Why is my garage door so heavy?

We are all creatures of habit. We get used to the way something feels or acts and then tend to ignore it until, for some reason it feels different.

One of these is your garage door and we often get calls asking "Why is my garage door so heavy?"

Let's start with the basics - Garage doors are usually the largest moving object in your home, with an average size of 8′ wide and 7′ high for a single door. Regardless of the type of material used, that means they will be heavy. That’s why there are springs and a counter balance system to take all that weight, and make it easy for you or your Garage Door Openers to handle easily. However, springs do break and/or relax over time, making the doors feel heavier. But, most of us are using an automatic garage door opener and don't "feel" the difference. What we do notice is the door opening slower or the opener making different noises.

One common problem caused by "heavy doors" is stripped  gears in the opener. It’s a good idea to have some maintenance done about once a year and during that maintenance your garage door professional will check for proper spring tension, and adjust or replace them if needed.