Garage door "tuneup"

[Bob Jackson]

My garage door was serviced a couple of years ago but recently began making a squealing sounds. I've gotten a couple of coupons for a $49 "winter maintenance special" or "tune-up" that's supposed to cover minor things like lubrication and simple adjustments and I'm considering using one of them. When I called the place that last serviced the door and asked them if they offered something similar, they said that their minimum charge for something similar is $95 and said that the places that offer those $49 coupons will tend to find something that needs to be fixed and that I'd wind up paying a lot more than $49.

My question is this: can anyone speak to their claim about the $49 just being a way for companies to get their foot in the garage door (pun intended)? Have people on here relied on these $49 specials without being told they needed much more expensive repairs, or is it the company that I called and spoke to that's trying to overcharge me?

P.S. Yes, I've already tried lubricating the door myself to eliminate the squealing sound.

[Howard Beale]

IMHO any the "cheap checkup" offers for anything are generally just leaders to find something wrong that they can charge you to fix. Just tell the guy you're not interested in anything outside of the $49 tuneup, and write down and make sure he does everything on the tuneup list.

Ironically, though, I'd be kind of interested in that; its a lot more than $49 or even $95 to get your garage door fixed when it breaks, usually at the LEAST convenient time and there seems to be some black magic to fixing them as far as I can tell.

[G. Morgan]

Which begs the question, did you lubricate it correctly?

1> Do not use heavy weight grease or WD-40, use a good silicone based spray.

2> Spray the torsion spring(s), operate door, spray again.

3> Spray each roller stem real good inside the hinge, also get some in the roller bearings.

4> Spraying the track is usually not necessary, the only part that does is the 90° turn on the horizontal.

[Twayne]

The squealing sound is most likely from something like the spring pulleys or a door part rubbing the track as the door moves or other similar thing. It's usually not the normally moving parts of the doors, especially if it's been a year or more since it was last adjusted completely.

A little grease or oil would help that, but ... it's the wrong "fix" because those parts aren't supposed to be touching each other. Best to get someone to look at it, you're right.

w/r to $49 specials, unless I already knew and had experience with the place, I'd avoid them simply because they are an unknown with a tendancy to be ripoffs in many cases. I might change my mind if there was a good friend recommended them, or something to at least indicate they do good work, but otherwise, no. For sure the special means they want more business, but what kind of work they do, how long they've been doing it, etc etc aren't worth my being a guinea pig to find those things out. Personally I'd avoid them.

Around these parts, Overhead Door has the best rep and a long history of operation; they also are good about phone discussions and whether it's something I might be able to do myself, etc.. One time after I called them about replacing a broken spring, which I had already bought but had a question about, their truck stopped by later that afernoon just to see if all went OK. It did; he watched the door open/close once, and left after instructing me how to watch for the spring to change tension after a couple weeks since it was new, with me being a pretty happy camper. And even more loyal. Ymmv and I may be lucky, but I always opt for the places with longevity and rep if I can.

My 2 ¢ anyway,

Twayne

[Art]

I got ripped off by one of the $49 places. I paid them their $49 and thru them out after listening to their claims that my door needed $600 of hardware repairs. For less than that I replaced the door and all hardware with a high quality insulated Wayne Dalton door , installed.

[S. Barker]

the squeal is from the door itself rubbing on the track somewhere. you'll have to possibly adjust the track, and/or the tension on one of the cables. The door being pulled harder on one side than the other causes it to shift to one side and rub on the track. Inspect the door edges carefully and i'll bet you find a nice shiny spot on one edge or the other where it's been up against the track.

steve

[Richard J Kinch]

Bogus sales trick. Similar to a bait-and-switch scam. Suckers those needing a repair who hope against hope it will just cost $49 to fix their trouble, because, hey, a "tune up" (meaningless term in this context) will do the job.

The most critical sales edge is just to get the customer to call. Hardly anyone turns away whoever shows up first, because they have no idea what they need. If somehow they know what they need, they still have no idea what it should cost.

Your only defense is to know how these door work, how they fail, how they are repaired, and what the market prices ought to be. Anything less sets you up to be a victim. Even "reputable" firms will exploit your wallet.

Information asymmetry.

[Howard Beale]

I've been advised by two different garage door guys to WD-40 the bottom 3' or so of track to keep it from rusting.

[Nate Nagel]

Well, it won't help - WD-40 is good for cleaning and initial lubrication but you need to follow up with a real lubricant before the WD-40 dries up to get any long term benefit.

WD-40 is a good solvent, and good for drying out electrical components. For every other use that it's advertised as being good for, there's a readily available product that does a far better job.

nate