Executing a garage door repair must be one of the toughest jobs in the world if you do not know what it is that you are doing. In fact, if you try and repair a garage door yourself without having learned how everything works, it is most likely that you will not only fail, but you will also end up damaging the door more than before.
In this article, we shall go about how to deal with general repairs of a garage door. You might need some special tools to execute this garage door repair. So, make sure that you have these before you start with the work of repairing the door. You do not want to get stuck in a position where you have removed certain pieces from your door, and you do not have the equipment to continue with the repair.
Before you start, it might be a good idea to have the phone number of a good garage door repair NJ area agency just in case your repair does not go as planned.
Some of the tools and other equipment that you will require:
- Winding bars. Preferably two in number. This will help you relieve the pressure on the springs of the garage door during your repair.
- Vise grips. A couple of these should do. Once you remove the springs, you will need these to keep the door in position.
- Wrenches: 9/16, and 7/16 inches,1/2, and 3/8-inch square head, even eight-point socket ones should do fine.
Safety goggles and a hard hat. Garage door repair can be very dangerous, so safety first.
- A tall ladder that has a seating option (optional).
Let’s get into how to repair a broken torsion spring first. This is one of the most used parts of the garage door and hence may need frequent maintenance.
Step 1:
You will have to release the tension that is present in the springs in order to remove them. To do this, Place one of the winding bars in one of the holes in the winding cone of the spring and release the tension slowly one-quarter turn at a time. Then you must release the springs from the centre cone with a 9/16-inch wrench or a 1/2-inch wrench.
Step 2:
Use your vice grips to clamp the torsion shaft to prevent it from dropping when you take off the old springs during the garage door repair.
Step 3:
Then Loosen the keys on the old spring and slide the spring towards the end, then loosen the keys on the drum and remove the cable. Then slide the drum towards the centre of the torsion bar. Do this on the other side of the garage door too.
Step 4:
Then slide the torsion shaft towards the centre of the garage door and remove the drum and slide the first spring off. Also, make sure that you are using the correct springs for both sides. The left side spring has black paint, and the right side has red paint. The wire should come over the top of the spring.
Step 5:
Remove the vice grips that you placed during the garage door repair from the middle of the torsion shaft and bolt the springs to the middle bracket. Be careful with this step. See that the garage door is properly holding itself before you remove the grips completely.
Step 6:
It’s time to add tension back into the springs of the door using your winding bars. This will require approximately 30 quarter turns for a 7-foot door and approximately 33 turns for an 8-foot door.
Step 7:
Leave one of the winding bars propped up after the last turn and then tighten the keys with a 3/4 turn.
Step 8:
Wind up the cable at the ends and tighten the keys on each drum. This will secure your garage door repair.
Step 9:
Lift up the spring that has tension with your 2ndwinding bar to remove the 1stbar. Then you can set the tension on the other torsion spring.
With this, your repair should be complete. The door should be easy to lift. You can expect a slight bouncing because of the new springs, but this is completely normal and will settle down in time.
