A garage door which isn’t balanced can often close way too quickly, which makes it a potential hazard for pets and young children. Plus it puts undue stress on various related parts. Below we’ll run through how to adjust an uneven garage door so that it continues to run safely.

Start by Testing the Door

To know how much of the garage door is unbalanced you’ll need to test it. Testing it will require moving the door up and then down until you find that sticking point where the door remains suspended when let go. Measure that point, and if it is four feet or less from the ground, then the door will have to be balanced. If you have been using the garage door for a while, it is possible to eyeball the measurement too, because it will be higher or lower than it should be.

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Keep the Garage Door Open

You will want to start by keeping the garage door a couple of feet off the ground to take some pressure off it. That can be done by putting a tall stool or a ladder under the door so that it does not close accidentally when working on it. Some people may use a stick, but that’s unreliable as wind, and animals can knock the stick off, making it dangerous to work on.

Adjust the Spring Within the Track Hanger

You will want to be careful here by making sure that the spring is free of any tension before you remove it. Once the spring is free of any tension, it can be removed from the hanger. If the door is closing too quickly, then move the spring over to the next hole that you see on the bracket. If it was opening quickly, then you’ll want to move it to a lower hole. Do the same for both sides in the say way. Then you can reset the balance as we did earlier.

Make Sure the Door Closes Evenly

Close the garage door and use a level tool to make sure that both sides of the garage door is touching the ground evenly. If it still does not, then you’ll want to adjust the spring tension on both sides until it does.

Adjusting the Lift Cable

Finer adjustments to the alignment can be made by lifting the cable and not the spring. The cable is directly appended to the S-hook which then attaches to the track support. Keep the door open, then take the S-hook out of the built-in support mechanism to tighten, or you can loosen the cable as required. You will want to do this in a very minor way.

Conclusion

Balancing a garage door yourself may be the only way sometimes to save some money. However, we recommend that you hire a team of professionals to make sure that it is done properly and safely.