DIY Garage Door Repairs
Is a do-it-yourself (DIY) garage door repair simple enough if you’re pretty handy around the house? Perhaps.
Some springs, a few nuts, and bolts…what could possibly go wrong? Plenty!
This is a case where looks can be very deceiving and downright dangerous. Lakeland garage door repair technicians are trained professionals. While they may make some repairs look easy, it’s only because they have worked on hundreds, if not thousands, of garage doors during their career.
A garage door is heavier than you think.
Your garage door is a heavy object that can weigh 150 pounds or more. But it’s not even the weight that’s the problem. During a DIY repair, you may inadvertently disengage the safety mechanism that sends the door crashing down like a roller coaster. With less than two seconds to react, you could easily be knocked unconscious and pinned down on the ground for hours until help arrives. This can result in life-threatening injuries and death.
You can get electrocuted or shocked.
The opener cover should only be removed by a qualified garage door repair technician. You could get electrocuted or shocked and cause considerable damage to the circuit board, attempting a DIY electrical repair. Even if you have disconnected the power to your home and have unplugged the motor without an intricate working knowledge of the internal mechanisms, wiring, and other components, you may be in for a rude surprise when you turn the power back on. You may cause a short in the circuit, blow a fuse or spark a fire.
A DIY repair may not really fix the problem.
Sometimes a DIY repair doesn’t solve the real problem. For example, one of the rollers falls off the rail, and you force it back into place without realizing the door is out of balance. You think the problem has been solved until, seemingly out of the blue, your entire garage door falls off the rail and is hanging sideways as if it’s suspended in mid-air. What would have been a simple fix and a small repair bill by a garage door repair expert has now escalated into a major inconvenience and expense.
Mistakes can be deadly.
Every year, thousands of homeowners are rushed to the emergency room with injuries from DIY mishaps.
In fact, more than 25 percent of DIY repairs resulted in an injury, according to a 2012 DIY Safety Survey by the National Safety Council and 3M TEKK Protection. Falling off the ladder, accidents with tools and equipment, and electrical hazards are some of the most common injuries reported. Sadly, there were more than 100,000 unintentional deaths in 2014. Approximately one-third of accidental deaths are from falling alone.
Don’t be a DIY repair victim. Have your Lakeland garage door inspected annually, and contact us for any maintenance and repair issues. We’ll save you time, money, and quite possibly a trip to the emergency room.
Safe Way Garage Doors, Inc.
(863)701–9779
3888 Industry Blvd., Ste. 5, Lakeland, FL 33811
