A garage door runs more than a thousand times a year and gets almost no attention until it quits. A tune-up every two years finds the worn cable or tired spring while it is still a small fix.
In short: We look over the whole door and opener. We test the balance, look over the springs, cables, and rollers, oil the moving parts, and test the safety features. Most homes need one every two years. Call for the current price.
| Part | What we do | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Door balance | We unhook the opener and raise the door halfway by hand to see if it stays. | A door that drops or rises on its own is wearing out the opener. |
| Springs | We look for gaps, rust, and stretched coils, and adjust tension where needed. | Weak springs are the top cause of a door that gets heavy. |
| Cables and drums | We check the bottom of each cable for rust and fraying and look at how it sits on the drum. | Rusted strands near the floor are the first place a cable fails. |
| Rollers and hinges | We spin each roller and check each hinge for cracks. | A seized roller drags in the track and adds strain to everything else. |
| Tracks and brackets | We check alignment and tighten the bolts that hold the tracks to the frame. | Vibration loosens bolts over time. |
| Lubrication | We oil springs, hinges, roller stems, and bearings with a garage door lubricant. | Quieter running and less rust. |
| Opener and safety | We test the safety eyes and the auto-reverse, and set the force and travel limits. | The auto-reverse is what stops a closing door from hurting someone. |
| Seals | We look at the bottom seal and the weatherstrip around the frame. | Worn seals let in cold air, water, and mice. |
If we find something that needs a part, you get the price first. Nothing gets replaced without your OK.
Every two years suits most homes. Book one sooner if the door is the main entrance for your family, if the door is more than ten years old, or if you have noticed a new sound.
Fall is a smart time. A Madison winter is the hardest stretch of the year on a garage door. Cold stiffens the grease. More springs break on cold mornings. Snow and salt get dragged in on every car. Ice builds at the bottom of the door. Our post on getting a door ready for winter has more on the fall checklist.
Any of these can point to a part that is close to failing. A loud door has its own guide in why a door gets noisy. If a spring or cable has already broken, skip the tune-up and go to spring repair or off-track and cable repair.
Leave the springs to a tech. The rest is easy.
Most garage door breakdowns start small. A roller bearing seizes. A cable frays at the bottom. A spring loses a bit of tension. Each one adds load to the opener and the other parts. Left alone, the small problem often ends as a broken spring, a door off the track, or a stripped opener gear, and those cost more to fix than the tune-up that would have caught them. A tune-up also tells you how much life the springs and opener have left.
We book tune-ups in Madison, Middleton, Sun Prairie, Verona, and Fitchburg.
Call or text with the number of doors and the rough age of each. If you have noticed a noise or a problem, tell us that too, so we can bring the right parts in case you want them fixed at the same visit.
Call us for the current price. It depends on how many doors you have and what shape they are in. If we find a part that needs replacing, we tell you and price it before we do anything beyond the tune-up.
Every two years works for most homes. If your family uses the garage door as the main way in and out, or the door is older, once a year is a better fit.
Around the two-year mark. Springs settle and bolts ease off a little during the first few seasons, and a check then catches it early.
Often. A lot of door noise starts at hinges that need oil, rollers past their prime, or bolts that have worked loose. Oil and a wrench fix much of it. If a roller is worn out, we can swap it at the same visit once you approve the price.
Yes, for light commercial doors close to home size, such as a small shop or a storage bay. Large industrial doors are outside what we handle.
