You may not be aware that every year, around 13,000 injuries in the U.S. – ranging from mild to severe, and even death – are caused by garage doors when they malfunction, break or are repaired by amateurs. When you think about the size of the average garage door, its weight, and the strength of the mechanisms within it, it’s easy to imagine how much devastation it could cause if it were to fall onto a person or the injuries that could be sustained by individuals who decided to take on repairs themselves.
The minute you spot that something is up with your garage door – particularly if you think that it might involve a spring – you must seek professional help. Not only is it unsafe to attempt any repairs yourself, but you could end up making the problem worse due to your lack of knowledge and experience.
Here are a few reasons why spring repairs should be left to the professionals:
- It’s not safe to repair springs yourself:
When a garage door can weigh as much as 500 pounds, and a broken spring is under extreme tension, the risk of injury to any person attempting to repair it, or simply standing under or next to it, is huge, and quite simply, not worth the risk.
- The pro’s have all the right tools for the job:
Even if there was no risk of potential injury while carrying out spring repairs yourself, you’re not likely to possess the right tools for the job unless you work in that profession. Using the wrong tools for the job could lead to injury, no matter how confident you are; the torsion springs carry a lot of mechanical energy and need specific tools to fix them that must be handled and used with care and accuracy.
- Do you have the necessary skills and expertise?
With every garage door being different, those repairing it will need expert knowledge of how the mechanics work, and only a certified and experienced garage repair person should ever attempt to fix springs or any other fault with a door.
- Hiring a pro to fix your door will save you time:
Even if you wanted to tackle the repairs to your garage door yourself, without the knowledge that you need, or the proper tools, the job could take hours or even days to complete, whereas a professional would have it repaired and up and running in next to no time.
- Want your springs to last longer?
Did you know that the torsion in most garage doors lasts for around 10,000 uses or approximately 5 to 7 years? A correctly installed and high-quality spring will save you from having to get it repaired again in the not too distant, future.
For most residential properties in the U.S., garages are a vital part of the home and when they break, it can be a real pain, not to mention dangerous. Hiring a professional to fix the springs in your garage door should be your only option, especially if you want to stay safe and have your door back up and running quickly.
