If your garage door is faulty or needs replacing you could consider doing the job yourself. There are videos on the internet that will show you how to carry the work out. However, this is one of the least attempted DIY jobs that people do around the home because garage doors are big, bulky, and the job can go wrong. There are some DIY jobs that should never be carried out by the homeowner, such as boiler maintenance and major plumbing work. Other jobs such as painting and decorating are easy to do yourself. Fixing a garage door sits somewhere in the middle and it depends on what you need to do to repair it as to whether you can fix it yourself or not. Here are some of the dangers of fixing garage doors.
This is a difficult job to do yourself because garage doors are very heavy. It requires a lot of physical strength and some technical knowledge to get the job done properly. An ill-fitting garage door is not going to last very long. You could cause a serious accident if you drop the door, or it falls off later. Even if you do install it correctly there is a very real chance of pulled muscles or a damaged back if you attempt this job yourself.
The springs on your garage door are what make it open and close so issues relating to your doors will likely be caused by the springs not working properly. Attempting to carry out DIY on these springs could cause you to inadvertently make the problem worse, especially if you don’t have any specialist mechanical knowledge. When the old springs are released, they can just fly off. If you are not expecting this, you could get hit in the face or body resulting in bruising or a nasty cut. Another problem is that the flying spring could cause additional damage to your property.
These are likely to become warped or damaged over the years and you may be tempted to replace them yourself. However, this is not as easy as it looks because the problem is likely to be the circuit board or the main gear drive and if you don’t have a lot of knowledge in these areas, you could make the problem worse. It can be difficult to know exactly what the problem is when your door opener malfunctions, and you could spend a lot of time and energy trying to fix something that doesn’t need fixing only to realize that the problem was something else entirely.
This is another heavy-duty repair, and you could cause yourself an injury while trying to repair or replace the door panels. A back injury could keep you off work for several weeks, which could cost you a lot more money than hiring an expert to do the job would have done. When you remove the panels, there is also the danger of flying springs causing minor injuries.
A garage door can detach from its rollers for a few different reasons. Depending on what the problem is, it could be quite easy to repair. However, sometimes the problem is not repairable, and you will need to replace it. Unfortunately, until you take the garage door off entirely you will not know what type of problem you are dealing with. Even if you do fix the issue, there may be a chance of it happening repeatedly. It is best to call out an expert to diagnose the problem in the first instance. They will be able to check all the mechanisms and see where the problem is coming from and then fix the door, so this doesn’t happen again.
Worn cables are a problem if your garage door opens and closes automatically. They often break after years of use or if they are under stress. This can be a tricky job to attempt yourself as the cables will be different depending on what type of door you have. They have been known to cause serious injury or even kill someone if they snap, so leave this job to the experts.
One of the problems of trying to repair or replace your garage door issues yourself is that it may take you more time than you had thought. Something you dedicated an hour to one weekend could easily turn into several more and in the end, you will wish you had called in the professionals to start with. This problem can be compounded if you accidentally make the problem worse and it is likely to cause a lot more money to fix then too.
There are a lot of possible dangers when it comes to fixing garage doors, so the task is best left to the professionals.
