Garage door binds or drags on one side
A door that binds on one side, sticks in a corner, or shows daylight under one end is frequently a frame problem rather than a door problem. Openings move. Along the Mission Boulevard corridor through Fremont and Hayward the Hayward Fault creeps about five millimeters a year, and the western flatland across Newark and west Fremont sits on young bay mud that settles unevenly. Over forty or fifty years that's enough to take an opening out of square.
Check these first
Two minutes, no tools, and sometimes it's the whole answer.
- Put a level on the floor across the opening and on both jambs. If the opening is out, the door is fighting the frame.
- Look at where the door rubs. A consistent rub on one side at one height points to the frame or a bent track. A rub that moves with the door points to a roller.
- Check whether the gap under the door is even, or wider at one corner.
- Check the horizontal tracks are parallel to each other and level.
What not to do while you wait
- Don't turn up the opener's force setting to push through it. That's the wrong fix, it hides a real problem, and it shortens the life of the drive gear.
- Don't buy a new bottom seal for a gap at one corner. A seal doesn't fix a frame that has moved, and the new seal will wear unevenly too.
What it usually turns out to be
- Opening out of square Slow ground movement over decades. The Hayward Fault has 49 mapped segments in Fremont and 40 in Hayward, tracking the Mission Boulevard corridor, and the creepmeter on Osgood Road averaged 6.6 millimeters a year between 1993 and 2009. Newark itself has no mapped fault segments, but its flatland is bay mud and fill and that settles.
- Bent or misaligned track Usually from an impact. The door runs true until it reaches the damaged section.
- Worn roller or hinge A worn stem lets the roller tilt, and the door leans into one side of the opening.
- Uneven cable tension If one cable is wound differently on its drum, one side sits higher than the other.
What it costs
$195 to $310 for track and roller work. Frame repairs are quoted separately after we measure. The diagnostic visit is $39 and it comes off that in full when you go ahead the same visit. Full detail on the off-track garage door repair page, and every other range we charge is on the cost page.
Where we cover
Newark, Fremont, Union City, Hayward, with Hayward limited to 94545 and 94544 in the south of the city. Call before noon and Newark, Fremont and Union City are same-day appointments. The areas we cover, in detail.
Questions we get asked
How would I know whether it's the door or the opening?
A level across the floor and up both jambs answers it in a couple of minutes, and it's the first thing we do rather than the last. If the opening has moved, adjusting the door alone puts us back here in a year.
Is an out-of-square opening a structural problem with the house?
Not usually. A garage opening is a wide span in a wall, and a small amount of settlement shows up there before it shows anywhere else. We can tell you what we see and what it means for the door. Anything beyond that is a question for a structural engineer, and we'll say so rather than guess.
Other things doors do
- Garage door won't close Almost always the safety sensors.
- Garage door won't open If it feels heavy, it's the spring.
- Garage door spring broke The bang was the spring letting go.
- Opener runs but the door doesn't move The trolley or the drive gear.
- Garage door opener is completely dead Power first, then the logic board.
Tell us what it's doing
(510) 509-9998. If a car is shut inside, say so first and we'll book you ahead of the queue.
Newark · Fremont · Union City · Hayward