Quiet Garage Door Opener Tips

Getting up early and heading off to work is a fact of life for a lot of us in Arizona. Part of getting on our way involves getting in the car and opening and closing the garage door. Over time the parts wear down and can start making noise. There are steps you can take to help silence these disturbing noises and let your loved ones continue to rest peacefully. Follow these quite garage door opener tips to knock out the grinding, squeaking, and clanging.

Choosing The Right Opener

There are 3 main types of garage door openers, belt, chain, and jackshaft.  Belt drive garage door openers are by far the quietest of these technologies. Starting out right when building a home, or replacing chain drive garage door openers with belt drive will help control a lot of the noise, and give you a quiet garage door opener.

Fixing A Noisy Garage Door

It isn’t just the opener that can make noise. If you are striving for a quiet garage door some maintenance can be done to help. All of the grinding, squeaking, and rattling can be disturbing to family members who are still sleeping if you work early. There are some simple steps you can take, and there are maintenance issues that you can have a garage door repair company come and help you with. The following are some steps to help silence the garage door opener.

Lubricating The Springs

Torsion springs are the springs that are just over the closed garage door. These are incredibly dangerous and should only be disassembled or worked on by trained garage door technicians. There are also extension springs that are found on either side of the garage door above the upper tracks.

These springs can make a clanging or squeaking sound that can be noisy. To quiet these springs you can use a small amount of motor oil get a spray on metal lubricant. Apply it to the springs and it should help with some of the noise.

Wrench Down All Nuts & Bolts

Grab your socket set or wrench and methodically go through all of the nuts and bolts to re-tighten. Vibrations from daily garage door operation can shake the nuts and bolts loose over time. Sometimes the noise from your garage door is simply loose parts and tightening these areas back down can stop a lot of, or all of the noise.

Replace Hinges

The hinges in your garage door are metal on metal parts. When they become worn then can make grinding and squeaking sounds. As garage doors age the roller stem inside the hinges tend to wear down. You can inspect the roller stems by looking for wear and checking to see if they are loose. Using your fingers you can see if the roller inside the hinge has any side to side play. If there isn’t any play you can add some metal lubricant and it should help quiet any noises.

Roller Replacement

If you are still struggling with noise with your garage door opener you should consider replacing the rollers. The best way to track down noises in your garage door opener is to operate your door and stand close enough to follow the sound.

The rollers in garage doors are made from nylon or metal. If these are worn they can cause a terrible squeaking sound. They should be replaced if you find there is significant wear as you try to track down your noisy garage door issues. The first step can be a good squirt of the metal lubricant. However if that doesn’t last you should consider having your rollers replaced.

This can be a dangerous and difficult repair and should be carried out by trained garage door repair technicians. Nylon rollers are quieter than metal, so if you are replacing these parts you should choose the nylon replacements.

Opener Maintenance

Most of the other solutions have dealt with the track, roller, and spring systems. The garage door opener itself can also cause obnoxious noises and might need some attention. For both chain and belt driven garage door openers a loose garage door can cause noise. Check your owner’s manual or find a copy online to check to see how much tension should be on your trolley mechanism.

For chain driven garage door openers you can use metal lubricant to help all the metal parts slide together with much less noise. There are also certain parts that white grease may be applied. Check your owner’s manual for these breakdowns.

NEVER use lubricant or grease on belt driven garage doors.

Last Line Defense

Even when garage doors are opening flawlessly they can be a bit noisy. This is made worse when garages are made from concrete or brick. The supports that hold up the tracks can resonate, rub, and cause noise against the bare concrete or brick. If you find that this is one of the areas that is still noisy you can add a strip of rubber to help silence the noise in this area.

Garage Door Maintenance

If you have a noisy garage our technicians can help you get the quiet garage door opener you want. The noise from the garage can wake people in the house and annoy neighbors. Taking a few steps to help it run more smoothly and replace worn out parts will help it operate quietly.