Name: Parker Garage Doors & More
Address: 22350 N 20th Ave, Phoenix, AZ, 85027
Telephone: (602) 870-9848
Rating: 4.8

The Difference Between Torsion Springs & Extension Springs

When it comes to your garage door there are many moving & working parts that all play a big role in the opening and closing of the door both safely & efficiently. That being said when one of these parts is in need of repair or replacement, your garage door usually does not work properly or efficiently and can also pose a big safety risk. One of the most frequent garage door issues that will definitely hinder the use of your door & cause possible safety hazards, is broken springs.

There are two different main types of garage door springs. Both types of springs play a significant and big role in the overall motion of your garage door. And because both of these types of springs are big and hold a lot of force & tension they are also quite dangerous to try to replace or repair yourself. But before we get too far ahead of ourselves let’s first discuss the two different types of garage door springs.

Extension Springs

Your garage door extension springs are found running parallel to the garage door track. They are long & skinny and extend/ stretch whenever the garage door is opened or closed. With this action the springs store energy to help with the movement of your door. Extension springs come in a variety of different spring options such as, open-looped, double-looped, and clipped end extension springs. While there are many different sets of instructions & videos available showing how to replace or repair these springs on your own, there are a few important things to keep in mind. You need to be careful of falling garage doors, cuts from rusted metal on the spring or garage door track, and activated garage door openers during the repair process. Because of these hazards, it is always best to seek the help of a garage door spring repair expert.

Torsion Springs

You may have anywhere from 1 to 4 torsion springs incorporated with your garage door depending on the strength, weight, and size of your door. These springs can usually be found on the metal shaft directly above the door opening. On either side of the metal shaft are aluminum drums. The springs are wound around the drums to a certain torsion setting. These springs come in a variety of different options including, standard torsion springs, early set torsion springs, steel rolling door torsion springs, and torque master torsion springs. These springs are the most dangerous of the two springs to try to repair or replace yourself and definitely should be handled by a professional. Not only do you run the risk of activating the garage door opener, or a falling garage door, changing these springs on your own exposes you to serious safety risks. Because of the amount of tension these springs hold they often break which results in a flying spring or metal.

The most common residential garage door spring problems usually include any of the different extension springs and standard or early set torsion springs. The steel rolling door torsion springs and torque master torsion springs are most common in commercial or industrial doors. The springs on commercial or industrial doors absolutely should be repaired or replaced by a professional garage door repair technician.

The Homeowner’s Guide to Garage Door Inspection and Maintenance

Many small residential garage door problems can be repaired on your own with a little bit of elbow grease and some knowhow—which we hope to provide you with here today—but do keep in mind that some repairs should be performed by a professional who has the experience, specialized tools, and replacement parts to fix the problem. Safety is the number one priority when it comes to repairing and garage door issue. Sp please remember this should you choose to go at a few repairs yourself.

For example, lubricating the rails is a safe and easy DIY project anyone with a few minutes and a silicone spray can handle. However, depending on the type of garage door you have, a project like spring replacement could be at best difficult and at worst potentially dangerous. Let your personal experience and comfort level guide which repairs you can do on your own and which repairs you should call the pros in for.

In this post, you’ll learn about some of the following topics:

How to diagnose common garage door problems
Safety tips to avoid injury
How to inspect your garage door safely and thoroughly
DIY maintenance and home tune-ups
When to call in professional garage door repair experts

As garage door technology has improved, so has the complexity of these devices. However, it’s still possible to inspect them yourself as long as you’re very careful and know what to look for. Let’s begin by discussing the most important safety procedure, after which we’ll cover how to perform an inspection on your own.

The #1 Safety Procedure for DIY Garage Door Repair

While many garage door repair activities require further safety measures, there’s one thing you should always do while repairing, maintaining, or even simply inspecting your garage door.

Can you guess what it is?

Always work with the door down.

Of course there are some situations where the door has to be up—these are often good cases to make an appointment with a residential garage door repair company like ours—but generally speaking, most activities can and should be performed with the door down. The last thing you want to happen is for the garage door to rapidly and perhaps unexpectedly crash down while you’re working.

Additional Garage Door Repair Safety Tips

Before doing any work on your garage door, make sure you’ve safely cleared out children, pets, and basically anyone else who might get in the way. This is especially important if you’re working on the sensors for an automatic garage door, because they prevent the garage door from closing completely if something passes through them (like a car, but also a dog or small child).

Since it is likely that you’ll be working on an automatic garage door, it’s also a good practice to disable the opener while you perform repairs or maintenance. This will require cutting off power to the opener, the process for which varies depending on your garage door setup. Sometimes it’s as simple as unplugging the opener, but you may need to shut it off in your home’s fuse box. Either way, do it—this will prevent accidental opening/closing of the garage door.

Finally, here’s a tip that’s not necessarily about safety, but you’ll be glad to know it anyway: always work on your garage door with your cars parked outside! Just in case something goes wrong and the garage door is stuck in the down position, you’ll have access to your vehicles until you can get a professional service technician to come over.

How to Perform a Home Garage Door Inspection

Discovering problems before they become major repair issues can save you both time and money, so regularly performing a garage door inspection is a good idea for any homeowner. Assuming everything appears to be in good working order and you aren’t having any problems, a good inspection schedule would be bi-monthly or at the most once every 90 days.

Inspecting your garage door on your own is a fairly simple task if you know what to look for. Begin by standing in your garage—remember, anytime you’re inspecting or maintaining the garage door, the door should be in the down position—and carefully look at the following components:

Springs
Cables
Pulleys
Hinges
Sensors
Rollers (the “wheels”)
The door itself

Visually inspect each part. What you mostly want to look for will be signs of damage or visible wear. Cables are a common culprit for garage door problems, but can usually be spotted when they start to fray. Check for hardware that may be coming loose and needs to be tightened down. Look at the sensors and make sure that they’re properly aligned. The springs shouldn’t “wobble” and should remain snugly in place.

If you see damage or wear, take down notes about parts that may need to be repaired or replaced. Decide which problems you think you can fix yourself and which problems may require professional assistance. If you are in need of professional garage door service, call Parker Garage Doors at 602-970-9848.

While standing in the garage safely away from the garage door, open and close it. Since most of the time you’re probably opening and closing the garage door from inside your car, this will give you the opportunity to pay special attention while viewing and listening to its operation.

Look for anything that catches, halts, or grinds. View the springs to ensure that they’re attached properly and stretch out symmetrically. Listen for any unnatural sounds (you’ll know it if you hear them). Squeaking, grinding, and so on can indicate problems.

Twice yearly, a small amount of lubrication should be sprayed into the garage door tracks, hinges, and rollers. It’s not uncommon for homeowners to forget this (often for years at a time). If the garage door seems to be struggling to move properly or you hear some of the aforementioned noises, the door may just need to be lubricated. A silicone spray is usually a fine choice.

After lubrication, perform the same test where you stand and observe the garage door. If the noises are gone, you solved the problem with lubricant—if they persist and you can’t find any visual evidence, you may need to call a professional to diagnose the issue.

How to Test Your Garage Door Sensors

If your automatic garage door was installed after 1993, it almost certainly has a pair of sensors designed to activate the reversal mechanism. After this time, that was the law. If something activates the sensor while the garage door is going down, the garage door should automatically reverse. This prevents people and adults from getting accidentally injured.

The sensors work by casting an infrared beam between one another. If the beam is disturbed (e.g., someone walks through it) the reversal mechanism is activated and the garage door returns to the open position.

As part of your inspection, the sensors should be tested. It’s important! If they aren’t working, it would be quite difficult to know until it was too late and someone got hurt.

This is one of the few cases where you need to work on your garage door with the door in the open position. Stand near the garage door (not underneath it). Hold a long object you can use to test the sensors—you’ll be using it to break the beam between the sensors.

Use the remote or have someone help you by pressing the wall button to close the garage. As the garage door is closing, put the object between the sensors. The door should immediately go back up. If this happens, your sensors are working properly.

However, if the garage door continues to go down even though it appeared as if you disturbed the beam, it means that your sensors aren’t working. Assuming a visual inspection doesn’t present any obvious damage to the sensors, it may be that they simply need to be cleaned. With the garage door closed, use a dry cloth to wipe down the sensors and remove dust or debris.

Examine the sensors and to the best of your ability ensure that they’re both aligned to face each other. Note that when sensors are working properly their alignment doesn’t have to be perfect, in almost all cases “eyeballing it” will be good enough. If they look aligned, they probably are.

Repeat the test with the broom handle. If the problem was resolved and the door reverses when you interrupt the beam, odds are the sensors were out of alignment or dirty. If the garage door still comes to a complete close, you should have your sensors replaced immediately.

How to Know When to Call a Garage Door Repair Professional

Knowing how to do basic inspections and minor repair work are both excellent skills for any homeowner to have. However, in some cases over the lifespan of your garage door, you’ll almost certainly need to call a professional garage repair technician. Maybe it’s for a problem you just can’t track down or for a specific part you can’t replace by simply going to the hardware store.

Whatever the situation may be, the staff at Parker Garage Doors would be pleased to diagnose and repair your garage door. Is it time for an upgrade? We’ve got you covered there too. We offer a large selection of new garage doors to choose from. Please feel free to call us at (602) 870-9848.

June: Keeping Your Garage Door Safe & Secure

As we continue to celebrate National Garage Door Safety month, the professionals at PGD will like to share with you a list of maintenance tips to ensure your garage door is safe and secure. Be sure to tell everyone in the house you are doing maintenance on the garage door to avoid serious injuries and/or property damage.

Organizing Your Garage

In many households, the garage is used as an extended closet, or storage place for the family. Ideally, we will all like to park our vehicles inside the safety of our garage, but the truth is some of us have too much stuff stored inside to make that a reality. The garage is normally used to store items that do not fit inside the house.

Keep your garage door organized by using pegboards, milk crates and plastic storage totes. These storage utensils are a great fit because you can see everything! No need to guess what is inside. If you really want to be organized, you can have a summary on each plastic storage totes of what is inside making it easier to find a missing item.

You can also use old metal garbage cans. You can recycle them and use them for storing fertilizer, dog food and other items.

Standard Garage Door Safety Features

In the 1993, federal law required all manufacturers of residential garage doors change the way they make their product. All residential garage doors manufactured after January 1st, 1993 must have the following:

A built-in automatic reverse feature that reverses two seconds after sensing an object is under the garage door.
A 30-second reverse timer that activates the garage door to open 30 seconds after sensing the door has not fully closed.
Have a secondary entrapment protection system. (Example: edge sensor, a photoelectric eye etc.)
The ability to close the garage door with manufacturer’s suggested devices. (Example: remote, keypad, etc.)

It is very important to make sure that all sensors are active on your garage door. If the sensors are not working properly, the garage door will continue to close, even when something is under the door. You can test this functionality by placing an object below the garage door when you close it. The sensors mentioned above will cause the door to reverse if something is stopping the door from closing.

Maintenance To Prevent Costly Repairs

You should get in the routine of visually inspecting the mechanical parts of your garage door on a regular basis. Open and close your garage door to see that everything looks and sounds correct. If there is something that looks out of place, or if your garage door is noisy, call a service technician to diagnose the issue right away.

Keep an eye on the rollers, tracks, springs, cables, pulleys, bolts, angles and struts that allow the garage door to function properly. Make sure they are lubricated and in working condition. These parts on the garage door can easily become worn down over time if not maintained.

Preventing Garage Door Injuries

The best way to avoid injuries is to always keep your hands and body away from the garage door while its opening or closing. It is important to teach your children and others in the household about garage door safety. Small children are well known for playing with the garage door opener to pass time during summer. Teaching your family how to operate the garage door safely can prevent injuries in the future.

Inspecting your garage door regularly is also essential to maintaining a safe garage for yourself and others. You can save money by doing it yourself, but hiring a trained professional to tune-up your garage door will ensure safety and security. Have the comfort of knowing your garage door will be functioning.

Safe and Secure

PGD recommend that you have more than one way of accessing and opening your garage door. We suggest at least 3 ways to open your garage in the case of an power outage, lost or stolen device. Make sure you test your garage door opener devices on a regular basis so you are always able to open and close the garage door when needed.

There are also ‘Smart’ garage doors that allows you to control your garage door from a smartphone or tablet. Call (602) 870-9848 now if you are interested in transforming your garage to a ‘Smart’ garage door.

June: National Garage Door Safety Month

June is National Garage Door Safety Month! You may not know this, but the garage door is the most used entry point for the home. On average, the garage door closes and opens at least 4 times a day. More than 70% of homeowners use their garage door as the main entrance into their home. With that much traffic in and out the garage door, it is important to ensure your garage door is working correctly at all times.

The use of our garage doors have become such a daily part of our family lives that we often don’t take the time to stop and see if the basic components of the garage door are functioning correctly. Checking up on your garage door not only keeps your family safe, it will also keep your door safe and operating for years to come.

Is Your Garage Door Safe?

In recognition of National Garage Door Month, the professionals here at Parker Doors & More will like to share some tips with you on maintaining the security and safety of your garage door. Below is a list of common garage door accidents and how to avoid them. Garage Door Safety is a must:

Do-It-Yourselfers

Some of us are more handy than others and would rather work on their own garage door compared to seeking help. This is an affordable option for quick maintenance and repairs, but you also increase the chances of receiving an injury if you are not familiar with garage doors.

If you are still motivated to do the repair on your own, be sure to study the instruction manual for your garage. There are over 1,500 injuries a year from homeowners trying to fix their garage door. Contact a professional if you have any questions or if you are not sure on the proper procedures when repairing your garage door.

Kids Playing With Doors

This is very common, especially during the summer when the school is out. Little ones love racing under the door as it opens and closes. They also like testing how long they can maintain their balance on the bottom door panel as the door opens. Approximately 100 children are injured each year playing with garage doors.

The best way to prevent this is by simply educating the children that live in the home to not treat the garage door as a toy. Practice garage door safety with your young ones. Parker Doors & More suggest that you keep small children away from automatic garage doors and garage remotes at all times.

Continue Use Of A Broken Garage Door

You will be surprised by the number of households who continue to use their broken garage door. Whether it is a broken panel, bad sensors or a problem with the garage door opener, we always recommend that you repair the issue as soon as possible to avoid injury. Hundreds of Americans are injured every year by broken garage doors.

It is a good idea to visually checkout your garage door from time to time. Be sure that the mechanics and the moving parts of the garage door look in place. We recommend having a professional perform routine tune ups to avoid serious repairs and injuries.

Avoid Racing The Door

We have all have had a time when we realize we left something in the house as we are backing out of the garage. Even though modern garage doors have sensors as a safety feature to avoid accidents. Over 130 people injure themselves, damage their homes, damage their garage door or damage their vehicle each year while trying to race the door.

The best way to avoid injury is patience. You may have to wait a few moments as the door reopens, but you will avoid injury and damage to your home and/or car.

Trapped Fingers

Before attempting any ‘Do-It-Yourself’ repairs, make sure that the power is disconnected. Even once the power is disconnected, the garage door can still be very dangerous and should be handled with care. Nearly 200 people hurt themselves every year. Fingers can easily get caught between the rollers, cables, tracks and springs.

Children and adults should always be very careful. Garage door accidents can lead to severe injury or even amputation in some cases.

Broken Glass

If your garage door is a contemporary glass-based design or if you have glass windows on your garage door, then you will have to deal with broken glass at some point. It is important that you pay attention to cracked and broken windows to avoid serious injuries or damage to the tires on your vehicle.

Although there is not much you can do to prevent glass from breaking, try to take extra precaution while cleaning the mess. Sweep the area two or three time to make sure there aren’t any glass shards being left behind.

Falling Garage Doors

Once a garage door has been damaged, or if the door has been improperly maintained, there is a good chance that a garage door panel, or the whole garage door itself can fall and cause serious harm to yourself, your car or your house. Maintaining your garage door is the only way to avoid major malfunctions. We recommend doing seasonal check-ups on your garage door. Make sure the bolts and screws are tightened and that the hinges, rollers and tracks are in proper working order.

Summer Safety

With June marking the beginning of summer vacation, garage door professionals thought it will be a good idea to use June as National Garage Door Safety month. We increase our garage door use in the summer storing garden supplies, sporting equipment, kids bicycles and cars. It is the perfect time to pay a little more attention to the functionality of your garage door.

Garage Door Service With Parker Doors

Parker Doors & More offers a variety of services to keep your garage door safe and working properly. We are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, There is no job too big or too small. If you are in need of a repair or a tune up, call 602-870-9848 or contact us online. Ask about our June Tune Up Special!

Help! I Backed Into My Garage Door!

It’s Monday morning. You’re exhausted from a long weekend. Everything is falling apart. Kids don’t want to go to school, you spill coffee on your shirt, you burn the toast, and now you’re late for work. You run to your car in the garage, throw it in reverse and then WHAM, you back straight into your garage door because you forgot to open it. It’s embarrassing but believe us, it happens a lot.

So now what? Well, the first thing you should do is contact Parker Doors for fast and reliable garage door repair service.

But then the questions start. You have a damaged garage and a damaged car. Is insurance going to cover any of this? Do you contact your homeowner’s insurance agent or your car insurance agent? More than likely, the answer is both.

Generally speaking, car insurance only covers your car against loss whether it’s from an accident, a telephone pole falls on your car, or some dirtbag steals your car. Some auto insurance policies do include property damage coverage, but that only comes into play when it’s somebody else’s property as your own personal property is normally excluded. So if the above scenario happens at a friend’s house, then your car insurance could possibly provide coverage for the garage damage, but repairing your friendship is all your responsibility.

If your garage is attached to your home it’s considered part of the structure and therefore is usually covered by homeowners insurance

Let’s assume it’s your own garage. If your garage is attached to your home it’s considered part of the structure and therefore it’s usually covered by homeowners insurance. The tricky part is whether or not the insurance company considers the damage a result of your own negligence. Perhaps you hit the garage door opener button as you do every morning, but for some reason, this morning the garage failed to open. Maybe a cat ran in as you were opening the garage and tripped the auto-reverse sensor. Or maybe it was just all your fault.

Your best bet when something like this occurs is to call a garage repair professional immediately so they can assess and diagnose the situation. It’s possible repairing your garage door may cost less than your deductible so there would be no need for an insurance claim. It’s also possible their report can help you prove the accident wasn’t your fault.

Ultimately it all depends on your insurance policies. It’s good idea to review your policy with your insurance agents so they can advise what is covered and what isn’t.

Have a question? Contact Parker Doors – family owned and operated since 1998!

602-870-9848

Sales - Service - Repair - Installation