Garage Door Questions, Answered
Why won't my garage door open?
The most common cause is a broken spring. The springs do the lifting, and when one lets go, the opener is left trying to raise the door's full weight alone, a job it was never built for. Check for a visible gap in the spring above the door, or a cable hanging loose at one side. Stop running the opener: forcing it can strip the gear or burn the motor, and turn a spring repair into a spring and opener repair. Call us and describe what you see, and tell us how many times a day the house runs the door. That count is the first line of the diagnosis here.
Why does my door bind in one corner some months and run free in others?
On the Dallas side, the likeliest answer is under your house. The clay soil here swells when it rains and shrinks as it dries, and the slab moves with it, racking the garage opening slightly out of square. A door set true in a wet spring can bind by the end of a dry summer, and free itself again when the rains come back. Hardware adjustment can correct a small rack. A door that binds harder every year is reporting slab movement that deserves to be named plainly before money is spent truing it again.
What does it set me back when a spring lets go?
Around Dallas, a pair of springs, replaced and installed, typically runs $275 to $500, the spread set by the door's weight and the rating the door honestly needs. Springs work as a pair, and both have run the same count, so when one breaks the other is usually near the end of its own life too. A higher-rated set costs a little more and runs far longer in a busy household. Get your door's exact figure stated before any work starts.
Hail dented my door in the spring storms. One section, or a whole new door?
Count the sections the storm took. One damaged section can usually be replaced where the manufacturer still builds that model, its finish matched as closely as the factory allows, and that is a repair, typically $400 to $800 for the section. A door dented across several sections runs a different arithmetic, because section prices stack toward the price of a door. A discontinued model complicates both answers, and it is worth knowing your door's model before anyone prices anything.
The opener hums. Nothing moves. What is that?
Usually a stripped gear inside the opener, chewing against itself, or a spring gone on the door, leaving the opener staring at a door too heavy to raise. Stop running it either way. A gear replacement typically runs $150 to $300. Ask for the door's balance to be weighed into the visit too: a tired spring set leaves the door heavy, and a heavy door is what spent the gear in the first place.
The remote and keypad stopped working. Is that a big repair?
Rarely, and almost never at a big number. Batteries die first and programming gets lost second; after those come worn keypads and failed receivers. A replacement remote or keypad, fitted and programmed, typically runs $75 to $200. In a heat-soaked garage, add one more suspect: the opener's board itself ages faster here than the brochures assume.
Can you come the same day?
On most days, yes. The crew works the Dallas side by corridor, and a call on today's corridor is a short drive from the last one. Doors hanging open, and cars locked inside, jump the queue on any corridor. The far corners of the map, Sunnyvale and Flower Mound among them, run on named days each week, and Brenda would rather name a real day than a hopeful hour.
Do you service my town?
We cover Dallas and twenty surrounding communities on its side of the metroplex, including Plano, Richardson, Garland, Mesquite, Frisco, McKinney, and Rockwall. The full list sits on the service areas page. If your town borders one of them, call anyway: an honest out-of-range answer beats a hopeful guess. The Fort Worth side is another map, and we will say so plainly if your address sits on it.
Should I repair or replace my opener?
Younger than about ten years, with a gear, board, or sensor at fault, the opener almost always earns its repair. Past fifteen, or once its parts leave production, a new unit starts to win on arithmetic, and it brings a quieter belt drive and phone control along with it. A new opener, fitted, typically runs $350 to $700. Where the call is close, get the two figures stated side by side and decide at your own pace.