A garage door coming off its tracks is a serious, often loud, and immediate emergency. This happens when the rollers slip out of the horizontal or vertical metal guide rails, causing the door to hang crookedly or bind completely. When a heavy door is derailed, it creates a dangerous safety hazard and should be addressed immediately by professionals.
What Causes a Door to Go Off Track?
- Broken Springs or Cables: This is the most common cause. When a spring or cable snaps, one side of the door loses support, pulling the door sideways and forcing the rollers out.
- Physical Impact: Hitting the door with a car or other object, especially near the bottom, can damage the track or the panels, leading to derailment.
- Worn Rollers: Old, worn-out rollers can break or seize up, jumping the track during operation.
- Misalignment: Over time, the entire track system can become misaligned due to house settling or vibration, which increases friction and causes the rollers to pop out.
Our Comprehensive Off-Track Repair Process
Unlike simple home repairs, fixing an off-track door requires specialized tools and expertise to address the root cause, not just the symptom.
- Immediate Stabilization: We secure the door to ensure no further damage or safety hazard occurs.
- Full System Diagnostics: We identify the root cause (e.g., broken cable, worn rollers, bent track) that caused the derailment.
- Panel and Track Alignment: We carefully reposition the door back onto the tracks and use precision tools to ensure the tracks are perfectly parallel and plumb.
- Component Replacement: Any damaged parts, such as bent tracks, frayed cables, or broken rollers, are replaced with new, high-quality hardware.
- Re-Balancing: The entire spring and tension system is re-balanced to ensure the door operates smoothly and quietly, preventing future derailments.
Do not attempt to push the door back onto the tracks yourself. This can cause severe damage to the door panels and pose a risk of injury. Call us now for emergency off-track service.