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What areas do you cover?
Elyria, Lorain and surrounding communities for residential work, extending west into Erie County. Commercial and loading dock service is provided across Northeast Ohio.
How quickly can you get here?
Same-day service is standard in Elyria, Lorain, Avon, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville. We provide emergencyservice for doors stuck open or otherwise unsafe.
Do you give free estimates?
Yes, on replacements. We provide free in-home written estimates for new garage doors and entry doors. Service repairs are quoted rather than estimated free of charge, as diagnosis requires a technician visit. The price is always confirmed before work begins.
Can I buy parts without booking a service call?
Yes. Our counter at 938 Lorain Blvd is open to the public and stocks rollers, cables, hinges, panels, weatherstripping, remotes and keypads.
Do you still install replacement windows?
No. Action Door no longer installs or services replacement windows. The business is now focused on garage doors, entry doors and commercial door and loading dock equipment.
How often does a garage door need servicing?
Once or twice a year for most homes, and more frequently where the garage is the main entrance. Autumn is the most effective time to schedule.
A spring broke. Do I replace one or both?
Both. Springs accumulate the same number of cycles, so replacing only one leaves the door unbalanced and places the full load on the new spring.
Can I replace a spring myself?
No. Torsion springs are under sufficient tension to cause serious injury and require specialist winding bars. This is the one component we do not sell over the counter.
Does one damaged section mean a whole new door?
Not necessarily. Where replacement sections remain in production, a single damaged section can often be replaced.
What does a repair cost?
This depends on the fault, and the price is confirmed before work begins. Spring and cable repairs are the most common, and we can provide a price range by telephone.
Can I get a remote for an older opener?
In many cases, including models no longer in production. Take the model number from the label on the motor housing and contact our parts counter before replacing a functioning opener.
How long does an opener last?
Ten to fifteen years in typical residential use. The drive gear and capacitor are the first components to fail, and both are repairable.
My opener runs but the door does not move.
Most commonly a stripped drive gear. This is a repair rather than a replacement.
Why does my door reverse before it closes?
Usually misaligned safety sensors near the floor. If both indicator lights are steady, the cause is the travel limit or force setting.
There are four common causes, listed in approximate order of frequency.
Vehicle impact. Usually low-speed contact with a bumper. The door may appear undamaged, but the track is deformed at the point of impact and the roller begins to jump at that position on every cycle. This failure develops gradually and is easily missed.
Cable failure. Where a cable breaks or unwinds from its drum, the door drops on that side, the rollers on that side leave the track, and the door twists in its opening. This requires the door to be taken out of service immediately.
Roller wear. A roller that no longer rotates drags within the track and will eventually climb out of it. Rollers are the least expensive component on the door and this is the most preventable of the four causes.
Forced operation. Typically an attempt to lift a door with a failed spring, either manually or via the opener. The door rises unevenly and one side leaves the track.
In all cases, do not attempt to reseat the door. A door off its tracks is no longer supported by its normal restraints and can fall. Disconnect the opener to prevent operation, leave the door in position, and call for service.
A residential garage door weighs between 130 and 400 pounds and is the largest moving object in most homes. Three precautions are recommended.
Test the safety reverse monthly. Place a piece of timber flat on the floor beneath the door and close it. The door must contact the timber and reverse. Then pass an object through the photo-eye beam near the floor while the door is closing; it must stop and reverse. If either test fails, the opener requires adjustment before further use.
Position the wall control at least five feet above the floor, out of reach of children, and where the operator has a clear view of the full door.
Ensure children understand that the door and its controls are not to be played with. The most common injuries involve children passing beneath a closing door or holding the door as it rises.
Garage door springs are rated in cycles rather than years. One cycle consists of the door opening once and closing once. A standard spring is rated at approximately 10,000 cycles; high-cycle springs are rated at 20,000 or more.
Actual service life therefore depends on usage. A household using the garage as its main entrance may operate the door six to eight times daily, which equates to roughly seven years on a standard spring. A door operated twice a week may last twenty years on the same specification.
Springs fail through metal fatigue rather than a single event. Each cycle flexes the steel slightly, the coil progressively loses its ability to return to shape, and the spring eventually fractures. Failure most often occurs when the door is closed, as this is when the spring is under greatest tension, and is more common in cold weather. Corrosion accelerates the process, so garages subject to standing water and properties near the lake typically see shorter spring life.
There is no reliable way to inspect a spring and determine its remaining life. The practical approach is to estimate cycle count from usage and spring age. Where a door has exceeded its rated cycles, planned replacement costs the same as emergency replacement and avoids the door failing with a vehicle inside.
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