Inspecting and Troubleshooting your Garage Door

Cookson Door Sales of Arizona has all the tools you need to effectively maintain your garage door. Here are a few suggestions to help you understand minor troubleshooting techniques in order to save time and money.

Inspecting and troubleshooting your garage door on a regular basis is the best way to keep it working right and to avoid expensive repairs. Routine maintenance on your garage door is certainly something most homeowners can handle themselves. Before you know what to do, though, you need to know what to look for. Here are some suggestions for basic garage door troubleshooting. Keep in mind that some troubleshooting and maintenance chores are best left to a pro.

Springs

Most garage doors rely on big, thick springs to open and close properly. The springs may be mounted above the opening or alongside the roller track on each side. You can perform a visual inspection of the springs, looking for evident signs of wear. If the springs are squeaking when the door opens and closes, apply a light lubricant. If the springs look worn or the squeak persists, however, call a garage door pro. Tampering with the springs yourself can be dangerous.

Worn Cables

Metal cables connect the springs to the bottom of the door on each side. If your cables look frayed or worn, you should have a garage door pro take a look at them as soon as possible. You don’t want to wait until the cables break, as this could cause injury.

6 Tips for Choosing the Best Garage Door Opener

It’s important for any homeowner to have a safe and accurate garage door opener. Not many understand how to choose the right garage door opener for their home so here are some tips to guide through the garage door opener process.

Horsepower or HP is very basic information you need to know. The horsepower is related directly to your garage door, the horsepower will assure that the garage door opener has enough power to lift your garage door. Therefore make sure you have checked your garage door, including height, weight, balance and type of garage door.

For most single and double car garage doors (up to 350 lbs), the 1/2 HP is adequate. Horsepower also refer to Newton, 600-Newtons is similar to 1/2 HP. The 1/2-horsepower motor is the most common type for residential use. It will work on one or two door garages. For heavier garage doors such as carriage house or solid wood garage doors, the 3/4-HP is ideal choice. The 3/4-HP is for super-heavy garage door (up to 500 lbs), more power is better than not enough. Don’t make the mistake of buying a 1/2-HP opener and installing it only to find out that you need a stronger opener to open your garage door.

Type of drive

Chain drives are noisy because they use a metal chain along a metal trolley, but it’s inexpensive. It’s the least expensive and most popular garage-door openers.

Screw drives lift the door with a threaded steel rod. Look for the latest models that use a plastic-lined track to reduce noisy metal-to-metal contact and to increase opening speed.

Belt drives are the best in quiet performance. If you’re worried about noise and such, belt drives are the best choice. They are the quietest, making them ideal choice if you have rooms positioned above the garage.

Common Garage Door Problems by Cookson Door Sales of Arizona

Cookson Door Sales of Arizona services Phoenix garage doors including general repairs and new garage door installations.

There are several common issues that people may encounter with their garage doors. These issues are often self-evident where the solution is fairly easy to deal with, however, they can also be difficult repairs that are unidentifiable.

There are common problems that can occur with the garage door opener or remote control. These issues can come from the power source being disrupted, having a motor unit unplugged, or even an issue with the circuit breaker. If the remote control won’t open the garage door try either moving closer to the door to ensure that the antenna on the motor unit is correctly placed, replace the battery or, if all else fails, reprogram the remote itself. For all other unidentifiable issues, it’s important to refer to a professional for assistance.

In addition to problems with remote controls, garage doors may encounter issues such as not closing all the way, reversing after hitting the floor immediately, not opening completely, or even opening all the way but the motor continuously runs. Most of these situations can be identified as a need to adjust the close limit switch; however to ensure safety in garage door repair make sure to contact a professional.

About Cookson Door Sales

Cookson Door Sales of Arizona continues to be a leader in the industry by providing expertise and professional services in commercial and residential specialties. They have been serving Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa and the rest of Arizona since 1991 and have been involved in many prestigious projects over its long and healthy duration. To learn more about Cookson Door Sales, please visit: http://www.cooksonaz.com.

How to Maintain and Troubleshoot Your Garage Door and Opener

Maintenance is required for your garage door to ensure that it is in efficient working order. Although there are ways to maintain and troubleshoot your garage door yourself, remember that it is better to be done by us, the professionals.

A garage door has a lot of moving parts and is the largest opening in your house that allows you access to your garage. A little bit of maintenance can save you a lot of money and if a problem does arise, sometimes you can fix it yourself.

1. Lubricate the vital parts of the door. Use lubricant oils like WD-40 or others that has the same viscosity to spray all the rollers, the hinges, and, most importantly, the springs. Do this 3 or 4 times a year. Avoid using thick grease, because grease will only help to accumulate dust and dirt. Dust and dirt will tear away the bearings and cause an unwanted black paste to appear. It will also produce a very sticky surface.
2. Check for worn or frayed steel cables. If the cables that are attached to the door are worn or frayed, you should call your local garage door companyto have them change them out as soon as possible. This isn’t difficult to do, but without the proper tools and knowledge of the spring system, this can be extremely hazardous. Always remember that the springs have enough tension to make the door weightless (easy to open), so the springs’ kinetic energy is equal to the weight of the door that is vertical in the opening.
3. Ensure that all the bolts are tight. These bolts hold the back of the track. You don’t want your door randomly falling on your car, just because a bolt wiggled loose and fell out.

How to Check the Balance of Your Garage Door

One of the most important things you can do for your garage door opener is periodically (1-2 times per year) check the balance of your garage door.   This will tell you if your door has become ‘heavy’ over the years, which can slowly destroy your opener.  It will also tell you if there are any obvious friction points in the travel of the door.  Otherwise, the garage door opener will just work overtime going up and down- and you would not know until the opener quits working!

For the purpose of this exercise it is important to make sure that your garage floor is clear of debris (boxes, cars, lawn-mowers, etc.) around the door itself, allowing you to move freely across the length of the door. We are also assuming that you have an opener attached to your garage door that opens and closes it because if you don’t the only thing that will suffer as a result of a ‘heavy’ door will be your sore back!

When I talk about the garage door being balanced, what I mean is: how well are your springs counterbalancing the weight of the garage door? If they are old and worn-out the door will be heavier than if the springs were working perfectly. The problem with an automatic opener is that it will often times still open and close the door, even though the springs are bad and the door is heavy. This can cause the opener to strain/overwork and some of the plastic parts will strip or break.

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Cookson Door Sales Receives Clopay Dealer Recognition Award

Clopay brand specialist, Cookson Door Sales of Arizona, received the Clopay Dealer Recognition Award.

A local dealer of Clopay brand garage doors, Cookson Door Sales of Arizona received the honorary Clopay Dealer Recognition Award. Located in Tempe, AZ, Cookson Door Sales is a leading dealer of Clopay brand garage doors.

Clopay garage doors are known as “America’s Favorite Doors”. Clopay Building Products Company is the nation’s largest manufacturer of residential garage doors. In addition to being the largest garage door manufacturer, the brand comes with the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. Cookson Door Sales of Arizona sells and installs Clopay garage doors throughout the entire state of Arizona and is based in Tempe.  In addition to being recognized for their specialty as a Clopay dealer, the staff at Cookson Door Sales has been recognized by the community for their customer service through numerous top rated garage door consumer reviews.

Cookson Door Sales understands that their customers may have garage door repair and installation needs at odd hours, which is why they also offer 24/7 Emergency service. Cookson Door Sales has been servicing the greater Phoenix area since 1991 and continues to go above and beyond to ensure that their customers are always happy.

About Cookson Door Sales

Cookson Door Sales of Arizona has been serving Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, and the rest of Arizona since 1991, selling and servicing all types of overhead, rolling, specialty, and garage doors. They continue to be a leader in the industry by providing specific expertise in a wide variety of commercial, residential, and related construction specialties.

Cookson Door Sales has been involved in many prestigious projects over its long and healthy duration. They are your commercial, industrial, and residential garage door solution.

To learn more about Cookson Door Sales, please visit: http://www.cooksonaz.com

What to Do about a Noisy Garage Door Opener

You can try making some adjustments, but sometimes the only solution is a total replacement.

One common complaint by homeowners is that their garage door opener makes too much noise. While it is not possible to have a truly silent opener and completely stop the noise, some openers are much quieter than others. Of the three main types of openers (belt, chain and screw), the belt drives are purported to be the quietest, with screw drives a close second and chain drives pulling up the rear. Higher priced units tend to run more quietly than economy-priced units, so you can say that money does provide help in this area.

Vibrations Transmit Noise

If you remember your basic physics, sound needs a medium to travel through, and air is by far the most common medium for transmitting sounds. Removing the air between your noisy opener and your ears will render your opener completely silent, but this not recommended, as life in a vacuum is pretty short. In the case of your garage door opener, your house also becomes a medium to transmit noise. Garage door openers are heavy machines and they need to be firmly attached to the framing members of your house to function safely. Noise and vibrations from the opener are often transmitted directly to the wood structure above. If this happens to be below the master bedroom, you can understand why this might be problem and why it’s not easy to stop noise from entering your home.

Overhead Garage Doors

Overhead garage doors are by far the most popular type of garage door available to homeowners. There are a number of styles out there, each with its own set of benefits and drawbacks. Here’s a short list of your options, as well as some other things to consider, so that you can be best informed in choosing the best door for you.

Garage Door Types
Retractable doors are solid, one-piece overhead garage doors that swing out and up when opened, coming to rest entirely inside your garage. Retractable doors provide a little more of an antiquated feel to them, thus are often more popular for those looking to install a new garage door to match an older home. On the downside, retractable doors need quite a bit of space to open (you’ll need to be sure you don’t park any cars too close), don’t insulate as well as some of the other options on the market, and are easier to break into than other door types.

Canopy doors are similar in design to retractable doors, but don’t require as much room to swing open, which one of the main headaches of retractable doors. In order to achieve this, a canopy door does not retract all the way into the garage, instead leaving about 1/3 of the door exposed outside of the house. They are a little more secure than retractable doors when closed, and they are the easiest type of garage door to fit with a garage door opener.

Customers of Cookson Door Sales are “Extremely Satisfied” with the Garage Door Service

Cookson Door Sales is a top rated garage door installation, repair and service company, giving homeowners satisfactory results around the Phoenix area.

Cookson Door Sales

Cookson Door Sales serves the Phoenix Metropolitan area as well as the entire state of Arizona with garage door services, sales, and installations of new garage doors.  Michael Dryer and the garage door technicians at Cookson Door Sales have acquired many top rated reviews over the years of providing excellent customer service and expertise in garage door services.

As S.J. from Arizona states, “Michael possesses an undeniably impressive level of expertise in his field.  He’s truly gifted at building trust and sincerely values his clients, vendors, and colleagues.  You don’t have to spend much time with Michael to realize that he’s sincerely passionate about helping others. Whether it’s an expansive commercial project or simple residential job, you can count on Michael Dryer and Cookson Door Sales to provide high quality, professional service with a personal touch!”  As Michael and Cookson Door Sales develop a professional business relationship with each of their clients, they value each new client as much as the last.  They are quick to respond to service calls from homeowners in need of immediate garage door services.  Some clients commented on the quick response that they received after submitting an email through Cookson Door Sales’ website.

Thomas from Phoenix described his satisfaction from his new garage door installation as he stated, “The service was on time and they worked very hard to get up in quickly because the door was broken, beat the price of 3 other door companies.  The young man that installed it knew what he was doing and had the door in within 5 hours by himself.”  For inquiries about Arizona garage door repairs or for a quote on prices, contact Cookson Door Sales today.

About Cookson Door Sales

Cookson Door Sales is fully licensed, bonded and insured to serve Arizona with garage door sales, garage door repair, garage spring repair, and emergency garage door repairs.   The company is located in Tempa, AZ and has coverage of garage doors over the entire state of Arizona.  The experienced garage door technicians at Cookson Door Sales offers residential garage door services as well as servicing a variety of types of commercial buildings. To learn more, please visit http://www.cooksonaz.com

Cookson Door Sales of Arizona Offers Free Garage Door Quotes Over Phone

Cookson Door Sales of Arizona, based out of Tempe, Arizona offers free quotes for new garage doors and garage door repair work over the phone for all of their clients. Cookson Door Sales provides a wide variety of garage door services for both residential and commercial buildings, ranging from repairs and replacements to simple check ups.

Whether your garage door is making a strange noise, not opening and closing properly or completely dead, Cookson Door Sales can help. Unlike other companies, Cookson offers free quotes over the phone, allowing customers to get a feel for what kind of service they need and an idea as to what the cost may be without having a technician come out to their home right away.

Cookson Door Sales of Arizona has been around since 1991 and services the Metro Phoenix area, including Scottsdale, Mesa, Glendale, and Chandler. Customers can trust Cookson Door Sales with all of their garage door service needs due to Cookson’s extensive experience, high quality work and the value they put on customer service.

If you are in the Phoenix area and looking for a garage door repair and servicing company, look no further. Give Cookson Door Sales a call at 1-800-260-8310 and get your free quote today.

About Cookson Door Sales of Arizona

Cookson Door Sales of Arizona has been serving Phoenix, Scottsdale, Mesa, and the rest of Arizona since 1991. They sell and service all types of overhead, rolling, specialty, and garage doors. Cookson Door Sales continues to be an industry leader by providing specific knowledge in a wide variety of Commercial, Residential, and related construction specialties.  For more information, please visit http://cooksonaz.com.