Fixing a Noisy Garage Door

02/22/2014 Back To Blog

From time to time, due to extensive usage and wear and tear, garage doors become squeaky. Usually this noise comes from loose hardware, worn rollers, or other part that just need lubricating. Fixing these noises is one of the simplest tasks that homeowner can do themselves.

Tighten Hardware

In most cases the garage door parts have simply become loose. Opening and closing the door day in and day out may eventually undo the nuts and bolts. Use a socket and ratchet to tighten them. Be careful, over-tightening may strip the carriage bolt heads and lag screw holes. In some cases the carriage bolt will puncture the skin of the door if tightened too far.

Replace Rollers and Hinges

Garage door rollers may become worn after years of rolling in grit. Usually not having unsealed bearings cause them to self-destruct. The damage can get to the point of wobbling with each movement of the door. If this is the case, replace them with nylon rollers that have sealed bearings. They are quieter and don’t need oiling all the time, however they are more expensive than steel ones. The garage door hinges should be replaced as well when they start to make noise.

If your garage door has mounted torsion springs at the header of it, don’t try to replace the rollers in the lower brackets. Those brackets are under high tension and can cause serious bodily harm. Leave that to the professionals.

Tighten Chain

Check the chain to the garage door opener. A loose one creates a slapping noise and causes the door to jerk while moving that makes the rollers to hit up against the track. Tighten the opener chain by referring to your owner’s manual. If your opener has a track drive, grease it down. Lubricate the threads if it has a screw drive.

Lubricate

Lastly, use special lubrication on all of the parts. The roller bearings, torsion springs, and hinges should be sprayed by such a lubricant. Also spray the torsion bar bearings. This kind of lube penetrates as a liquid and then dries into a type of grease that doesn’t pick up grit. Garage door repair Apache Junction recommends using the Prime Flo garage door lubrication kit.