Garage doors are breaking more than ever, and why is that? Is it because the doors are made cheaper? Or is it because there are just more people parking in garages these days? I am here to tell you that is both.
Garage doors are made out of a cheaper metal and they are not as thick as they used to be.
The most common doors these days are 26 gauge, the cheapest on the market.
Back in the good old days people used to park in the driveway or on the street, so most homes only had a carport.
The garage springs are not made to last as long as they used to be in the 1970s and 80s.
They are made of cheaper steel and like most materials, are made to break more.
Even when you get down to the little parts such as garage door hinges, they're just not made of the same quality.
There are many types of garage door hinges, depending on what door you have.
There are plastic hinges, metal hinges, and many other types of hinges on a garage door.
Hopefully you have door that is a lower gauge.
There is a role when it comes to gauges; the lower the gauge the, thicker the metal of the hinge.
When hinges get old and are worn out they tend to make the rollers go up crooked which will cause all kinds of obstacles for the door to roll smoothly.
The best solution is to replace all the hinges on the left and right side which are the hinges of the rollers go in.
The numbers of the garage door hinges on a normal 16 x 7 door would be the number one, two, and three hinge.
Some people have what is known as a Wayne Dalton hinge.
These hinges were patented by Wayne Dalton and are not the best quality.
You will be able to find the model 9100 hinges at nearly any home improvement store, and will see how they are not well constructed.
If you own this model, I would recommend that you buy a few extra hinges and make sure to check them on an annual basis.
When the door goes cockeyed, we in the industry call this a "crash door".
This is with one end of the door is slightly higher than the other end.
This usually happens when one of the cables falls off of the drum and the other cable still has tension.
It is not recommended to mess with the door at this point, be smart and call a professional.
Usually when a crash door occurs, we will need to replace a few of the hinges.
Also, the garage door did not end up like that for any reason, most of the time it's because the tension on the spring has been lost.
In most cases it is best to think about replacing the torsion spring on the garage door when this occurs.
Just remember, when your door breaks and you need to replace the hinges, try to hire a professional to avoid any complications.