Garage Door Safety Inspection: getting ready

Backing out in a hurry, the bumper tapped the bottom section. The dent is small and the door still runs, but it seems to shudder now at the point where the panel meets the track.

Worth answering before the call

Is there a spring on a shaft above the opening, or springs stretched along the tracks? Have you tried lifting the door by hand, and how did it feel? Do you have the door and opener manuals?

Is the inspection a repair visit?

It is a look and a record first. Small maintenance items such as lubrication, cleaning and aligning the photo eyes and tightening fasteners can be done on the spot if you wish. Anything involving spring tension, cables, drums, worn rollers or damaged sections is written up with a clear explanation and quoted as its own job, so you decide with the full picture in front of you.

How often should a garage door be inspected?

Once a year suits most households, and early spring, after the salt and freeze-thaw season, is a natural time. A door that opens many times a day, an older door, or one on a rental where nobody watches it closely does well with a look each season. Between visits, the monthly balance, reversal and photo-eye checks that industry guidance recommends catch most changes early.