Lately, whenever you need to open or close your garage door, you may have noticed that it is not moving correctly. It may seem to catch in one area, may buckle at certain points on its path, or may stop abruptly in one area.
After eliminating the possibility that your door opener's remote control needs batteries, you may conclude that there may be a problem with the door's tracks. There are a couple of ways that they could interfere with your garage door's movement.
1. Sensors Are Either Dirty or Misaligned
One possible way that an issue with the tracks is causing problems with your garage door is that the sensors located within them may be dirty or misaligned. These sensors serve as a safety feature that prevents the door from moving if an obstacle is detected.
If the sensor eyes get dirty, they may mistake the dirt for an object. Cleaning their surfaces with a soft cloth should remedy the problem.
Or, if the sensors are misaligned, they may be reading an object in your garage or even the sides of the frames themselves. Check the sensors, which are normally located at the bottoms of the door tracks, to see if they are straight.
If you are unable to straighten them, the tracks themselves may be bent. In this case, you would need a professional to straighten them and realign the sensors.
2. Tracks Have Been Knocked Out of Alignment
Besides being bent around the sensors, another way that the tracks could be interfering with your garage door's ability to open and close is that they are completely out of alignment. This problem can happen by either being bumped by a vehicle or after years of stress from normal operation.
If the tracks are misaligned, the door may catch when it reaches the point where they are no longer parallel. You may also notice that the door pops or whines when it reaches this area. Even if the door is able to push through, you will still need to have them realigned to prevent further damage to both the door and the tracks.
If you have attempted to clean out the tracks and the sensors without any change to your door's ability to move smoothly, the tracks may be misaligned, bent, or otherwise damaged. Contact a business that offers garage door repair services to have them take a look at the tracks to see what needs to be done to fix them.
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