Garage Doors in WaterdownKeep the weather
on the outside.

Most often it is the photo eyes. A sensor knocked slightly out of line, a lens with a film of road grime, a loose wire, or low afternoon sun shining straight into one eye will each break the beam as far as the opener is concerned. The next candidates are a down-force setting that has drifted, a binding roller or a door that has gone out of balance. The inspection checks each in turn.

Cold affects several things at once. Old lubricant thickens into a drag on every hinge and bearing. Steel contracts slightly, so a track that was snug becomes tight. Rubber seals stiffen and the bottom seal can freeze to the slab. The opener then reads all this extra resistance as an obstruction and stops or reverses. A fall tune-up with a low-temperature lubricant, silicone on the seals and correctly set force goes a long way toward smooth winter mornings.

It happens with older doors, since embossing patterns, joint profiles and colours change over the years. The technician looks for the nearest current section from the same manufacturer and describes how it would differ in look and fit. Sometimes the difference is minor and acceptable; sometimes the joint no longer mates. In that case the options are a section from a compatible series, or replacing the door as a whole, and both are explained before anything is ordered.

Two causes are common. The door may be hanging out of level because a lift cable has stretched, a drum has crept on its shaft or spring tension is uneven, which drops one corner. Or the slab may have settled or heaved at that end so the floor falls away. The technician checks both before choosing a seal, since a level door and the right seal height together close a wedge-shaped gap.