How often do you find yourself dreading the thought of parking your car in the garage when you know it’ll wake up the whole neighborhood? Or just your kids when you’re coming in late from work and know everyone’s asleep? Garage door noise can be a real problem.
Garage doors create fiercely loud and distracting vibrations when opening or closing. They can grind, squeak, rattle, or clunk due to various reasons. If yours has been making such noises, you need to get to the bottom of things and reduce or eliminate your garage door noise.
How do you do this? In this post, we’ll guide you through all the reasons why your garage is making noises. We’ll also take you through all the solutions to those problems.
Table of Contents
What Could Be Causing the Garage Door Noise?
No garage door is extremely silent, but some can be dangerously loud and you may be wondering, “Why is my garage door noisy?” The garage door noise could also be accompanied by other issues depending on what’s causing the noise. Here’s a detailed list of all the possible reasons why your garage door is noisy.
Rusty Springs
The garage door springs do a lot of heavy lifting on your garage door. They play a vital role and need to be lubricated and inspected on a regular basis to ensure maximum efficiency. If you have been neglecting your springs and they’ve gotten rusty, it could be the reason why you are experiencing garage door noise.
One of the worst things that could happen if you don’t lubricate your garage door springs regularly, they could snap. Given the weight of your garage door, this ordeal can be very dangerous if it were to fall down. Even if you have been maintaining them, eventually, they’re bound to wear out, so they may need to be replaced.
Your Garage Door Is Unbalanced
Garage doors are cumbersome and can weigh a ton. Now, given that they ride up and down two tracks on each side, the weight must be evenly distributed on both sides. If the door becomes unbalanced due to roller misalignment, it’ll become squeaky and start squealing each time you open or close it.
Jammed Tracks of Dirty Rollers
Rollers can get quite dirty if you don’t clean the tracks that guide your garage door. At some points, all the dirt and debris from outside will interfere with the ability of the rollers to roll the garage door. Once this happens, you will start experiencing loud grinding noises as the rollers try to roll their way through the gunk.
Garage Door Opener Issues
Your garage door opener is a potential source of garage door noise. It may seem like an unassuming device, but it carries the responsibility of moving the garage door. It features either a screw, belt drive, or chain that can generate much noise if not appropriately maintained.
The dirt can also get inside the rollers and interfere with the ball bearings, causing them to jam. Jammed rollers will also cause a squeaky symphony as they try to go through the tracks.
How to Reduce or Eliminate Garage Door Noise
Now that you know where the problems lie, you need to take the necessary steps to get rid of the noise. Each problem has a different solution, all of which we’ll outline below for you. If any parts need replacing, check out https://diy-garage-door-parts.com/ for the correct replacement parts.
Insulate the Garage Door
Most of the time, garage door insulation is done for heat and energy purposes, especially when you use it for other activities apart from parking the car. However, insulating your garage door also plays another significant role. Most garage doors are made from various materials such as vinyl, steel, or aluminum, none of which does any good when it comes to deadening vibrations.
This means an insulated garage door can make loud noises because they vibrate as they roll through the truck. Installing insulation will significantly reduce the noise because it will absorb those vibrations.
Lubricate the Garage Door
Maintaining your garage door is an important part that you need to do at least once a year. A garage door maintenance routine involves lubricating it using the right garage door lubricating oils. Some of the areas you need to lubricate include the hinges, rollers, bearing springs and plates, the lock, and the rails.
During your lubrication process, go the extra mile and tighten all the nuts, screws, and bolts that he may find loose. This is more important if you have noticed that your garage door has been rattling. Tighten all of them thoroughly to get rid of the rattling sound and make the opening and closing of your garage door more seamless.
Purchase a Quiet Garage Door Opener
Some garage door openers can be very noisy, especially if they’re chain-driven. Your garage door opener may also be noisy if it’s AC-powered compared to the modern DC-powered openers. If the opener is the problem, consider replacing it with a more modern version, and it will make a huge difference.
One of the best things you can do is purchase a garage door silencer. Even some of the best garage door openers tend to cause vibrations when you operate the garage since they’re bolted directly to the ceiling. This makes a garage door silencer indispensable.
Use Nylon Rollers
If your garage door rollers are the culprit of your garage door noise, consider replacing them with nylon rollers. These are softer and hence quieter, so you can expect them to create less noise if any. Replacing rollers is an involved project, so you need to hire professional garage door contractors.
Replace the Garage Door Bottom Seals
Most of the time, garage door noise comes from the mechanisms, such as automatic openers and rollers. However, the bottom seals can be a culprit too. For garage door noise reduction, ensure the seals are well fit and padded to absorb the noise when the door is shutting down.
Exchange Your Extension Springs for Torsion Springs
This is another project that you should not DIY. Springs can be tremendously dangerous, so swapping should be done by professionals. That said, extension springs are much louder than torsion springs, so exchanging them with torsion springs will result in a much quieter garage door.
Garage Door Noise Reduction: Everything You Needed to Know
There you have it! These are the reasons why your garage door is noisy and the solutions to each problem. Garage door maintenance is especially important to garage door noise reduction, so ensure you lubricate and replace all the necessary mechanisms. These modifications will go a long way towards ensuring your garage door is quieter and much peaceful for everyone.
Did you find this content valuable and informative? If so, please check out our blog section. We have more quality content about home and real estate for you.