Garage doors are highly technical and sophisticated components. Garage door problems are very common since they have over 300 moving parts moving up and down several times in a day. Therefore, wear and tear and friction can cause these parts dislocate, break or get faulty leaving a problematic garage door. Though you will always need professionals to attend to garage door repairs, there are of course a few simple things that you can try out from your side before you seek some professional assistance.

Irrespective of the mechanism they feature namely rolling up in sections or swinging up in one piece, garage doors work on the principle of spring tension. When the heavy garage doors move on metal tracks on the garage door walls, the heavy garage springs provide the power needed for this movement. The causes for garage door problems can be many. There are some simple problems that you can attend to by yourself when you find your garage door does not work easily. Read on to know how you can set right some of the simple garage door issues.

Inspect the metal tracks inside the garage. Explore the mounting brackets meant to hold the door tracks to the wall. If you find them loose, you will need to tighten the bolts and screws at the brackets. Get inside the garage, close the garage door and have a close look at the tracks. If you notice some dents, crimps or flat spots, then perhaps you can use a rubber mallet to pound the spot to set it right. A hammer or a block of wood can also help you in this. However, if you find the track damaged badly, then it is better you change it.

Check the alignment of the tracks using a level in order to ensure they are rightly aligned. Horizontal tracks must slightly pitch down toward the backside of the garage. In case of roll up doors, the vertical sections of track must be exactly vertical. You must find both the tracks aligned at the same height on the walls. If you detect misalignment, loosen the screws a bit, tap the tracks to position and tighten the screws or bolts holding the mounting brackets. Recheck the alignment once again with the level before you check the door movement.

Use a concentrated household cleaner to clean the tracks to take out the dirt and solidified grease remains. Clean the rollers and wipe the tracks and rollers clean. Wherever you will detect a loose hardware, you must tighten it. In case of swing up doors, check the position of the plate where the spring is mounted to make sure the screws are fastened tightly. In case of roll up doors, check the hinges that hold the door sections. Servicing the hinges will rectify the sagging of the door to one side. You must not however attempt to repair a door where there is one torsion spring at the centre of the door. In such cases, there is a great amount of tension stored which might injure you when released. When the tips given above can help you attend a problematic garage door, you must take all the precautions and call a qualified and skilled professional if the problem is severe.