Garage door repair, diagnosed before it is quoted

Everyone else ranking for this is paid when you say yes. Here's when you shouldn't.

• The door is fine and the remote is not. A dead remote battery, a re-paired keypad, or a neighbour's new LED bulb throwing interference at the receiver are not repairs. Try the wall button first — if the wall button works, the door is healthy.
• The problem is the floor, not the door. Heaved, cracked or settled slab makes a straight door look crooked and stops it sealing. No amount of hardware adjustment fixes a floor that is no longer flat, and a good technician will say so instead of shimming the seal forever.
• It is a hinged, sliding or entry door. Front doors, patio doors and interior doors are a separate trade with separate parts. Start at door repair, not here.
• The door has been hit by a vehicle and the tracks are bent along their length. Straightening impact-damaged track is a false economy; the door will bind again within months. Price the sections and track as a set, and check your policy before paying out of pocket.
• Half the sections are rotten, rusted through at the bottom, or delaminating. Repairing one failure on a door whose skin is failing everywhere buys you weeks. Get replacement priced alongside the repair and compare honestly.
• You have already been quoted three times and the fault keeps coming back. A recurring fault usually means the real cause was never found — most often a balance problem being treated as an opener problem. Ask the next technician to do the manual lift test in front of you.

Do not touch the springs, the cables, or the bottom brackets. The counterbalance system holds enough stored energy to lift a door weighing well over a hundred pounds, and it releases all of it at once if the wrong fastener is loosened. This is the one part of a garage door where an honest answer is: not you, not ever, regardless of how the video made it look.

• Will you do the manual balance test in front of me before quoting?

  Thirty seconds, no tools, and it separates a counterbalance fault from an opener fault. A technician who skips it is quoting from the symptom you described on the phone.

• Is the service call fee credited against the repair if I go ahead?

  Many companies credit it and do not mention it unless asked. Some charge it twice if a second visit is needed for parts.

• Which parts are on your van today, and which need ordering?

  Determines whether this is one visit or two, and whether you are without a garage over a weekend.

• What is worn but not broken, and how long do I realistically have?

  Invites the honest version of the upsell conversation. A good answer names specific parts and rough timeframes; a bad one is "everything should really be done now".

• Are you replacing parts in pairs where pairs matter?

  Springs and cables are matched sets that wear at the same rate. Replacing one is a return visit waiting to happen, and any technician will confirm that.

• What warranty covers the part, and what covers your labour?

  They are usually different lengths, and the labour warranty is the one that matters when a part fails in month five.

• Will you re-test both safety functions before you leave?

  Photo-eyes and contact reversal. The repair is not complete until both work, and you should watch the test.

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