Garage Door Balance Adjustment: what to note first

The opener has started to groan on the way up. The door climbs slowly, hesitates near the top, and on the way down it sometimes stops a hand's width above the floor and reverses, as if something were in the way when nothing is.

Worth answering before the call

Do you have the door or opener manual, or a label with the model? When you release the door and lift it by hand, does it drift up, sink, or stay put? Does the door sit level when closed, or is one corner higher?

How should I prepare the garage for the visit?

Move the car out if you can and clear the floor near the door and beneath the spring shaft, since the technician will be on a ladder there with winding bars. Take down anything hanging from the tracks or stored on top of the horizontal rails. Leave the door where it is, make sure the wall button and the opener are reachable, and have any spring or opener paperwork handy.

How often does a garage door need a balance adjustment?

There is no fixed interval; the door tells you. Many doors go years between adjustments, especially when they are lubricated and the springs were sized correctly. A hand test each season is the reliable guide: if the released door holds at about a metre and stays fully open, it is fine. When it starts to drift or sink, that is the time.