Garage door hinges are an often overlooked, but critically important part to the innerworkings of your garage door. The hinges allow the panels of your garage door to bend when opening and closing making it so your garage door opens and closes smoothly, but are stressed every time you operate the garage. They can wear out and break or the hinge’s screws can come loose over time. Keeping them in good repair can help out your garage in a couple different ways:
Hinges: The Cause of Many Common Garage Door Problems
Many garage door problems can come down to old, worn out hinges. Old hinges affect how your panels function along the tracks, which can make it harder for all the other working parts in your garage to open and close the door. This has the knock-on effect of damaging other, more expensive and harder to replace parts over time. For instance, worn out hinges may make it harder for your garage opener to pull properly move your door along its track. Over time this additional strain, which the opener’s motor is not meant to have put on it, can cause it to burn out earlier. Or, it can put additional strain on the torsion springs through a similar process, causing them to break down. They also can add considerable noise to the opening of your door. If you’re afraid of opening your garage door at night because you don’t want to wake the neighbors, consider replacing the hinges and see if that helps out.
You can replace the hinges yourself or give a garage service professional a call. They can swap these out very quickly, as well as inspect your whole garage for any other issues that might be cropping up.
Refreshen the Look of Your Garage Door
Grody, old hinges actually detract a lot from the overall look of your garage. New garage hinges can do some serious work in improving the feel of a garage. If you had a bunch of dirt on your living room drywall, you’d get that cleaned up right? It’s the same thing with your garage. If your hinges are looking corroded or scuffed, it might be worth a replacement simply for the aesthetic appeal to make your garage feel more welcoming.
Prevent Further Repair Problems with Your Garage Door
Keeping your hinges in good condition is one of the best ways to avoid increased load on other parts of your garage door. If they are not moving properly, then everything in your opener has to work that much harder to get your garage door up and down. Hinges in particular require regular maintenance to avoid costly repairs down the line.
If your hinges are constantly coming out of place even with proper maintenance, it may be time to replace them. Each hinge on your garage door has a very specific place they need to be on the door, generally they have engraved numbers on them corresponding with where they need to be installed. It’s of the utmost importance when replacing to put the properly numbered hinge in their correct place, otherwise your panel’s spacing will be off and you can damage your door’s mechanics.
Unsure What to do? Call a Pro!
If you’ve replaced the hinges and it still seems like your garage door isn’t working quite right it’s often best to call professionals who specialize in this work. Often the price isn’t as bad as you think for a quick call like this, and it might even end up saving you money in the long run if you find yourself having to buy extra and redundant parts when attempting to DIY.