After so many uses, a garage door can require repairs or even replacements. Wear and tear can do its thing. Often, a garage door can be repaired back to almost perfect working order quite affordably.
However, there are times, when it’s best to replace your garage door.
How do you know when to repair and when to replace?
Common Garage Door Repairs
Garage doors usually need repairs every so often as they are mechanical and it’s natural that automatic, moving parts wear out or can get damaged just from usage. Common repairs include:
- Replacing torsion/extension springs, hinges, brackets, rollers or cables
- Repairing a bent or damaged track
- Adjusting doors that are off track or stuck crooked
- Repairing or replacing automatic garage door openers
- Replacing weather strips or molding
- Regular tune-ups and general maintenance
Reasons to Replace Your Garage Door
If the repairs are more severe or costly, then it may be time to replace your garage door. You should consider the following:
- Severe Damage: Garage doors can be damaged by the weather, vehicle accidents, rust and a whole list of other things. If the damage is severe, it may be impossible to repair.
- Repaired Often: It may be time to replace your garage door if it needs to be repaired frequently. This could be the same repair, such as fixing the track or rollers, or perhaps there’s just always something new that needs to be fixed. By replacing it with a new door, you can prevent the need for numerous, costly repairs. Sometimes the repairs cost more then an actual new door (example: replacing 2-3 of the old panels vs. buying a whole new door with all new parts)
- Not Energy Efficient: New garage doors and garage door openers are much more energy-efficient than ones even just a few years old. If your system is older and facing repairs anyway, it could be time for an upgrade to both your garage door and opener. Newer systems (required by law) now come with a battery back-up in case of power outages.
- The Age of the Door: As a garage door ages, it will naturally need more repairs. If it is getting older and needs repairs more often then note, you can replace your garage door and avoid the need for future repairs due to mechanical failure.
- More Cost-Effective: If the cost of the necessary repairs is higher than replacing the door, it makes more sense to choose a new one. Even if the repairs aren’t more than a new door, but are still quite high, the benefits of replacing it could offset paying for constant repairs.
