Frequently Asked Questions
Expert Answers to Your Garage Door Questions

What you pay depends on which part failed. These are the ranges Rob's Garage Door quotes most often across Washtenaw and Wayne County:

• Spring Replacement: $200-$300 (for both springs)
• Cable Repair: $150-$250
• Opener Repair: $100-$350 depending on the issue
• Track Repair: $125-$200
• Panel Replacement: Priced per door type and per panel
• Roller Replacement: $100-$200

Most jobs land between $150 and $400. Estimates are free, and the figure we quote is the figure you pay. Parts and job complexity set the final number.

Spring life comes down to two things: how the spring was built, and how many times a day the door runs.

• Standard Springs: about 7-9 years, or roughly 10,000 open-and-close cycles
• High-Cycle Springs: 15-20 years or 25,000-50,000 cycles

Factors that affect spring life include:

• How often it runs. A typical household cycles the door 3-4 times per day
• How the spring was made. Better steel and tighter winding buy more cycles
• Proper installation and balance
• Michigan weather. Hard freezes and summer heat both shorten spring life
• Regular lubrication and maintenance

Rob's fits high-cycle springs as standard. They run 2-3 times longer than the builder-grade springs most doors leave the factory with.

Leave spring work to a technician. Here is what makes it different from the rest of the door:

• Safety Risk: A wound torsion spring holds 200+ pounds of force. Let go wrong, it can break bones or worse.
• Special Tools Required: The job needs winding bars sized to the spring. A screwdriver is what sends people to the emergency room.
• Proper Training Needed: Every Rob's technician is trained on spring work before going out alone.
• Risk of Improper Installation: A spring wound to the wrong count fails early and throws the door out of balance.
• Warranty Issues: Manufacturers void door and opener warranties after a homeowner spring change.

Professional spring replacement typically costs $200-$300 and is completed in about an hour. The safety and peace of mind are well worth the cost. Call Rob's Garage Door at 734-301-5959 for safe, professional spring replacement.

A door that stops short of the floor usually has one of these causes. Check them in this order:

• Misaligned Safety Sensors: The photo-eyes sit low on both tracks and must face each other with nothing between. A blinking light means they are out.
• Incorrect Limit Settings: The down-limit on the opener has drifted and needs resetting.
• Obstruction in Track: Grit, a stone or a stray tool in the track stops the rollers.
• Broken or Worn Springs: A tired spring stops counterbalancing the weight of the door.
• Bent Track: A track knocked out of line binds the rollers partway down.
• Opener Malfunction: The motor or the logic board has failed.

Quick Checks:

• Clear the sensors and run your eye down both tracks
• Wipe sensor lenses clean
• Check if sensor lights are illuminated
• Pull the release and move the door by hand to feel where it binds

Still short after those checks? Call 734-301-5959 and a technician will diagnose it on site.

Professional garage door installation typically takes:

• Single-Car Door: 4-6 hours
• Double-Car Door: 6-8 hours
• Custom or Complex Installations: May take longer

Installation Process Includes:

• Removal and disposal of old garage door
• Installation of new tracks, springs, and hardware
• Door panel installation and alignment
• Opener installation or reconnection
• Final adjustments and balance testing
• Safety feature testing
• Operation demonstration and maintenance guidance

Most installs finish in a single day, so your garage is out of use for hours rather than days. Openings that need framing or structural work run longer.

Yes! Rob's Garage Door offers same-day service for most garage door repairs throughout Southeast Michigan.

A door stuck open leaves your garage unsecured, and a door stuck shut leaves your car inside it. Both move to the front of our schedule:

• Call us at 734-301-5959 before noon and we'll often schedule service the same day
• A door that will not close leaves the house open, so those calls go first
• Our trucks carry the parts that fail most, so one visit usually finishes it
• Most repairs are done on that first visit

Routine repairs go on the calendar at a time that suits you, usually within 1-2 business days.

Doors rarely fail without warning. These are the signals our technicians see most often in the weeks before a breakdown:

• Loud Noises: Grinding, squealing, scraping or banging while the door runs
• Slow Operation: The door takes noticeably longer than it used to
• Uneven Movement: The door jerks, or one side climbs faster than the other
• Door Reverses: The door starts down, then backs off before it reaches the floor
• Visible Spring Damage: A finger-width gap in the torsion spring over the door
• Frayed Cables: Broken strands or fuzz along the lift cables
• Door Sagging: One corner hangs low when the door is part way up
• Difficulty Opening: The door feels heavier by hand than it did last year
• Opener Runs But Door Doesn't Move: Almost always a broken spring or a stripped drive
• Excessive Shaking: Door vibrates excessively during operation

Acting on an early signal costs less than replacing what breaks after it. Call 734-301-5959 if you notice any of these.

Consider Replacement If:

• Door is over 15-20 years old
• Requires frequent repairs (repair costs add up)
• Multiple panels are damaged
• Door lacks modern safety features (auto-reverse, sensors)
• Severe rust or rot affecting structural integrity
• The door no longer suits the look of the house
• Poor insulation driving up energy costs
• You are listing the house, where a new door returns much of its cost

Repair Is Usually Better For:

• Broken springs or cables (common wear items)
• Bent or misaligned tracks
• Opener problems or upgrades
• One damaged panel, which can often be swapped on its own
• Doors less than 10 years old
• Otherwise well-functioning doors with isolated problems

Our Honest Assessment: We inspect the door and tell you what we would do with our own. Sometimes one repair buys several more years. Sometimes a new door is the cheaper answer over its life. We lay out both and you decide.

Garage Doors:

• Clopay: The best selling door line in the country, with the widest style range
• Amarr: Heavier insulation and hardware, built for long service
• CHI: Value-oriented quality doors
• Wayne Dalton: Innovative designs and reliable performance

Garage Door Openers:

• Chamberlain: The opener line we install most, and the one we are authorized on
• LiftMaster: Professional-grade openers with exceptional reliability

Rob's Garage Door is an authorized Chamberlain partner and a LiftMaster certified installer. That is why we fit these openers:

• Superior reliability and performance
• Smart home integration (WiFi, MyQ technology)
• Excellent warranty coverage
• Battery backup options
• Whisper-quiet belt drive models

Working the same product lines since 1978 means we stock the common parts, know where each model gives trouble, and can reach manufacturer support directly.

Professional Maintenance: Once Per Year

Book a service visit once a year. A Rob's annual tune-up covers:

• Lubricate every moving part: springs, rollers, hinges and tracks
• Tightening all hardware and fasteners
• Testing and adjusting door balance
• Inspecting springs and cables for wear
• Checking and adjusting opener settings
• Testing all safety features
• Cleaning tracks and sensors
• Catch the small faults while they are still small repairs

Monthly Homeowner Maintenance:

• Inspect springs, cables, rollers and tracks by eye and by hand
• Test the auto-reverse by laying an object in the path of the door
• Test manual release to ensure it works
• Listen for unusual noises during operation
• Keep tracks clear of debris

Benefits of Regular Maintenance:

• Extends garage door lifespan
• Prevents unexpected breakdowns
• Maintains warranty coverage
• Ensures safe operation
• Quieter, smoother performance
• Lower long-term costs by catching problems early

Whether your policy pays turns on what caused the damage. The usual split looks like this:

Usually Covered:

• Damage from storms, hail, or fallen trees
• Damage from a vehicle, whether yours or somebody else's
• Vandalism or break-in damage
• Fire damage

Usually NOT Covered:

• Normal wear and tear
• Spring or cable failure from age
• Lack of maintenance
• Opener malfunctions

Our Recommendation: Ask your agent what your policy covers before you assume either way. We supply itemized invoices and photographs for any claim you file. Routine repairs almost never reach a policy, so we keep our pricing competitive and offer flexible payment instead.

Torsion Springs:

• Mounted on a steel shaft above the door opening
• Work by twisting/torquing when door moves
• More common on modern garage doors
• Last longer (15,000-20,000 cycles or more)
• Safer on failure, because the pieces stay on the shaft
• Better balance and smoother operation
• More expensive to replace

Extension Springs:

• Located above horizontal tracks on both sides
• Work by stretching and contracting
• Common on older or lighter doors
• Shorter lifespan (10,000 cycles typically)
• Need safety cables run through them to catch a break
• Less expensive to replace

Either type can injure someone when it lets go, so both are technician work. Rob's services and replaces torsion and extension springs.

Usually yes. Panel matching works more often than homeowners expect, with a few things worth knowing first:

Best Case Scenario:

• Your door came from a manufacturer still trading (Clopay, Amarr, CHI, Wayne Dalton)
• The model and color are still available
• Door is less than 10 years old

Potential Challenges:

• Fading: An older door has weathered, so a color-matched panel can still read slightly newer
• Discontinued Models: Some older models and colors are simply out of production
• Custom Colors: An original custom finish is the hardest thing to match exactly

Our Process: We read the make, model and color code off your door. When the exact panel is no longer made, we walk you through the alternatives, including swapping several panels so the finish reads evenly, or replacing the door when the mismatch would show from the street.

We show you what the match will actually look like before anything is ordered.

Loud garage doors typically result from:

Most Common Causes:

• Lack of Lubrication: Dry springs, rollers and hinges grind and squeal
• Worn Rollers: Steel rollers get noisy as they wear. Nylon rollers run quieter
• Loose Hardware: Nuts, bolts and hinges rattle once they back off
• Chain Drive Opener: A chain drive is louder than a belt by design
• Worn Hinges: Create squeaking and grinding sounds
• Opener Problems: Worn gears in opener motor

Solutions:

• Professional lubrication of all moving parts
• Replace metal rollers with quieter nylon rollers
• Tighten all hardware and fasteners
• Replace worn hinges
• Move to a belt drive opener if you want the quietest option
• Add vibration isolation to opener mount

Every door makes some sound. A loud one is telling you it needs service. New rollers, fresh lubrication and hardware adjustment quiet most doors substantially.

Yes. We handle commercial doors for businesses across Washtenaw and Wayne County, though most of our work is residential.

Commercial Services We Provide:

• Overhead door repair and maintenance
• Commercial opener service and installation
• Spring and cable replacement
• Rolling door service
• Safety compliance inspections
• Emergency repair service

Commercial Experience:

• Loading dock doors
• Warehouse overhead doors
• Auto shop bay doors
• Storage facility doors
• Small business overhead doors

For large commercial projects or specialized industrial doors, we can provide referrals to commercial door specialists. Call us at 734-301-5959 to discuss your commercial door needs.