Your #1 Repair and Maintenance Specialists!
Proudly serving our customers since 1988!
A Company You Can Trust!
Care for Our Customers!
High Lifecycle Parts
Reliable Repairs
Stand Behind Our Work
Live Assistance 7 Days a Week
Fast, Friendly, Informative
Service Most Makes and Models
Why O’Brien Garage Doors?
Is your garage door heavy, noisy, jerky, off track, reversing, or perhaps your spring is broken? We are your garage door repair and maintenance specialists! We install only the highest quality parts and stand behind our work for your peace of mind. Our professionally trained technicians will come to the home, assess your system, answer any questions you have, and most of the time, perform the repair or maintenance on the spot!
Frequently Asked Questions
You Asked, We Answered!
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If your garage door spring is broken, it will be snapped in at least two. When a spring breaks, it will make an extremely loud “pop” noise, so if you heard this, it may be the spring! Lastly, when a spring breaks, the door will likely only open a few inches or not at all, and often the door will come off track as a result of improper balance.
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We strongly recommend not operating the garage door with a broken spring as it can cause a lot of damage to the system. Since the springs are what do the heavy lifting of the door, without their doing that, it will put tremendous strain on the automatic opener potentially stripping it out. Also, it can cause the door to come off the tracking due to improper balance. This is if the door will even lift. (if you have two springs it may still lift but very heavy).
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If you have more than one spring on your garage door, we generally recommend changing them both at the same time. The reason for this is that the springs most likely were installed at the same time and have the same lifecycle. If one has broken, the second one will probably break soon as well. If you change both at once, you will avoid another trip fee and installation fee in the near future.
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Sometimes it would be a good idea to replace your spring even if it is not broken yet. Some reasons may be: if the spring is near the end of its lifecycle or the door is heavy because the springs are not lifting it properly. While it is possible to add tension to the spring to help prolong life, the need for this is generally a sign of a weak spring and often it will break soon after the adjustment if not while in the process of winding it. If it breaks when we’re not there, you may be stuck for a while!
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In general, your garage door should be able to be lifted easily with your hand. If it feels extremely heavy, this may be a sign that your springs are not lifting the door properly. It is imperative to have this checked out right away because a heavy door can cause severe damage to the automatic door opener or other damage to the door system itself.
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If your garage door only goes up a few inches or does not raise at all, it is very possible you have a broken spring! There could be something else causing the issue, such as the opener malfunctioning or the rollers jammed in the track, but this is a common sign of a broken spring.
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Most of the time this is an issue with the automatic opener (unless there is an obstruction in the tracking or with another mechanism with the door). It is possible that your safety sensors think something is in the way causing it to reverse. You may need an adjustment or to change out the safety sensors.
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There are many ways to help reduce noise with your garage door tune up! First would be to start with our tune up which includes lubrication to all moving parts with our specific garage door tracking lubricant for smoother operation. Second would be to consider changing the rollers to our high lifecycle, steel ball-bearing, nylon coated rollers for smooth/quiet operation. Lastly, to further reduce noise, you may consider changing the automatic door opener to our “whisper” belt drive unit.
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While some general maintenance such as lubrication, programming remotes, and adjusting safety sensors may be simple for the average homeowner to perform on their own, we highly recommend hiring a professional for things beyond that. The doors carry an enormous amount of torque and pressure and may result in serious injury if not trained properly and using the proper tools.
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Keeping chemicals and salt far away from the tracking and door itself will help to prolong rust development on the tracking and crucial moving parts! Overtime, you still may run into this, but we like to stretch it out as long as possible!
Common Repair Services
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If you do not have a specific repair need but are looking for some general maintenance or noise reduction, a tune-up may be the perfect solution for you! Our technicians will arrive ready to perform lubrication with specific garage door lubricant, tighten any loose hinges or bolts, check the safety reversal system for proper function, do a full inspection on the door, answer any questions you may have, offer guidance on how to properly maintain the door over the years, and offer any recommendations they may have. If you are looking to reduce noise further than the tune-up, we recommend changing your rollers to our premium, high-lifecycle, steel ball bearing, nylon coated rollers. Another step may be to change your automatic opener to our “whisper” belt drive professional grade opener.
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Because quality is so important to us, we hand pick our spring manufacturers to ensure we are installing premium, high quality steel springs that have higher lifecycle ratings than the average springs. Our technicians will arrive fully stocked on most standard springs, whether torsion or extension, in order to repair on the spot and get you moving again quickly. If your door takes a special spring, we’ll get it ordered! If your spring is broken, it is imperative to have it changed right away by a professional to prevent further damage to the system.
What if my spring is not broken yet?
If your spring is not broken but the door is heavy, it may need to either be adjusted or replaced. A heavy door can cause serious damage to the automatic door opener. An adjustment to the spring may prolong its life, but if it is loosing tension, it may be a sign it needs to be replaced, and often, a spring will break shortly after adding tension, sometimes even in the process of adjusting. Changing the spring before it breaks my prevent you being stuck inside or outside of the garage when it breaks and cannot open.
Can I replace my own spring?
We strongly advise against performing this repair on your own unless you have proper training and proper tools. The spring system carries high torque and pressure that can result in serious injury.
Should I change one or both springs?
In a case where you have more than one spring, we always recommend changing both. The second spring is likely to break soon after, and changing it with the broken one will save cost on another trip and installation fee.
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Did your garage door come off its track? Is it just a little crooked or completely lopsided? No problem! We’ll come out and quickly re-spool the cables onto the drums, place all the rollers back in their tracking, make sure the door is straight, and make all adjustments to the spring and lifting system to make sure everything is properly balanced.
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Does your door seem out of balance? Perhaps it is not opening and closing completely straight or, when disengaged from the opener, the door comes crashing down instead of hovering in place? Our technicians are fully prepared to take a look at the door, assess the weight distribution, and take necessary steps to make sure everything is balanced perfectly.
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Do you need to replace some electronics such as remotes, a circuit board, a keypad, or something else? Is your garage door reversing, you need remotes/cars/a keypad programmed, or need some adjustments to the limits or force of your opener? These are just a few common automatic opener repairs that we perform daily. Because quality repairs are so important to us, we carry a wide range of brand-specific opener parts for reliability such as LiftMaster Professional, Chamberlain, Genie, and Overhead Door.
When to replace instead of repair:
If the opener is not repairable
If replacement parts are no longer manufactured
The opener is an older unit and repair costs will start adding up
The cost of repair outweighs or is close to cost of a new opener
You would like to upgrade the opener for advanced technological and safety features or noise reduction
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At O’Brien Garage Doors, we specialize in premium part replacement. The moving parts on your garage door are some of the most important parts of the system. It is imperative that all of the parts are in good working order so they do not break in motion and cause the door to come off track or cause damage to the door or opener.
We carry high-quality steel, commercial grade replacement parts such as pulleys, drums, hinges, cables, torsion tubes, rollers, tracks, support struts, bearings, torsion springs, extension springs, and more! Whether your parts are rusted out or just brittle from years of use, we’ve got you covered!
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Do you have damage to only one section or panel of your garage door? It may be an option to replace the one panel instead of purchasing a whole new door! We specialize in panel replacement. Schedule an onsite bid today and we will come take a look at the make, model, size, color and see if we are able to get it ordered and installed for you.
When to have a new door installed instead:
More than one section is damaged, and the price of replacing may be close to the price of a new door
The door has faded over time due to the elements and the new section may not match
You prefer to upgrade the door to a different style or insulation type
The make or model of your door is no longer being manufactured
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Do you have wind, rain, water, or critters coming into your garage because there is gapping in your perimeter or bottom seal? We may be able to help! As long as the gapping is not due to foundation problems, we can replace bottom seal and perimeter vinyl trim to help seal up any gaps. If the door is installed slightly off kilter, we can work to make adjustments as well to make sure everything is sealed up well.
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We specialize in garage door and opener repairs of many types! There are so many more potential repairs than are listed here, so if there is something you are experiencing that is not listed above, reach out today with any questions and we’ll get you scheduled according to your needs!
“We had a great experience with O’Brien garage doors. We planned on replacing last year and other, higher priority items came up. We called back recently, over a year later, and they were able to schedule us within 2 weeks. Everyone we talked to was friendly. The pricing was fair. The work was done quick. Happy to give 5 stars and will use them again.”
- Elizabeth E. | Google
“O'Brien provided prompt service. I called Tuesday morning and a tech was at my house in the afternoon. The service tech was professional, provided excellent customer service, and repaired the door when it was convenient for us. I would recommend O'Brien anytime.”
- Richard P. | Google
