broken spring.
I worked well,
it worked yesterday but it's,
you see the broken spring and so,
um,
it's,
I understand if you don't know,
you don't know.
Uh,
but that spring is the,
um,
thing that makes it work and if that's broke or weak and tired that's,

(02:39):
that door isn't lifting.
And so it's pretty critical and,
uh,
I have people when,
you know,
they,
yeah,
it's been,
I can get them open or still open even as of this morning.
So I'm gonna call you back in a week and like,
no,
that's the other thing is you're you,
if that opener for some reason is still lifting that door,
you are way overworking that opener and you're taking a chance on destroying your opener as well.

(03:01):
Now you got to get a fit screen and a garage door opener.
So leave it alone if it doesn't work,
call a professional and you may be stuck inside and you're panicked,
call for help.
You know,
there's,
you just don't want to do it.
You're gonna get hurt or you're gonna damage things worse than they are.
Yeah,
I was gonna say Adam,
um,
it's dangerous even if your garage door opener is able to lift that door at all,

(03:24):
it could give out because it's not strong enough.
It's that to your point,
the garage door opener is to guide that door up and down.
You should be able to disconnect the garage door opener with that string,
with that rope,
with the release.
And you should be able to just do this and this if it's balanced well,
correct.
And that's another thing,
if that thing,
if you're straining and he knows,

(03:46):
and you see that it's straining and it finally gets open and sometimes this has happened.
Uh,
people,
they're thinking is I'll pull the string because something seems wrong with the opener.
And the idea is they're thinking I'm gonna go ahead and use it manual.
So I don't get stuck.
But when they pull that string and dis disengage the door from the opener with that broken spring,

(04:06):
that door falls all the way to the ground and anybody and anything underneath it is in big trouble and that and potentially destroying your door,
even if it slams all the way to the ground.
So if it's straining,
just leave it alone,
leave it shut.
Let us,
let us help you through that.
If you hear some professional.
Yeah,
if you hear a gunshot go off in your garage and your,

(04:26):
uh,
kid isn't messing with her gun.
I'm kind of joking around.
Um,
it could be a spring,
right?
Because that's a telltale sign.
It can go bang.
Yeah.
Yeah.
In fact,
that's usually what people describe it as sounds like somebody fired a gun in the garage.
We couldn't figure it out.
We tried to leave this morning though and stand open our door and,
uh,
they discovered it's a broken spring and that's the other thing people ask.

(04:47):
Well,
when I got home last night from work,
it opened up and fire and re,
and shut.
But now it won't.
Well,
the springs only break when they're under tension.
So the spring unwinds on the way open and winds back up on the way down.
So it's not under tension when it's open.
I mean,
it has AAA little tension,
enough tension to keep the door up,
but it's not under full tension.

(05:08):
So when that door closes,
it's winding back up and back under full pressure.
So it breaks.
When it's closed,
you're in the house,
you're eating dinner or whatever.
And that's when you hear the,
the bang and,
um,
that's,
that's how they break.
It reminds me of an old ad when I was a kid on TV,
the roach motel they check in but they don't check out,
check out.
And if you need to check out,

(05:30):
you need to check out my friend Adam Greer.
If your garage door,
spring is broken,
you gotta call them.
If just for maintenance,
just call them out.
Have him do a tune up a lobe,
get it ready for the next day of operation because most of us,
Adam,
you know,
this use the garage door as our front door.
We use it all the time.

(05:50):
Have them check the roll actually,
you know what,
make sure that you have great nylon rollers,
if not have Adam switch them out.
They're not that expensive,
are they?
No,
no,
there's,
that is a big improvement to your door.
Uh We have standard cycle 15,000 cycle rollers and then we have 200,000 cycle rollers.
So there's a couple options.

(06:10):
Uh but that's a major improvement to your door function,
the sound of your door as well.
Yeah,
Adam,
thank you so much for joining me today here on the program.
As always,
Adam's information is located in the notes of this podcast,
so there's no excuse not to have him come out to your home once again,
Adam.
Thank you so much.
Uh My pleasure.
Thank you.
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