Garage door tracks support the weight of your door and guide it when opening and closing the door. The track is made from galvanized metal and is durable, but it can bend or suffer damage that requires some garage door track repair to ensure the door continues to function correctly.
Track Damage
The garage door track runs from the bottom of the door frame and across a section of the ceiling in your garage. The track is held in place with brackets anchored to the garage structure, and when everything is tight, the door track should not move when the door is in motion.
If the tracks loosen over time, they can start to shake when the door is in motion, and the support brackets can bend or break. The issues can become worse, because with less support, the door can move more, and the chance of damaging additional supports increases. A garage door repair service can repair the tracks in most cases, but if there is a lot of damage to the hardware, the entire garage door track may need replacing.
The garage door repair service will have to assess the damage to determine what they can reuse and what replacement parts are necessary before making repairs. If the damage to the door tracks is minimal, the repair service may be able to straighten or tighten the door tracks and get the door functioning without too much trouble.
Hardware Damage
Often garage door track damage is not to the actual track but to the hardware on it. A bent door track may be that way because the door or track got hit and bent the rollers, guides, and brackets that twisted the track and assembly. The garage door rollers and brackets can twist with a light impact to the door that bends the door panels, and the door track will often move with them.
When the garage door repair service comes to inspect the damage, removing the damaged hardware may let the track flex back to the correct position once the stress is off. However, if the door is damaged badly enough, it can cause damage to the track as well, but most garage door track systems have some amount of flex in them that can help protect them.
Replacing the hardware is often possible, but the tracks need to be checked to ensure they are still true and usable before the garage door is put back in service. If the door track remains damaged or bent, it can cause the door to bind, and make a lot of noise or worse, damage the garage door opener, the door hardware, and the track further.
For more information, contact a company like Smooth Operator Garage Doors LLC.
