Is your garage door squeaking, squealing or rattling when you use it? If your garage door sounds like pots and pans falling down your back stairs, it likely needs maintenance. Garage doors have many moving parts and can get very loud if these parts are loose or need grease.
While you can take steps at home to fix a noisy garage door, sometimes contacting a professional garage door technician is best. Keep reading to learn why your garage door is making noise and how to fix a noisy garage door.
Table of Contents
- Why Is Your Garage Door So Noisy?
- How to Quiet a Noisy Garage Door
- Preventive Measures and Regular Maintenance
- Schedule a Repair With Banko Overhead Doors
Why Is Your Garage Door So Noisy?
If your garage door is noisy when opening, there could be several causes. Here are a few of the most common culprits.
Loose Nuts and Bolts
Nuts and bolts hold your garage door together. When these pieces of hardware get loose, they can create a rattling sound that makes your garage door louder than usual.
Take a socket wrench and make sure each nut and bolt on the back of your door is snug without over-tightening. Tightening the hardware on your door can also reduce vibrations and help your garage door opener evenly manage the door’s weight.
Grinding Metal Parts
Another common issue is metal parts rubbing against each other and creating noise. To fix this, you can use a garage door lubricant to oil the moving metal parts. Make sure to lubricate these components:
- Rollers
- Bearings
- Hinges
- Springs
If your garage door has an exposed torsion spring, you should lubricate the entire exterior. Torsion springs rub against themselves while opening your door and can be a significant source of noise.
Instead of lubricating the tracks, wipe them down to remove any dust or debris. Additionally, it’s important to note that you should never use WD-40 on your garage door — instead of lubricating the metal parts, it will degrease them and cause serious damage. Instead, go with a light oil or garage door lubricant.
An Unbalanced Door
Sometimes, garage doors can become misaligned. Poor balance can cause noise — the door won’t operate properly, so it may have to work harder to open and close. An unbalanced door is usually the result of a worn-out spring that’s unable to carry the weight of the door evenly.
Fixing an unbalanced door by yourself isn’t a good idea since it requires you to replace the torsion spring. These springs hold a lot of tension and can cause serious physical harm if you don’t handle them properly. If you suspect your garage door is unbalanced, reach out to a professional for help.
Old or Broken Components
If your garage door is older, some of the parts may have worn out. Damaged or broken parts can contribute to noise because they affect the mechanical movement of the door. Carefully check over your garage door to see if anything looks broken or out of place.
Eventually, your door’s torsion spring will wear out. Hearing a loud noise while the door opens and closes could be a sign that it’s time to hire a professional to replace your torsion spring — either because it’s unbalancing the door or not functioning well.
Garage Door Type
Following the steps above can seriously reduce the noise you hear when opening or closing your garage door. However, for even less noise, you should consider the kind of garage door you have — some are noisier than others.
If you want a really quiet garage door, consider investing in a belt drive or direct drive for your door. While chain drives are popular because they’re affordable, they also tend to be noisier. To upgrade your garage door without installing a new one, consider using soundproofing materials like anti-vibration pads to reduce noise.
Storm Damage
Florida gets a lot of rain and hurricane weather, and it’s important to check your garage door after inclement weather to ensure everything is working properly. You may also have to guard against rust damage due to the high humidity in the area.
If metal parts rust or other components get damaged by the weather, your garage door may not function well and could become noisy. Checking your door for damage and keeping up with regular maintenance can keep your door operating smoothly and reduce noise levels.
How to Quiet a Noisy Garage Door
Often, many little things add up to create a much louder garage door. If you’d like to reduce the noise of your garage door with DIY methods, start by tightening loose components and lubricating the moving metal parts. Homeowners who have a belt drive should avoid getting any lubricant on the belt.
However, some fixes require a professional for safety reasons. If you suspect your torsion spring is the problem, don’t try to handle it yourself. Call a trusted professional who can diagnose the issue and replace the appropriate parts safely. While they’re there, they can look over your door for any other parts that need to be replaced.
Preventive Measures and Regular Maintenance
Scheduling regular maintenance is one of the best ways to fix a noisy garage door opener or garage door components. When a professional looks over your door on a regular basis, they can treat squeaks and squeals before they become obnoxiously loud or unsafe.
Maintenance checks can help you avoid the source of noise and keep your garage door working smoothly for a long time. Issues like broken components, rust and an old torsion spring can be taken care of quickly instead of damaging additional parts of your door.
Preventive maintenance is an investment that can extend the life of your garage door, help prevent expensive repairs and significantly reduce noise. Caring for your door will keep it working like new, so you can enjoy using it instead of flinching each time it opens and closes!
Schedule a Repair With Banko Overhead Doors
Need to fix a noisy garage door? Call the experienced professionals at Banko Overhead Doors to check it out. We serve the West Central Florida area and have been servicing garage doors for residential and commercial clients since 1984.
We perform garage door installation, repair and maintenance. It’s our privilege to offer customers reliable guidance and recommendations they can trust are always in their best interest. When you call us, you can count on professionalism, honesty and a quality result.
We’re also available if your garage door gets stuck — either leaving your home vulnerable or keeping you from getting your car out of the garage. Our technicians can handle any type of garage door make and model and will respond quickly.
Contact us today to schedule a garage door repair!
