If you have an attached garage, the garage door is essential for keeping your home safe and secure. Damaged garage doors sometimes will no longer lock or shut all the way. That means that someone could potentially break into your garage and gain access to your home if your garage door is damaged. It’s important to know what to do if your garage door is damaged and how to test to see whether it still works.
Assess the Extent of the Damage
Some of the most common sources of major garage door damage include strong winds or someone accidentally hitting the door with their car. Even if the car just barely rolls into the door, it can exert enough force to damage things like the panels, rails or hinges. Fires, flooding, structural insect damage and electrical damage from things like lighting strikes can also damage your door and opener.
If your door is damaged, go inside the garage from your house or a side door and check all of the components before you try to open it. The main things you should check are that neither of the rails are bent, that all of the rollers are still on the rails and that the hinges that join each of the panels are still connected and tight. Also look at the integrity of the door frame. If you see any issues, have a professional inspect the door before you try and use it.
Try to Manually Open the Door
If you don’t notice any of the components are damaged, disconnect the door from the opener. This is done by pulling the red cord attached to the opener trolley. The opener puts more force on the door compared to opening it manually, which could result in further damage to various parts of the garage door system.
After disconnecting the door, pull up on it to try and open it by hand. You should be able to open the door with little effort since the springs act like a counterbalance and carry almost all of the weight. If the door feels heavy and is difficult to lift, it usually means that a spring is broken.
When you open the door, stop halfway to see if it stays open. If it does, you can then open it all the way. At this point, it’s a good idea to try opening and closing it a few more times to check that it moves smoothly and has no issues. If it seems to be working fine, you’re usually ok to continue using it if you can’t get it inspected quickly.
Not all garage doors can be locked when they’re opened and closed manually. That’s why you should reconnect the door to the opener trolley any time you need to leave. This way the opener will prevent anyone from being able to open the door from outside. The other option is to put a padlock or pin into one of the holes on either rail. This will block the rollers and make it so that the door can’t be opened by hand.
Contact a Garage Door Company for an Estimate
The next step is to contact a local garage door company to have your door inspected. While you wait for them to arrive, it’s a good idea to take note of all of the damage and how it occurred since this will allow them to assess everything more easily. When the garage door technician arrives, they’ll check the door inside and outside for visible damage and inspect the components. They’ll then be able to provide you with an accurate assessment of the total damage and an estimate of how much it will cost to repair the door. They’ll also be able to tell if the door is repairable or if it needs to be replaced. If only one panel is damaged, it can usually be replaced. However, depending on the age and model of the door, it isn’t always possible to find a replacement panel that perfectly matches.
Decide Whether to File a Claim With Your Homeowner’s Insurance
If the damage was caused by someone hitting the door with their car or wind, your homeowner’s insurance policy will usually cover the cost to repair the damage or replace the door. That means you may want to contact them at some point. However, you’re probably better off waiting until you can have a garage door company perform an inspection to assess the damage and give you an estimate of how much it will cost to repair the door.
You may want to wait to contact your insurance company until you hae a damage assessment. It may not be worth filing a claim if your deductible is higher than what you’ll have to pay to get the door repaired.
Decide Whether the Door Is Worth Repairing
Once you have the estimate in hand and have also determined whether or not you want to file an insurance claim, the last step is to determine whether the repairs are worth it. That means considering whether the damage is merely cosmetic and something you can live with. If the damage affects the movement of the door, it will need repair.
The average lifespan of most residential garage doors is between 15 and 30 years. If the door is already fairly old and doesn’t have much life left, you may wish to replace the door instead of repairing it. This is true even if your insurance company will cover the cost of the repairs since they will just write you a check that you can then put toward installing the new door.
Consider Replacement Options
In addition to choosing between repair and leaving a damaged garage door, you may also opt to use the damage as a chance to upgrade. There are several reasons you may use damage as a reason to replace your garage door and/or opener. Smart garage door systems can be operated remotely, can work with smartphones and can track who used the opener to get in and out at different times of day. They can be tied with home security cameras or send you a text when someone opens the garage door. New garage doors can add an updated look to your home, increase the insulation level to your garage and give you peace of mind that you have something new and less likely to break. In some cases, a garage door that upgrades the security level of your home can lower your home insurance costs, too.
If you need an experienced, reliable garage door company, Door Pro America is the one to turn to. We offer expert garage door repairs, maintenance and garage door installation services, and we have locations in Virginia, Maryland, New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Washington, Oregon and Colorado. Contact us today if you need a garage door inspection or any other service.
