10 Signs You Must Replace Your Garage Door

Your garage door labours hard. Up and down, day after day, year after year. Most people never give it any thought until something goes wrong. Then you’re stuck in your driveway wondering why you didn’t recognise the signs earlier. 

Emitting Persistent Unusual Noises 

That grinding sound when you open your door? It’s not normal. Nor is the squeaking, rattling, or banging which gets louder each week. Your garage door is supposed to be quiet. When it starts to make noise, the springs, rollers, or tracks are worn out. Every now and then a little oil will fix it. Most times, you’re dealing with replacement parts that cost almost as much as a new door. 

The problem with noisiness of a garage door is that it deteriorates. What starts as a mere squeak soon becomes a cacophony of mechanical distress. Your neighbours notice. You start timing your departures to prevent the embarrassment. 

Sagging Sections and Visible Damage 

Take a step back and really look at your garage door. Is it sagging level? Are there dents from when you rudely backed into it? Maybe the bottom panel has started to bow outward, or you see light streaming through gaps that weren’t there before. 

Wood doors reveal their age more obviously than metal ones. The paint flakes off, the wood warps, and now your door resembles one for a shed instead of your home. Metal doors dent and rust. Either way, unsightly damage gives your entire home a tired look. 

Does Your Door Take Forever to Open? 

New garage doors will slide smoothly and quickly. If yours is dragging, jerking, or moving slowly from bottom to top, there is something wrong. Perhaps the motor is struggling, or the door itself has become too heavy for the system to lift properly. 

You don’t need to click the remote three times or wait thirty seconds for the door to respond. That delay when you’re late for work or coming home in the rain gets old in a big hurry. And if a slow door means other parts are going to begin failing, as well. 

Energy Bills That Keep Climbing 

Your garage door is really a giant composite rolling wall. If it’s not properly insulated, or the seals on the perimeter have deteriorated, you’re warming and cooling the great outdoors. That’s money out of your pocketbook. 

Older doors do not have any insulation whatsoever. Even when they did, over time it erodes. Those bottom heat strips split and crack. The weather sealing on the sides becomes stiff and shrinks. Your heating system works overtime merely to heat the house. 

Security Features From Another Era 

Garage doors prior to 1990 use fixed codes that anyone with an inexpensive scanner can read. Your door remote transmits the same signal each time. Anybody with some knowledge can duplicate that signal and open your door whenever they want. 

Rolling codes change every time you use your remote. New systems encrypt the signal and include other security features. If your garage door opener is old enough to vote, it’s probably not protecting your house. 

The Door Doesn’t Stay Put 

A properly balanced garage door will stay where you leave it when you open it halfway and let go. When it crashes onto the floor or shoots up to the ceiling, the springs need to be fixed. This is not just a nuisance – it’s dangerous. 

Spring replacement is one of those jobs that seems simple but will seriously hurt you if it goes wrong. The springs are under tremendous stress. When garage door springs do fail, they fail with great fanfare. In some cases, it is actually preferable to replace the whole system. 

Rust Has Taken Hold 

Surface rust on metal garage doors tends to be cosmetic only. Rust that penetrates the metal is a different story altogether. Salt air, harsh winters, and old-fashioned exposure take their toll. After rust has penetrated the door panels, you’re in for a losing battle. 

Rust is contagious. You can paint over small areas, but large-scale corrosion renders the door structurally unsound. Covering rust with paint doesn’t fix it – it merely conceals it for the time being. 

Is Your Remote Playing Up? 

Dead batteries are one thing. When your remote works from two feet away but not from the street, that’s a problem with signal strength. The receiver within your opener might be going out, or there could be interference with other devices. 

Some of the older systems just aren’t capable of functioning in today’s wireless interference. WiFi networks, cell phones, and other remote openers in the neighbourhood can all cause interference. Interference-blocking is better in newer systems, and they have stronger, more stable signals. 

Safety Features That Don’t Work 

Press the remote as a person goes under your closing door. Does it come to a stop and reverse immediately? It should. Photo-eye sensors placed along the bottom of your door frame detect obstructions and prevent the door from running anything over in its path. 

These safety features are life-savers, particularly when children are concerned. If your door does not have them, or if they are operating in some capacity but not properly, you are taking some serious risks. New garage doors will not operate without operating safety systems. 

The Door Looks Completely Out of Place 

Fashions change, even for garage doors. That brown aluminium door from 1985 might work perfectly, but it makes your house look dated. Sometimes replacement isn’t about function – it’s about kerb appeal and property values. 

The agents will tell you a rough-looking garage door detracts from the first impression of your home. You can be sure potential buyers do notice. Installing a new door in your home’s design can add true value. Return on investment for yearly replacement of the garage door consistently makes the top home improvement lists.