At some point in time, every homeowner in the Portland area with a garage and garage door will experience a crooked and unbalanced garage door. This can happen for a number reasons including broken and rusted springs from the heavy and regular rain in Portland, worn down cables from use, and even broken or misaligned rollers. If you live in the Portland area and your garage door becomes misaligned, it is important to know what to do and who to call.
If your garage door is crooked, you want to address the problem right away — even if you can still get in and out of your garage. A crooked garage door is an indicator of a severe problem with your door, and if you do nothing, you will allow for additional stress that could make it harder and more expensive to fix down the road.
Furthermore, depending on what is causing your crooked garage door, it could possibly come down suddenly with someone or something underneath it, causing considerable damage.
Common Causes for Crooked Garage Doors
So why is your Portland garage door crooked? Here are three possibilities.
- Broken Torsion Spring
One of the most likely culprits when you have a crooked garage door is a broken torsion spring. Your garage door has two overhead springs — some doors have the springs on the side, called extension springs — that are responsible for opening and closing the door. These springs are tightly wound pieces of metal capable of harnessing tremendous energy.
When you activate your garage door opener, these springs wind or unwind — depending on whether you want to open or close the door — and pull the garage door along its tracks as they do. If one of these springs breaks, your garage door may still operate, but it will probably run slowly or be crooked.
If the cause of your crooked garage door is a broken torsion spring, call TF Draper to have one of our trained garage door experts replace your torsion springs immediately. Operating a garage door on one torsion spring can be extremely dangerous.
- Frayed or Jumped Cable
Another culprit may be a frayed or jumped cable. The cables work with the springs to help lift and lower the door. If your cable is worn out and unwinds or snaps — or if something damages the cable — the result can be a door that is out of alignment and crooked. In some cases, a snapped or broken cable and a broken torsion spring occur together.
- Issues With the Rollers
If your springs and cables are intact, the problem with your garage door alignment may have something to do with how well the rollers on the garage door are running along the garage door tracks. The garage door needs to be able to run along these overhead tracks to retract into your garage. If there is a problem with either the rollers or the track, this cannot happen correctly, and may result in a crooked or jammed garage door.
If the rollers have jumped the track entirely, the garage door will likely not work at all. However, if the rollers are improperly aligned with the track, this could result in a crooked garage door, or one that does not go up and down all the way. Causes for this type of issue can include warping of the door, damage to the rollers and debris in the tracks themselves.
How to Repair a Crooked or Off-balanced Garge Door
You should not attempt a do-it-yourself crooked garage door fix. Portland is one of our main service areas at TF Draper, and we are happy to help. There are several reasons why it is very important to call TF Draper rather than attempt to fix a crooked garage door on your own.
The most important reason is your safety. A torsion spring can lift a garage door that could weigh hundreds of pounds and contains tremendous energy. If it snaps while you are trying to replace it, you could be severely injured. There is also a chance the door could fall on you, or that you could fall from a height while repairing it. This is why our TF Draper technicians are rigorously trained on proper garage door safety techniques.
Even if the issue seems safer, like a door that is off-track, you still risk doing the repair incorrectly. You may even make a mistake that could further damage the door, creating a more expensive problem. Furthermore, if you have any kind of warranty on the door, you will probably void it by trying to tinker with the door yourself. You are far better off letting a professional handle the issue.
Contact TF Draper
There is no reason to risk any attempt to fix your crooked garage door on your own when you have access to TF Draper’s services. We have been fixing crooked garage doors and similar issues throughout the Pacific Northwest for decades. If you are experiencing a crooked garage door issue or any other garage door repair problems in Portland or the surrounding areas, TF Draper can help.
As a family-owned company, we have been servicing the garage door needs of Oregon and Washington for nearly 40 years. We do it all, from designing and building garage doors to selling, installing and repairing them. There’s virtually nothing we haven’t seen when it comes to garage doors, and we can fix all standard garage door problems for all major brands of garage door.
If you’re experiencing a crooked, unbalanced garage door or another type of problem, don’t hesitate. Give us a call at (503) 357-1103 anytime, or contact us online for a free estimate on your repair or to request service. Once we’ve helped you get your garage door back on track, you’ll never need to search for anyone else to handle your garage door needs. Get in touch with us today!