The sound of a rickety garage door is one to check out, not only for your own sanity but for the safety of anyone on your property. These steps will help you troubleshoot a noisy garage door.

Look for Loose Parts

Your first step may be to watch the garage door open and close a few times. Listen and look to try and pinpoint the area of the rickety sound. It could come down to a single damaged part or pin that's easy to replace.

Check the Tracks

You might also find something on the tracks that's causing a crunching sound. And when your garage door rolls over items on the tracks, it causes some instability that may lead the door to vibrate more than usual. In either case, the fix is pretty simple; use a paint brush to dust any debris out of the tracks, and then use soap and water to clean the tracks. You may also use specialized grease to return lubrication to the tracks.

Refasten the Door

If a door is hanging lopsided, it will certainly rattle back and forth as it moves. The signs of a mishung door are subtle, so if you haven't found the source of noise yet, it's probably a good idea to go through the steps of rehanging yoru garage door. They can be found in your user manual. Be sure to check that the problem isn't with one of your garage door's fasteners being loose or damaged; if it is, realigning the door won't solve the problem until you replace the fastener with a part that holds more tension.

Replace Your Opener

A noisy garage door may also have to do with a faulty opener. If the door opener is stuttering and struggling to open the garage door, it can cause a lot more commotion and noise than usual.

Hand it Over to a Professional

At this point, if you haven't found and fixed the problem with your garage door, it may be time to simply replace your garage door. Older garage doors start to lose their structural and mechanical integrity after so many repeated uses.

In conclusion, troubleshooting and fixing a rickety garage door may take a little bit of detective work. But it may save you from a larger repair bill in the future. Regular garage door repair and maintenance is simply a part of garage door ownership. Contact a contractor, like Aladdin Doors of Raleigh, for more help.