The screw drive opener rides on a trolley that moves up and down a steel rod. The screw drive openers operate with much less force than other models. There are many advantages to the screw drive openers, and the main advantage is its simplicity. There are very few moving parts that the homeowner will need to maintain over the life of the opener.

Chain Drive openers are the most common and oldest of the garage door openers. The opener operates the door up and down by turning a chain (similar in appearance and operation to a bicycle chain) with one end of the chain connected to a part called the J-Arm, which is attached to the garage door itself, with the other end attached to the trolley. Chain drives are also the most economical garage door opener, and, while older chain drive garage door openers were loud, newer technology has quieted the starting and stopping motion of these openers.

Belt Drives are the quietest of the openers, and they operate in the same way as the chain drive openers. Instead of the chain, a belt is used. The belt drive has a sleek appearance, and, because the belt itself is made of a fiberglass, reinforced rubber, the vibrations caused from starting and stopping the garage door is greatly reduced.

All garage doors openers have pros and cons, and a homeowner should give preference to which opener fits both his lifestyle and his style.

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A common sign that the sensors need to be serviced or replaced occurs when the garage door will open properly by touching the wall switch, but when the switch is pressed to close the garage door, the door will start down the track a short distance and then retreat back into an open position. Holding down the switch may close a garage door with a faulty sensor, although the sensors will no longer prevent the door from closing upon someone or something.

Trouble Shooting

The garage can be a dusty place, and when dust covers the sensor it may not work properly. If the sensor appears dirty, wipe it clean with a clean cloth or paper towel. Another common problem with safety sensors is misalignment. The garage is a very busy place in any home, and these sensors can easily go unnoticed. If a person or object bumps the sensor, it may fall out of alignment. If one sensor is no longer pointed toward the matching sensor, it may need to be realigned. If any wires are showing around the sensor, or if the sensor appears to be damaged, you will need to call a professional to service the broken sensor.

Service

Bailey Garage Doors is proud to be one of Montana’s best garage door companies because of our reputation for quality. Our knowledgeable staff can fix any garage door issue you may have and our large inventory of parts can ensure that we have the part that you need.

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Choose Your Style and Material
There are a handful of different garage styles, and multiple different types of garage building materials. Why style is definitely your personal preference and should go along with the style of your home, consider the climate you live in and your budget when choosing material. Wood doors, for example, are stunning, but can be very expensive. If you live in a place where temperatures are known to change sporadically from hot to cold, then fiberglass doors might be the better option. Or, if you live in an area that’s prone to burglary or violent weather, then steel doors—which are incredibly strong—could offer you exactly what you’re looking for.

Consider Garage Door Safety
A garage door with added safety features can be key, especially if you have children at home who might be at risk of a garage door injury. The newest garage doors on the market are pinch-resistant, pushing fingers out of the way when closing; feature tamper-resistant brackets that reduce the risk of injury under tension; and come equipped with reversing features that will cause the garage door to open back up if something is in its way upon closing.

Don’t Forget About Insulation
You might assume that insulation in a garage door is a waste of money. But with the increasing focus on energy conservation and space maximization, choosing a garage door that provides adequate insulation may end up being important to you and your family—you could end up using your garage door as a place for social gathering or as a place for work., among other things When choosing insulation for your garage, look for the garage’s R-value. A higher R-value is indicative of more thermal insulation, i.e., a higher R-value is equal to less outside noise and increased warmth. Remember, just because a door looks thick does not mean that it has a high R-value.

Consult with a Professional to Learn More
If you still have questions about what kind of garage door is right for you, don’t hesitate to reach out to a garage door professional to learn more today.

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A garage door should receive a tune-up at least once a year, and although that seems like a difficult task it becomes easier as long as you follow these simple steps.

Look for Problem Spots
The first step in your garage door tune-up is to look for any obvious problem spots in your garage door system. Rollers should be in working order, the seal around the door should be pliable and the door itself should not be dented or warped. Any parts that are overly worn or damaged should be replaced.

It is also important to disconnect the power to the garage door opener before looking over your garage door system. The last thing you want is to have your garage door to open while you’re working.

Lubricate the Roller
If you have metal rollers, they can be easily lubricated with WD-40. If you have vinyl or rubber rollers, you will have to use another lubricant since WD-40 can damage non-metal components.

Re-Align Locking Bars
Misaligned locking bars are common and can prevent the garage door from sliding into the slots on the door track and locking into place. If the locking bars are misaligned, loosen the screws on the guide brackets that hold the locking bars in place and tap them gently into place with a hammer until they are aligned with the slots. Tighten the screws when you’re finished.

Inspect and Clean Moving Parts
Your garage door has several moving parts, which is why it is subject to so much wear and tear. Loose bolts and screws will all need to be tightened, and any gummy parts will need to be removed and soaked in mineral spirits. To make sure all parts that are removed are put back in the right place, try to only remove one part at a time.

Lubricate Chains and Springs
The chains of a garage door system can be lubricated with white lithium grease, while the springs will require a silicone-based spray. The springs are under a lot of tension and can pose a safety hazard, so don’t be afraid to contact a professional to inspect or replace them safely.

For more information on garage door repairs or any of your garage door repairs, please follow us on Facebook or Twitter or feel free to contact us!

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The cold weather of winter is here. The snow is on the ground, people are out shopping in stores that play jingle bells on continuous, others tether bright flashing lights from their rain gutters and plant a big light up Santa with Reindeer in the yard. The beginning of winter means the cheery holiday season, but it can also have far less cheery connotations for your home’s garage doors. Cold weather is a likely culprit for garage door failure. Cold temperatures—below 35 degrees—can cause the oil that lubricates the garage door motor to thicken and the motor could seize. Also, cold weather could cause the metal parts that make a garage door function—leaf springs, screws, tracks, and other metal components—seize up, because the cold air cause the metal parts to contract. Also, a Garage doors springs have a good likelihood of breaking during the cold months.

Another common issue in winter is the possible fogging of the Garage Door sensors (sensors that project a beam of light, that, when broken, stalls out the descent of the garage door to prevent accidental closure on a person or things). Make sure that the sensors are fog free and also that everything is out of the path of the sensors. Often, people have a tendency to keep items like the snow shovel near the front of the garage for easy access.

Also, when the weather is warmer during the day and the snow and ice melt, water can get under the garage door and refreeze as soon as the temperatures drop back down. This can freeze the garage door down onto the pavement. The door may still open when the opener is pressed, but the ice may tear away the seal at the bottom of the door. This component can be replaced and, or, if its undamaged, put back into place. Make sure before you open the door that the door is not frozen down. you wouldn’t want to be caught in the predicament of having to leave an open, damaged garage door.  If you are experiencing garage door problems this winter, please contact Bailey Garage Doors today!

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Wood garage doors are beautiful, although garage doors made entirely of wood do require upkeep, and are not as durable as doors built of steel. Wood Accent Garage doors, by CHI, provide the natural look of wood, giving your home that curbside look of sophistication and warmth, although the doors are not made entirely of wood. The Accents Wood Grain finishes make the door appear as if it is made of wood, but it is entirely built of steel. This allows the homeowner to have the best of both worlds, in a sense: the look of wood and the durability of steel. The Wood Accent Garage Door is available in the colors: Cedar, Mahogany, Light Oak, and Dark Oak. CHI also offers a wood plank look, which is available in the same four different color options as the Accents Wood Grain finished doors.

CHI Garage Doors also makes garage doors with a displayed image. These images allow the homeowner to display their true personality. The images are based on the following four categories: Destinations, Patriotic, Sportsman, and Patterns. In the category of the Sportsman, for instance, you will find an image of a golf scene: serene, bright green fairway with the putting green, pin, and hole shown far in the distance, or an image of dawn on a lake and two men (seen only as black outlines in the new morning light) are casting fishing poles from a boat out into the lake. The Patriotic images include American Flags, and bald eagles, while the Pattern option has unique designs and even camouflage. CHI can also place your favorite Major League Baseball team’s logo on the front of the garage door, so the rest of the neighborhood will have little doubt to which team you cheer for.

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C.H.I Overhead Garage Doors has numerous styles that will fit any homeowners needs. Most homeowners will choose the roll-up type of garage door, which is a garage door that, when opened, goes upward into a track, and, when closed, travels back down the same track. Other doors, such as carriage house-style garage doors open outward from the garage door opening. A carriage house-style garage door is a traditional door, and most carriage house doors have a truly traditional look. You can also purchase a roll-up style of garage door that has a traditional carriage house look, complete with the iconic hardware to the front of the garage door.

 C.H.I Garage Doors also have numerous style choices for the front of the garage door. While these doors are made of steel, doors can be purchased with raised or inset panels. The door can be accessorized with traditional cast hinges or simple and plain—doors that are super-sleek and modern-looking. For the traditional look, or just a truly custom look, the doors can be built with arched windows—similar to the traditional carriage house-style look—as well as rectangular, crisp-lined modern looking windows. Also, you can purchase C.H.I in numerous colors. The door can have a painted, simple appearance that comes close to matching or contrasting—depending on your tastes—the exterior of your home. Or, the door can be finished in a look that has the appearance of traditional wood, although it’s still a steel garage door—safe, functional, and lasting.

Please visit Bailey Garage Doors for all of your garage doors needs!

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The springs are still dangerous for a professional garage door technician to replace. When a technician replaces the broken springs, he has to assume that the tension springs will break when he unwinds them. He will need to wear a set of safety glasses and keep his clothes and body parts well away from the springs. A component of the garage door called the winding cone keeps the tension spring in place. These cones can slip or even explode into many pieces and great care should be taken to prevent possible injury.

Extension springs, are built differently then tension springs, because these springs are held into place by safety cables. These cables help to control the broken spring, but even though it is in place for a safety precaution, the springs are still held up under a tremendous amount of pressure and a professional technician should probably be called in the event that one breaks.

Diagnosing a garage door spring problem is simple: does the door open and close smoothly? If the door is not operating smoothly, it is likely the tension springs. If the door is making noise, turn off the garage door opener and try open the garage door manually. If the garage door still makes noise the problem is likely the springs. It is also possible that a noisy garage door may just need some lubricant to be applied to the springs. The average home can easily diagnose and fix these simple problems with a garage doors springs, but even the most seasoned DIY’er should probably allow a garage door technician to fix the garage door spring when it breaks..

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Like any major appliance in the home the garage door and the garage door opener should be regularly maintained to prevent poor service or possible failure. To begin maintenance, tell everyone in the home your plan to work on the garage door or opener to prevent any possible injury. The first step to garage door maintenance is simple: stand inside the garage with the garage door closed; inspect the springs, rollers, pulleys and all of the mounting hardware for both the garage door and the opener. If there are any signs of damage or noticeable wear to these components, it may be time to call your garage door professional to replace the damaged or worn components (Remember garage doors are held up under a lot of tension, and a trained professional should be called to replace damaged hardware to prevent any possible injury to the homeowner).

The balance of the garage door should also be regularly checked to ensure the garage door is opening and closing with no resistance along its track. With the garage door closed, disconnect the automatic door opener, and, with the automatic door opener disconnected, lift the garage door manually into an open position. If the door moves smoothly and freely into the upward position, the door is in alignment. If, however, the door catches and drags on the rails, a trained garage door technician should properly service the door.

The garage door’s reversing mechanism – devices which have been added to all garage doors built after 1993 and are responsible for the prevention of the possible entrapment of a person under the garage door – should also be tested regularly. To test the door’s reversing mechanism, open the garage door and place a two by four on the garage floor directly in the path of the garage door. With the two by four in place, close the garage door onto it. When the garage door falls on the two by four and makes contact, the garage door should retreat back up on the track into the open position. If the door does not immediately retract, call your garage door service technician to fix the reversing mechanism.

On a final note, a small amount of lubrication can be added to all of the garage doors moving parts. Make sure that the garage door is either in a fully opened or closed position while working on the garage door, and stand clear of the garage door and all of the moving parts when the garage door is activated.

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