Does your garage door announce to the whole house (or neighborhood) when you leave for work? If your Sioux City garage door sounds more like a Tyrannosaurus Rex than the melodic hum of a well-tuned machine, it may be time to take action. Luckily, many repairs and maintenance concerns are pretty easy to do; they just take time, elbow grease, and a little bit of instruction.

The first thing to understand with garage door repairs and maintenance is that it often starts out small. This is why we recommend monthly inspections. A loose panel bolt can start a chain reaction that slowly throws off an entire door; it may take years for it to do so, but the door damage can be just as expensive as it is avoidable. So let's avoid it!

In this repair series, we'll go through addressing noisy garage doors one culprit at a time. Since this is our first post, we'll start where it's easiest: with tightening the bolts.

Your garage door has several bolts throughout its construction, and each one is important. Here's how to make sure they are doing their job properly.

• Start by grabbing the right size deep socket and ratchet wrench as this tool makes light work of what's to come.
• Check all the bolts on the door panels, being careful not to over tighten. The last thing you want is to pull the carriage bolt heads through the door or to strip the lag screw holes!
• Next, move onto the garage door track. Does it wiggle? Is every screw and bolt hand-tightened and secure?
• Operate your garage door to see if noise and operation improve. 

We know that not everyone has time, confidence, or expertise to repair noisy garage doors, so if you need an extra set of hands, please don't hesitate to call us.  Overhead Door of Sioux City and Overhead Door of Yankton are happy to inspect, repair, and address any garage door concerns you have.

Our goal is to make sure that Sioux City and Yankton garage door owners are happy and safe--even if you didn't originally buy it from us. Call for a free estimate, or keep reading for more garage door repair tips!

Garage door maintenance is not for the faint of heart or the light of skills. Every garage door and garage door repair situation is different and carries with it different maintenance parts, tools, skills, and requirements. Do not attempt to repair your garage without the proper experience or without being completely aware of the risks involved. Please schedule a service appointment and refer to your garage door manual for additional maintenance tips and guidance. Further garage door repair and maintenance tips can be found at www.doors.org.