How Can You Fix a Noisy Garage Door?

The garage door is most homeowners’ main entrance to the home. An attractive garage door is one of the best additions to your home’s facade. A newly updated garage door can recoup 94.5% of the cost when you resell your home.

It’s an investment that you want to maintain. You open and close your garage door every day, and it become a major annoyance if it makes a lot noise every time you run it. A loud garage door can impact you, your family, your neighbors and

guests who visit your home.

You’ll need to check a few areas of your garage door that might be the cause of the noise. These maintenance tips can help you fix your noisy garage door opener.

1. Tighten Nuts and Bolts

The noise your garage door is making may be from a loose or missing bolt on the track or door. Loose nuts and bolts can cause your garage door to make a rattling noise.

Make sure you’ve disconnected your garage door opener and informed your family that you’ll be working on the garage door. It can be dangerous if someone opens the garage door while you’re tightening bolts.

Nuts, bolts and screws shouldn’t be too tight on the track or garage door. Tighten them enough to stay in place.

Once you’ve checked to make sure every bolt and screw is tight, test the garage door to see if you’ve fixed your noise problem.

2. Check and Replace worn Rollers

If you hear a noise when the garage door opens and closes, your issue might be the rollers. Rollers are the wheels that run inside the tracks on the sides of the door, guiding it up and down. Rollers can seize up after a time so they no longer 

roll in the track.  When this happens they can cause a squealing noise as the metal or plastic roller is dragged along the metal track.  It is easy to spot a seized roller by carefully watching them as the door operates and locating the source of 

the squeal.  Rollers are often sealed so there is no way to lubricate but in some cases, you may be able to see the bearings where the roller stem meets the wheel.  If this is the case you use a lithium based spray lubricant on this area only to 

increase roller longevity.  

Do not lubricate the track, it will only collect dust and dirt making if more difficult for the rollers to roll.  If you find a seized roller, call a professional to replace as the work often requires removal of track, removing tension from springs and reconnecting cables.

Learn About Our Garage Door Repair Services

3. Check or Replace the Springs

Springs are the central part to the operation of a garage door. They counterbalance the weight of the door so that it can open and close easily and smoothly.  In both main kinds of spring, the torsion set up and extension set up, there are

 several moving parts including bearing and pulleys that allow shafts to turn and cables to be taken up or let down.  All of these areas can be a source of noise if a bearing or pulley fails or seizes.  The springs themselves may be fatigued after

 years of use and if they are not properly balancing the door can cause stress on the opener which may create additional noise.  If you suspect the noise may be coming from your spring system, call a professional to service the door and check

 for worn or fatigued parts.  It is never recommended you do any work on the spring system yourself as they are highly dangerous. 

4. Lubricate or Replace Hinges

Hinges connect each section of your door to the next and allows your door to ‘hinge’ as it moves from closed to open and vice versa. These are fastened to the door by bolts and can become loose after a lot of use.  If you checked for loose 

nuts and bolts and tightened everything appropriately, check for wear on the hinges.  Signs of wear can be quite obvious from large gaps between the hinge straps to crooked hinge pin to cracks. Any one of these can be a source of noise and 

often requires the hinge to be replaced. Hinges can also benefit from lubrication which can extend their life and prevent the metal parts of the hinge from rubbing together and creating noise.  Lubricate the hinge pin and where the straps 

meet the pin.  If the hinge needs to be replaced, always swap one hinge at a time and if the hinge is on the end and carrying a roller, be extremely careful.  It is always recommended to call a professional for such repairs.

5. Check Garage Door Opener

If you’ve inspected different areas on your garage door for maintenance and none of them were the source of the noise, it’s time to check your garage door opener.

The garage door opener is the device on your garage’s ceiling that operates your door. All the moving parts in the garage door opener can produce noise, and maintenance may be necessary. There are several moving parts inside and outside 

the opener which may be the source of noise.  It is pretty easy to identify where the noise is coming from be it from the rail with the chain or belt and traveler that connects to your door, or from the motor housing.  In the case of the rail, 

simple lubrication of the chain/belt may take care of the issue but if the sound is inside the motor housing, do not use any lubricant as most modern openers contain sensitive electronics which can be damaged if liquids get on them.  It is 

always recommended that a professional service your opener and if quiet operation is a priority, several options are available for extremely quite operating garage door openers.

6. The Weather

Climate will play a huge roll in how a door operates. Though the heat of summer and direct sun can cause some expansion issues, most well maintained doors have very few issues during the warmer months and therefore few abnormal 

noises. Winter in our climate can bring a whole host of noise causing problems. Extreme cold can cause mechanical things to work harder causing some additional noise.  Some lubrication and maintenance may alleviate some of this noise but 

most of the time the noise will subside when the weather warms up a bit.  Persistent noise after a warm up may be an indication of an issue talked about above.  The biggest complaint during the winter is popping noises.  These are often 

caused by water getting between the sections and freezing or on the floor and partially freezing the door shut.  The best defense in this situation is prevention, keeping melting water from cars or the roof away from the area underneath the 

door. Strong bottom weather seal can also aid in keeping your door from freezing shut by keeping cold air from interacting with water inside the garage. There are some options for weather stripping between sections on some model doors or 

a small bead of lubricant between sections can also prevent water infiltration and freezing but maintaining good drainage from the door is the most effective solution. 

Learn About Our Garage Door Repair Services

7. Call a Garage Door Expert

You can complete some simple garage door repairs by yourself if you have the necessary tools. But other types of garage door maintenance can be dangerous if you’re planning to work on your garage door alone or even with a helper. 

Springs and cables are under an extreme amount of tension and if not handled correctly can and will cause significant injury.  Garage Door openers are electrically powered and also contain circuit boards, transformers, and other components

that can be dangerous if not handled properly.  For your safety and peace of mind, it’s best to have some garage door repairs completed by a professional. A skilled technician will quickly pinpoint the source of the noise. Once a professional 

fixes your garage door, you won’t have to worry about hearing a racket every time you need to leave or come home.

Contact Crawford Door Sales for Your Garage Door Maintenance

You want your garage door to function correctly. A noisy garage door can impede your life and be a sign of future operation failure. If you don’t have time to repair your garage door or the maintenance is too dangerous for you to handle, Crawford Door Sales can help.

We are your trusted residential garage door service provider. Our trained technicians will identify the problem that’s causing your garage door to squeak and provide the necessary repairs. Our team members bring high-quality tools to perform excellent work.

If your garage door needs maintenance, contact Crawford Door Sales today to schedule your appointment.