How To Handle Garage Door Problems And Damage
Your home's garage provides you a great deal of conveniences throughout the year, such as a warm place for your vehicle, a secure mode to travel between your vehicle and home, and an extra area of storage for your possessions and yard equipment. But when your garage door, its opener, or any other door-related system breaks, you will likely realize how much you take your garage for granted and want to get it replaced or repaired as soon as possible. Here are some tips to help you handle these repairs or replacement and its associated costs.
Contact Your Homeowner's Insurance
When your garage door is damaged or broken from vandalism, your vehicle crashing into it, severe weather, or another type of event, contact your homeowner's insurance first to find out if the damage is covered under your policy. The cost to repair or replace your door may likely be more than your insurance deductible and worth your while in making the claim. For example, if severe weather resulted in hail and high winds that dented and bent areas of your door panels, you may need to replace the panels or entire door.
Damage to your garage door or its windows may occur during a break-in to your home or vandalism. Keep in mind that if damage occurs from either of these situations, you should file a police report before contacting your insurance, as the police report information will be required. Your insurance will hire a professional garage service company to take care or the repairs.
Look into Home Warranty Coverage
A home warranty is another great way to have coverage on your home's systems, and you can purchase warranty coverage at any time and renew it each year. Many homeowners choose to buy coverage when they buy a new home because they don't know how long the home's appliances and systems will continue working for before they need repairs. Home warranty coverage helps pay for expensive repair and replacements, and you can use this coverage to repair or replace your garage door opener with a local garage door service company.
If you are shopping for a home warranty to purchase, be sure you read all the coverage details for your home warranty before you buy it. Most home warranty plans will cover your garage door opener and any service work, but it is smart to make sure. And if you already have a home warranty protection plan that covers a garage door opener, call the service claims department when your opener fails and they will arrange for a repair to be completed with a local professional garage door service company.
Hire Professional Services and Repairs
There are a few ways your garage door can break down; one of these is with its door tension spring. Your garage door spring is a part of your door system that has a limited life span, and it is essential for lifting the weight of your heavy garage door. Most garage door springs work for approximately 10,000 cycles of opening and closing. When the springs begin to reach the end of their life, your garage opener will begin to struggle and strain under the weight of the door. Then when the springs eventually break, you will need to hire a professional to install new ones, especially if they are torsion, or tension, springs, which requires professional expertise and equipment to safely install it.
When replacing a garage door spring, there are several types to choose from; some are more heavy duty or high cycle, and others are lightweight and less expensive. Select the spring that give your garage door system the most durability and long-lasting use for your budget. This will ensure your garage door and opener work well for as long as possible. Talk to your garage door service specialist about your needs and the available options.
