What Causes a Garage Door To Open Unevenly?

Is your garage door failing to open the way it should? This is often the first sign of damage to the door or one of the critical components that help it operate correctly. Sometimes, the door may appear uneven, as if one side is lower than the other. Discover what causes a garage door to open unevenly and how to fix this issue.

What Is an Uneven Door?

You may refer to this as an uneven, sagging, or unbalanced door, but each description means the same thing. A properly working garage door is balanced on both sides, opening and closing without issue since the weight is appropriately distributed. When the door becomes unbalanced, it drops to one of the sides, which creates that sagging appearance.

Signs It’s Uneven

Often, you can tell this occurred by the door’s visual appearance, but it may also sound different or take longer when opening and closing. Sometimes, the door may not be able to open at all.

Causes of an Uneven Garage Door

There are three main causes for a garage door to open unevenly:

• Broken torsion spring
• Snapped cable
• Damage to the rollers

Typically, this occurs when torsion springs holding the door break, which can occur due to age. After all, you open and close your garage door daily, so wear is expected. However, when one of these springs breaks, the door no longer has the balance it needs to function correctly and thus looks like one side is sagging. Sometimes, cables also break and result in this unsightly issue. The door may also appear uneven if the rollers get jammed on the track and fall off. You should always keep the tracks clear and lubricated, so the rollers can easily move up and down them.

Do a Balance Test

If you suspect your garage door is unbalanced but not entirely positive, you can do a balance test to find out. To do this:

• Stand inside the garage with the door closed.
• Remove it from the opener using the emergency cord.
• Manually lift the door partway using the support bars.
• Make sure the area is clear and let go of the door.

A properly functioning door will remain halfway open, but an unbalanced one will slam down. After this test, reattach the door to the opener and contact an expert for a repair.

Contact a Reputable Repair Company

An improperly functioning garage door is dangerous to your safety and your property. This is because the cables or other springs bearing the weight could break under pressure. Steel City Garage Doors is a local company in Pittsburgh, PA, that offers emergency garage repair services, so you can contact us 24/7 to fix your garage. This is one type of home repair that you don’t want to wait on!