Adjusting a garage door will include one of two things. (1) The Garage Door Track guides the door and (2) The Garage Door Springs control the weight as it travels up and down. Both can be adjusted, however, some of these adjustments are simple, others are more difficult. Can you make these adjustments?

Not sure if this is the right place? See the articles 'Troubleshooting Garage Door Problems' and 'Garage Door Opener Problems' for a full listing of all of the garage door topics.

Do you know what your problem is? Check the Article Contents to the left to quickly jump to your subject. Unsure what the problem is? Read through the article and then decide whether you want to tackle the problem. This section contains general information that will clue you in to the possible costs and difficulty of this type of repair.

Before you call a professional, see if it is something you can do yourself. Why pay someone for something you could do in ten minutes?

What Can You Save?

Most of the time, this is an easy job for a service man. Unless something is broken, you won't need parts. A $75 to $125 service call would be the minimum. The danger is that the repairman may take the opportunity to try and sell you a new door or expensive repairs. They can be quite convincing when telling you about the woes of your current door. A new door could run into the thousands of dollars. Do you really hate your current door? No. Another option might be to fix it yourself.

How Hard Could It Be?

Making adjustments on your garage door should not be that hard. The exception to this would be adjusting torsion springs.

• These repairs will have a Difficulty Level of: Simple

• These repairs require a Skill Level of: Handyman

For and explanation of the terms in this section, see 'How to Use This Site'.

Check the Simple Things!

Check for loose bolts along the track. Push the door back into place and tighten the bolt. See Step Three.

What Can Go Wrong?

Adjusting means exactly that, it is not dismantling your door. Make minor adjustments and see if the operation of the door improves. You could adjust your door incorrectly until it no longer works.

Troubleshooting Garage Door Adjustment Problems

In this series of articles on 'Adjusting Garage Doors' we discussed practical adjustments that you can make.

The easiest thing to adjust is the garage door track. It keeps the door aligned in two ways. The tracks guide the door as it goes up and down. Either by lifting or via a garage door opener. The track also keeps the door in alignment against the weatherstripping. Slots in the brackets make adjusting the track fairly straightforward. If you need to review the topic on 'Adjusting a Garage Door Track', you can follow this link.

Adjusting garage doors when the springs are involved is more challenging. Garage door springs do most of the work when it comes to lifting your garage door. The proper tension on the springs is important. Too much tension and the door won't close completely. Too little, and the door will be difficult to open and will be dangerous when closing. Unfortunately, adjusting the springs can be beyond the skills of most homeowners. The topic on 'Adjusting Garage Door Springs' discusses this subject in more depth.

A binding garage door is an unusual condition that is caused by a poorly installed door. The door will be difficult to close completely and may have a gap at the bottom. The garage door track is designed to draw the door tight to the weather strip in the last few inches of its travel. When the door tightens up to quickly, it may not close. See what you can do about a 'Binding Garage Door' by following this link.

Summary

Many times all it takes is a few minor adjustments to get your door working correctly. There is no need to pay someone for this type of garage door repair. Instead you can take a few minutes and solve the problem yourself. The bonus is that you can also save some money.

We hope that adjusting your garage door was successful and that you can now move on to other projects. What are your options. Scuba diving? Mountain climbing? Another job on your list? Bummer, but that's whey we are here.