Your typical garage door system is made up of many different small and large parts working together in order to make a heavy door go up and down in a controlled fashion. The typical American home puts more stress of their garage door than they truly realize. Optimally, all these moving metal parts needs to be maintained just like anything else and yet they oftentimes get neglected.
The most common garage door opener parts that will wear out and need to be replaced out are:
drums
cables
pulleys
springs (whether they are torsion or extension)
hinges
the actual motor
These are the parts on your garage door that receive the most wear and therefore these are the parts that will give out the quickest.
Its wise for a homeowner to do a quick visual inspection of these the parts just mentioned at least once a year. It really should not take more than 10-15 minutes.
Nevertheless, if they do break down and your should need to replace one of your garage door parts here the the process you should use.
Find out which brand and model your garage door is.
Evaluate exactly what is causing the problem and if possible write down the model number of that particular garage door part.
Call a local garage door dealer in your area and ask if they stock this part. If they do ask them what it costs. You might also want to ask how much it would cost to have it installed. Do not purchase the part just yet.
If you can get that particular part significantly cheaper online and can install it yourself then by all means purchase it.
If the price is not much cheaper (remember to factor in shipping though garage door parts stores on the internet offer free shipping over a certain dollar amount) or if you cannot install it yourself go to the local dealer. Just make certain they guarantee their work. About half of the parts that malfunction on your garage door will be easily fixed with the proper part. The other half will require the skills and special tools of a garage technician to be done properly.
When you are choosing a garage door company make sure you choose one who has a good reputation in your area, has experience in what they do, recommended by at least three people, and offer some kind of warranty on their work.
Repairing a garage door is harder and more technical than most people realize. The average person simply does not have the tools and knowledge to do it. You can save a lot of time and money by calling a garage door repair service and having them do it.
However, before you do call a company that specializes in this field you need to make sure you know what they are doing. Failure to do this could result in hiring a garage door opener repair service that not only waste your time but your hard-earned money.
I would start by asking friends, family, coworkers, acquaintances, and real estate agents for recommendations on good garage door companies. Trust you and I say this, you are not the only one with the garage door, and most of the people you know at some point in time has had to call a repairmen to fix this item on their house. These people will be more than happy to give you their thoughts on whether the people they chose to fix their garage or knowledgeable and fair.
So you get a recommendation you call the company. The next thing you want to do is ask a garage door opener repair service for references. If they have been in business for any amount of time they should have happy and pleased customers. Any good company of this nature should be able to provide you with at least three contact references that you can physically call for their opinions.
Another way to see what past customers thought about the service is to look online for reviews. There are tons of home improvement forums and websites that allow consumers to post their thoughts and recommendations about particular businesses and services. Again, if the company you are thinking about doing business with has been business for a couple years there is a huge likelihood somebody on the web will have posted a review about them.
Its now time to get prices and make comparisons. You need to call several garage door service companies and get a quote for the problem you have. Please do not be vague with the consultants on the phone. Be as detailed as possible and describe fully the problem you are having. Most likely they will have somebody come out and check the problem himself. Do not authorize any work to be done unless you have been given an explanation of what all the parts and labor will cost. The estimate should be thorough and detailed. It should outline exactly what you were getting for the price you are paying.
I am not implying that every good garage door repair service is part of his organization but it does not hurt to go with a company listed at the Better Business Bureau. This association tracks a company’s history, its complaints, its customer service, and usually garage door repair services are five times as likely to quickly settle disputes because they want to keep a high rating with the BBB.
We check on this site you can see if they have any unresolved complaints and how recent they were. Every company on the site is given a rating from A to F. keep in mind that even with garage door opener repair services misunderstandings do arise but it is up to a well-run company to at least attempt to resolve most of them (as long as the complaint is not outrageous).
You may live in an area where there are a lot of garage door opener repair services trying to compete for your business. This is not a bad thing because as you know competition brings the price down. But with more companies come the greater need for filtering the good garage repair services from the bad ones. You should take time to locate a well-established and reputable company to avoid further damage in your garage or voiding its warranty.
Personally, I am a huge fan of paying a little more for the most experienced guys out there. I like to exploit experts and believe that though seasoned garage door professionals usually cost more they are more efficient and proficient at what they do. They are able to get the job done the best way and the fastest way so that you can get onto more important matters.
I have a friend who owns a garage door Spokane WA business who has shown me a lot. I fly down there some times and he has guys running all over the place doing repair jobs. I have no idea how is staying so busy. The housing market is supposed to be down. Anyway, from what he told me the homeowners tax stimulus is really paying off. The US government is offering financial incentives to homeowners ($1500 off their federal income taxes) to buy qualifying insulated garage doors. I did not think that was a huge amount at first but a lot of people seem to think that is a really good deal.
Getting the right garage door opener parts when you need them is not easy at all. It can be really frustrating finding the rights parts you need online because every garage is in some way different and has different components to them from the next one.
Lets try to help you out buy outlining some starting points to help you find the parts you need.
There is nice informative site called US Door Control. This site is nicely laid out and is very user friendly to navigate. They have many garage door opener parts for many applications and situations. There are several sections including troubleshooting, opener instructions, service manuals, and technical assistance. If you need to know if one garage part will fit another part there is a compatibility chart for you to use with all the major brands like Genie, Lift-Master, Stanley, and Keystone. Really helpful! And they have hundreds of parts at wholesale prices for you to pick from. Excellent site. I checked their shipping and it was fair and they have a phone number for you to call if you have any problems with your order or you need any sort of help in purchasing garage door opener parts.
I found this other site AAARemotes on another search I did for parts. It would appear that this particular website specializes in mainly garage door opener remotes. They have a few other accessories but 95% of their product line is remotes. They have every sort of brand and model you can think of for any needs you have. The website is kind of plain but I would say that it is definitely user friendly. They have two numbers that you can call to get help; one phone number is for sales of garage remotes and the other is for technical issues in operation.
There is another site called ProDoorParts that is a great source for purchasing what you need for your garage door. I really did like this website out of all of them. It was very well put together. They have tons of options and brands here. They specialize in Wayne Dalton garage door & opener parts and accessories we also have a vast knowledge of all the major brand names that include but not limited to: Liftmaster, Overhead Door, CHI, Clopay, Ideal, Windsor, Ammar, Genie, Craftsman, Stanley, Raynor and Chamberlain garage doors and openers. Very good site and highly recommended.
The last site I am going to mention is called First Door Parts. It gets a the job done and their prices are not bad. They have been around since 1981. The site is not pretty and the layout is totally boring but the information is good. They should fire the guy who created their template and design but the end result appears to be the same. They have a standard shipping rate of $6.95 per order which is fair. You can place your order for any part on their online store on the actual website or you can do it via phone or fax.
Okay so hopefully this helped. These are four websites that should aid you in finding what you need. I know that is can be a little frustrating at times finding the right item and not knowing where to go but at least you have someone who can point you in the right direction now. Come back again for more information on garage door opener parts and get the latest reviews, tips, and secrets pertaining to this home improvement niche.
