Garage Doors

A few months ago I tried to open my Garage Door and it wouldn't budge.  My house is almost 7 years now and I have never serviced my garage door opener or springs.  I guess my luck ran out on me.  I have noticed opening the garage causes a lot of noise, My guess is my opener was struggling to open the garage, but I had hoped form more warning than that.  Garage Doors in Boston tend to be subject to the humidity.

I informed the rest of the family that the garage doors were broken and to park outside for the time being.  My 16 year old then told me how he was opening the Garage and heard a loud pop.  That would have been something to tell me, especially if you have no idea what it was.  I then went outside to inspect the springs and sure enough, one broke.  That had to be a loud bang.  luckily no one was hurt when it went off.

I then sat down at the computer looking for a new spring to replace.  I figured I could just do it my self.  After reading for a few minutes, there was a theme around replacing your spring on your garage doors.  If you don't know what you are doing, you could kill yourself.  I am not about to put myself in harms way, so I called in a professional.  They did a great job and warrantied the work.

For now on, I will have my springs inspected every 5 years to make sure this doesn't happen again.  Preventive maintenance can sure save you a lot of time and keep you out of danger.  I wonder what would have happened if someone was standing under the garage when the spring popped.