Funny Story - What to do When You’ve Warped Your Track

Funny Story - What to do When You’ve Warped Your Track

What happens when homeowners try to do something beyond their skill set?

The simplest answer is always the best. Call your garage door repair service. How do you even know if the door being off track the problem? Did you by chance seek expert internet advice? That can be helpful if you know where the answers come from. Otherwise, it is a roll of the dice. Trust me, I know.

I fooled myself into thinking I could repair my own rail system

It’s a simple matter of aligning the rail with the rollers. Okay, followed the directions one step at a time. I located the slide bolts, loosened the lag thingy’s and then it says “first thing to do is close the door.”

Nice - if that is the initial step why is it half way down in the instructions? So with all my wisdom I try to close the door. The lag I had loosened broke, the door is jammed half way down, and now the only thing I’m looking for is the panic button.

I enlist my neighbor to assist me and together we got the door shut. I proceeded with my tasks. I loosened some clips and moved them around until they looked like the spacing was correct. I tightened it all up and opened the door.

Just so you know when the wheels break off the track it makes a very loud popping sound, like a gunshot. My poor neighbor came running back over expecting to find my dead body and said please just call a repair service. I had to agree.

The next morning I made the inevitable phone call listed as "emergency garage door service" – this company. While explaining what I had done the man kept saying oh no, oh my goodness and so on. He sent help immediately.

After careful inspection he told me the trolley rail was bent severely, probably from the jamming episode, the rollers could not be replaced because the part that held them was broken off.  The cable snapped as well. All in all, it costs me an entirely new system.

Had I called the service first, I could save myself the panic and price. Luckily this company took care of everything for me, and on the very same day! That's definitely my last DIY, for sure.

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