Here is a look at what causes a garage door to come off its track.

Reason #1: Car Hitting the Door

Garage doors are big and tough. It takes a lot to get them off their hinges. So it makes sense that, in most cases, a car has hit the door. And it’s easier to do than you might think.

Have you ever been later for an appointment and in a hurry? You can pull out of the garage, or perhaps enter it, going too fast. If the door isn’t totally up, a crash is inevitable. Or you can forget to click the remote to open the door.

Reason #2: Improper Alignment or Weak Tracks

If the horizontal tracks on the garage door system aren’t sturdy enough, they can bend under the weight of the door. This happens when they are poorly made, using weak steel.

If the tracks are improperly aligned, they can also bend. Bolts in the brackets get loose, causing wobbling and finally breaking.

Reason #3: Worn Out Rollers

The rollers for your garage door can wear out and break, causing structural stress. Some fittings don’t have enough or the right type of ball bearings.

Reason #4: Broken Lift Cable

Older doors have parts that are worn out, especially around the lift cables. Old parts can cause of series of problems with various pieces of the door system. The end result is a garage door off its tracks.

The Importance of Garage Door Inspections

A garage door off its tracks is expensive to repair. It makes sense to get regular inspections of the components and system as a whole. Expert technicians can spot problems early, preventing damage and even injury.

Contact Bailey Garage Doors for all of your garage door needs!

The post Why Did My Garage Door Come Off Its Tracks? appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.

Extra Ceiling Space

Make your garage more of a fully three-dimensional storage space by installing ledges on the ceiling that can hold storage boxes. The ledges look like I-beams, and can hold more room than you would’ve thought possible; this really declutters a house when done correctly.

Erect a Do It Yourself Work Bench on the Wall

This can be embedded right in the wall, so that you never need search for your tools again, more or less. This idea of making use of the preexisting wall can be extended to a place for all of your garden tools, as well. You’ve got at least three walls to work with, after all. Turn one entire wall into a storage space by nailing ledges to it.

Turn It Into an Extra Work Room

If you don’t need to park your vehicles in the garage, then it’s large enough to convert into an ample-sized office. Put in carpeting and build desks and cabinets into the wall. Just in case you already have an adequate office in the main house, then your garage can make a very nice home gym.

Change the Lights

Most garages have fluorescent lighting; but if you are upgrading it into an office or work room, then you should replace these with LEDs. they last a lot longer and are more efficient; plus, the right colors simulate natural light much better.

These are some of the top upgrades you’ll find in most garages; there are others, but they depend on specific uses you might have for in your particular case.

The post Top Ways to Upgrade Just About Any Garage appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.

You Don’t Have a Safety Reversal Feature

Since 1993, all garage door openers are required to have a safety reversal feature. This mechanism relies on a beam between two sensors located about six inches above the floor on either side of the door. If anything breaks this beam while the garage door is lowering, the door immediately reverses. If your garage door opener doesn’t have this feature, consider buying a new model.

Your Garage Door Opener is Too Loud

Any device with moving parts is bound to make at least a little noise, but modern garage door openers are designed to be as quiet as possible. If your current garage door opener is making too much noise when it works, invest in a screw drive or belt drive model as these will be a lot quieter than the older chain drive models.

You Don’t Have a Rolling Code for Your Garage Door Opener

The remote controls of older garage door openers functioned with fixed codes that could be cracked by savvy thieves, making them major security risks. Newer models utilize a rolling code that changes every time your remote control is used. Since they’re so much harder to duplicate, they’re much safer than older models.

You Don’t Have a Battery Backup

Older garage door openers were all but impossible to use if there was a power outage. Homeowners were completely blocked from using their garages when they didn’t have power, but modern garage door openers have a battery backup system that will let you at least open your garage door and drive somewhere else if you lost power.

Contact Bailey Garage Doors today for all of your garage door opener and garage door needs.

The post Here Are Some Good Reasons To Replace Your Old Garage Door Opener appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.

As it turns out, there’s quite a bit you can do when this happens to you.

First of all, most garage door openers provide a way to disable remote controls when something like this happens. There should be a button located on your garage door motor’s housing that should do the trick. The color and appearance of this button will vary depending on the brand of garage door opener you have, but pushing and holding it for a couple of seconds should deprogram all remote controls connected to it. You can then reprogram all remote controls and keypads you have so they can still be used.

If you don’t want to go through the trouble of reprogramming all of your remaining keypads and remotes, you can always use the LOCK function on your garage door opener to disable all remotes. This won’t solve your problem if you ever unlock your garage door opener, but it will temporarily deter the thief who stole your remote in the first place. This might also come in handy if you aren’t sure if your remote was actually stolen; simply LOCK your garage door until you’ve either found your remote or you’re sure it was taken.

Of course, the best way to solve this problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Be proactive by locking your car doors at all times, and keep your garage door opener remote out of sight. If you have the options of placing a mini-remote on your keychain, do that instead of keeping a remote in your car. A mini-remote that you keep on your person will be a lot harder to steal than one that is kept in your car.

Please contact Bailey Doors today for all of your garage door needs.

The post Someone stole my remote! My home and belongings are in danger! What should I do? appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.

Like any major appliance in the home the garage door and the garage door opener should be regularly maintained to prevent poor service or possible failure. To begin maintenance, tell everyone in the home your plan to work on the garage door or opener to prevent any possible injury. The first step to garage door maintenance is simple: stand inside the garage with the garage door closed; inspect the springs, rollers, pulleys and all of the mounting hardware for both the garage door and the opener. If there are any signs of damage or noticeable wear to these components, it may be time to call your garage door professional to replace the damaged or worn components (Remember garage doors are held up under a lot of tension, and a trained professional should be called to replace damaged hardware to prevent any possible injury to the homeowner).

The balance of the garage door should also be regularly checked to ensure the garage door is opening and closing with no resistance along its track. With the garage door closed, disconnect the automatic door opener, and, with the automatic door opener disconnected, lift the garage door manually into an open position. If the door moves smoothly and freely into the upward position, the door is in alignment. If, however, the door catches and drags on the rails, a trained garage door technician should properly service the door.

The garage door’s reversing mechanism – devices which have been added to all garage doors built after 1993 and are responsible for the prevention of the possible entrapment of a person under the garage door – should also be tested regularly. To test the door’s reversing mechanism, open the garage door and place a two by four on the garage floor directly in the path of the garage door. With the two by four in place, close the garage door onto it. When the garage door falls on the two by four and makes contact, the garage door should retreat back up on the track into the open position. If the door does not immediately retract, call your garage door service technician to fix the reversing mechanism.

On a final note, a small amount of lubrication can be added to all of the garage doors moving parts. Make sure that the garage door is either in a fully opened or closed position while working on the garage door, and stand clear of the garage door and all of the moving parts when the garage door is activated.

The post Garage Door Opener Maintenance appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.

Garage doors are opened daily, and, unlike the rest of our home, when the garage door is opened anyone with a view from the street is aware of the things we keep in the garage. People often forget to close the garage door when they leave, or maybe they have a forgetful teenager to blame, either way, keeping that door closed is paramount to prevent any crimes of opportunity from taking place. Your garage door technician can install a timer that will close your garage door for you after a predetermined amount of time. This will not forgo the safety mechanism put in place on the garage door like the garage door safety sensors, which prevent any accidental closure on people or objects (assuming that the safety sensors are working correctly). The timer has an override option if you wish for the door to remain open while you work, clean, etc.

When you are going on vacation, you should unplug your garage door opener. And, with the opener unplugged, you can put a padlock on the latch or run a metal bolt through a hole in the track to ensure that the door will not be opened from the outside.

Another thing that many people forget about is the garage door opener on the visor of their vehicle. That opener is hidden behind just a pane of glass. Remember to take the opener in the house with you, especially removing it from the vehicle if you are on vacation and the vehicle is going to be parked outside of the home.

The post Garage Door Safety appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.

It’s common for garage doors to need regular maintenance, but even with a consistent maintenance schedule, the hardware on the garage door can become loose or begin to wear out.  Usually you will know the hardware is damaged or loose, because the garage door will shudder in its track, or it may even get stuck halfway up (a stuck garage door is also a symptom for other door problems).  Think of it as a garage door tune-up, and here are a few ways to do it.

First, with the garage door in the closed position (if someone might accidentally turn on the garage door while you are working on it, it may be wise to disconnect the garage door opener) tighten down all of the hardware.  Usually the hardware that causes the most trouble will be near the track, where the continual jarring of the door moving up and down may loosen it.  A socket set and a wrench should be the right tools for the job.  However, be sure, when you are tightening down the hardware, that you don’t over tighten any of the screws or bolts, because this could strip the threads.

If the door is especially noisy near the track, it may be time to replace the rollers and the hinges.  For most people this will be a job for professionals, and the garage door technicians at Bailey Garage Door can certainly handle this job.  If you choose to do this yourself, you can contact Bailey Garage Doors for the necessary hardware for the job.  Use caution if you are replacing the rollers, and only replace one roller at a time.  If your door has tension springs at the header, a job like this can be dangerous, and you should refer to a professional to do the job.  Mishandling tension springs could cost you serious injury.

Garage Doors like the kind found at Bailey’s can last for years if kept up with regular maintenance.  If you think that your garage door is having problems, and you have been unable to diagnose the problem yourself, call Bailey Garage Doors, and rely on the experience of their garage door technicians.

The post A Noisy or Shuddering Garage Door appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.

First, consider the children in your home.  Don’t allow the children to play with the functions on a garage door.  Remember that the safety mechanisms built into a garage door, like its safety sensors—which prevent the door from closing on a person—can be disabled if the opener is held down.

Keep the garage door opener button out of a child’s reach at all times, and don’t allow children to play unsupervised around the garage door.  Explain the inherent dangers to your children.

Remember, a child will be more likely to experiment with something that they don’t understand, even if you’ve told them to stay away from it.  Hopefully a thorough explanation of the dangers of playing with a garage door will fizzle out any curiosities they once had.

Your garage door most likely has safety equipment built into it, and you should test some of this equipment periodically to ensure that it’s working properly.  One of the easiest tests is to place a two by four in the path of the light on the safety sensors, and try and close the garage door.  If the garage door continues in a downward track even with the obstacle, the safety sensors are not working properly.  Also, visually inspect the garage door monthly, looking for any obvious signs of damage or wear to the garage door or to its hardware and accessories.

Also, remember that a garage door is a route into your home.  It’s so common for someone to leave a garage door opener on the visor of their vehicle, which they’ve left in the driveway, and to go on vacation.

That garage door opener is a key into your home.  Leaving it on the visor of your car is akin to leaving the keys to your house in the lock of the door handle.  Also, while you are away on vacation, consider disengaging the garage door opener, and adding a vacation lock to the garage door, so it’s unable to move freely in its track.

Contact Bailey Doors for all of your garage door needs.

The post Garage Door Maintenance Tips appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.

The post Residential Garage Doors Billings MT appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.

The post Garage Door Repair Billings, MT appeared first on Bailey Garage Doors.