3 Common Garage Door Questions

3 Common Garage Door Questions

The long-lasting durability of most of today’s garage doors can actually create a bit of a problem. Most homeowners rarely have to fix, maintain (although they should do regular maintenance if they want their door to last as long as possible) or repair their doors and they’ll probably only get a new door once or twice in their lifetimes.

That means, despite it being the largest movable object in the home, one that gets used at least a couple times of day, and one that helps protect their car and other valuables, most homeowners don’t really know very much about garage doors.

In a way, we here at Upper Canada Garage Doors kinda like that people don’t know too much about garage doors. It means we get asked a lot of questions and we love to answer them and help people make more informed decisions.

More than just the normal FAQs, we get lots of insightful questions that are not only fun to answer, but they help us understand the sort of information our customers are looking for. So we thought we’d pass that information onto you, in case you were wondering about the same questions.

So, here are our answers to some of the most common questions we get.

1. Should I Install an Insulated Garage Door?

If you have an older home and have never replaced the garage door, chances are that the door is uninsulated. Considering that most new doors are insulated, it could make a homeowner, who is trying to decide whether to install a new door, wonder how they might benefit from an insulated door if they’ve gone this long without one.

While there are many reasons why an insulated garage door is worth the extra investment, the basic reason is similar to why you insulate any part of your home. An insulated garage door keeps your attached garage warmer in winter and cooler in summer, which reduces your energy usage, fuel costs and the wear and tear on your heating and cooling systems. Other benefits include keeping the garage quieter and making it possible for you to use your garage for other purposes, like a workshop.

2. My Garage Door Doesn’t Seem to Be Working Properly, can it be Fixed or Do I Need a New Door?

While we can’t give an accurate answer without assessing the problem, the most common issue with garage doors is difficulty in opening or closing the door or the door not opening at all. If this is the sort of problem you’re having, there’s a good chance that there is a problem with the torsion spring on the door.

The torsion spring balances the door’s weight to make it easy to open and close. If it’s tough to open or close your door, the spring may have slipped out of balance. If the door won’t open at all, the spring is probably broken.

A spring that needs repair or replacement can easily be fixed and it doesn’t mean you need a new door.

3. I’m a Handy Person, Can I Fix the Garage Door Myself?

Absolutely, we carry a huge selection of repair and replacement parts. We also really like to answer your repair-specific questions.

However, while many garage door fixes are quite doable, the torsion spring replacement or repairs needed to get your door to operate properly can be tricky. A great deal of tension must be placed on the spring to balance the door. If that tension should suddenly release, it could damage your door and/or cause personal injury. For that reason, we recommend that only a trained specialist fix or replace the torsion spring on your garage door.

If you have any questions about repairing your garage door, please don’t hesitate to call us here at Upper Canada Garage Door or fill out our online form; we’ll be happy to answer them.