Having a noisy garage door is definitely annoying. Nobody would want a garage door that squeaks, shrieks and makes all sorts of weird noises when being opened and closed. Sometimes garage doors are so loud that the noises can be heard from every corner of the house.
Would you like hearing loud noises in the middle of the night, that might disturb your sleep ? Of Course not. So if you are dealing with noisy garage doors for a long time now, it’s time to make your garage door quieter.
When garage doors are opened and closed, they create vibrations, which produce loud noises. It’s ofcourse inconvenient for the residents of the house, no matter what time of the day it is. It can be disruptive to everyone’s sleep!
What one needs to do here is reduce the vibrations and automatically the noise level would reduce.
There are various ways to quieten your garage door, without having to replace it with a new one. If you are willing to know what are the various ways, you have come to the right place. Continue to read below without further delay.
How to Quiet a Garage Door?
Going through the methods mentioned below, one would realize that one can follow various methods to reduce noise produced by a noisy garage door. One can therefore implement either of them or one in combination with another method for better results.
Let us go through the methods in detail below.
Tighten Everything Up
Most often, garage doors have loose bolts, nuts and screws, which is why they aren’t tightly fitted to the door frame. This is the commonly found cause of a garage door being noisy. Therefore what one must do is tighten the bolts, nuts and screws.
It’s important to check these nuts, screws and bolts frequently because constant movement tends to make them loose and therefore they rattle when there’s any movement.
Hence, before you proceed to more complicated and labor intensive solutions, it’s better to start by tightening the nuts, bolts and screws. Use the appropriate tools for this purpose and who knows, this might solve the issue for you!
Usually, we advise homeowners to use a socket set and wrench for this purpose. However, one shouldn’t over tighten them because it might strip the lag screw holes. Also, when you work on the garage door, take the necessary precautionary measures. It’s better to disconnect the garage door opener to make sure no one can open it while you are working on it.
Lubricate Moving Parts
The next common cause that produces weird sounds from the garage door is lack of oiling. After you have finished tightening the nuts, bolts and other components, it’s time to see which areas of the door need lubrication. For this purpose, homeowners are advised to use any silicone based or lithium based lubricant that are specially manufactured for garage doors. Frequent lubrication is required to prevent the occurrence of rust.
The various parts of the garage door that require frequent lubrication are the hinges, springs, locks, rails and door rollers. You shouldn’t neglect the bearings on the spring system, length of the springs and the part where the steel roller shaft fits into the hinges.
One should lubricate these parts twice every month to make the garage door quieter.
However, homeowners must be careful to not lubricate the nylon portion of the rollers. The same caution should be followed for any plastic component of the door, if any, because lubrication might degrade such plastic components.
While lubricating, take all possible precautionary measures to stay safe. Disconnect the garage door opener to make sure nobody gets to disturb you. Also wear protective gloves to keep your hands free from the lubricating solution.
Install a metal bar to give support to the door panels
Sometimes the panels of the garage door start to sag. That’s what causes the popping sound when the door is being closed or opened. To stop the noise, one needs to provide support to the sagging panels of the door.
For that, you must drill holes beneath the hinges of the panel that have sagged or started to sag. Use a leveller to see if all the holes along the length of the panel are drilled in one line. Now, take a metal bar and fit it along the length of the panel with screws. This simple DIY is expected to fix the popping noise
Replace the Garage Door Opener With A Quieter One
Maybe the source of the noise is a noisy garage door opener. If yes, you must replace it immediately. Having a noisy garage door opener is a real problem and you would definitely like to get rid of it.
If you have installed an automatic garage door at your place, buy a quieter garage door opener. The latest models of garage door openers use a different technique to open the garage door. Some even comprise sound absorbing materials which ultimately reduce garage door noise!
Now choosing the right garage door opener can be overwhelming for any homeowner. You may consult a professional in this regard or conduct a thorough research on your own.
Use Pieces of Rubber As Buffers
We all know that rubber acts as an excellent sound absorber. If you intend to make your noisy garage door quieter, you can use rubber pieces for noise absorption. Follow the below mentioned steps for that:
- Firstly, loosen the bolts and remove them from the garage door.
- Now, between the door and the bolts, insert a small piece of rubber.
- Now tighten the bolt.
- Next, remove the bolts that hold the door in position to the door frame.
- Take two rectangular pieces of rubber, drill two holes and bolt one end of the door frame to the door opener.
- Now let the other end of the door opener hang from the frame.
The rubber will absorb garage door vibrations and sounds when it’s being opened and closed. You can test it once to see if it actually works.
Re-adjust your Garage Door Locks After Working On The Bolts
This is an important step because misaligned locking bars can be a cause of unwanted noises. Therefore soon after you have finished inserting rubber pieces for effective sound absorption, do not forget to fit the locking bars in the appropriate position.
When you close the garage door, see if the lock bar hits the track and doesn’t make noise. Misalignments can cause grinding noises. If the alignment is off, loosen the screws and tap the guide down or up, until the locking bars are aligned. Now tighten the bolts and screws.
Install New Door Rollers
Garage door rollers are an important component that allow the door to function properly. They roll along the door’s rails when it’s being opened and closed and keep it on track.
Usually, garage doors have steel rollers, because these rollers undergo a lot of wear and tear. Therefore, steel makes them long lasting. But, it goes without saying that everytime the steel rollers are being rolled while opening and closing the door, they produce disturbing noises.
With time, these rollers, irrespective of the material, get damaged. If this is the cause, you would hear squealing noise or rattling noises.
Wondering how to fix this issue? Firstly try lubricating them and see if they make less noise. However, if they are badly damaged, it’s wise to get them replaced entirely.
Nowadays, there are nylon rollers available in the market. Homeowners tend to buy them because they are comparatively quieter than the metal rollers. Also, they require less lubrication and less maintenance. The best part is they are affordable! Therefore buying nylon rollers is certainly worth the investment, if you intend to reduce garage door noise.
Another option worth considering are the plastic rollers. They have all the qualities of a nylon roller except that they wear out quickly. This means you ought to replace them frequently, whenever you notice signs of damage.
Don’t miss:
How To Seal Garage Door Gaps On Sides
How to Bypass Garage Door Sensors
Should I Insulate My Garage
How to soundproof an above-door air vent
Use a Garage Door Silencer to Disconnect the Opener
If you aren’t willing to buy a new garage door opener and replace the noisy one, you can simply isolate it. That would also reduce noise to some extent.
This is an easy DIY method. One can isolate the noisy garage door opener, instead of replacing it by following the principle of decoupling. This is one of the best ways to soundproof any given space.
What it does is basically cuts off the source of noise from the rest of the structure. This automatically cuts off the path of sound transmission. Hence sound waves fail to travel to the rest of the structure and die out midway.
The garage door silencer is installed above the door opening machine. It significantly reduces the amount of vibrations from being transmitted to the rest of the door, thereby preventing a loud noise. Once you install a garage door silencer, you would notice significant noise reduction while opening and closing the door.
Replace the Garage Door Springs
Garage door springs can contribute to noise production, though they aren’t the primary culprits. The springs become old with time. When they wear out, they cause creaks and squeaks.
Sometimes, they break. We advise homeowners to inspect the condition of the springs regularly and replace them whenever needed. The moment you come across creaking sounds, replace the springs immediately.
When you install a new set of springs, consider buying torsion springs. They work differently and allow people to open doors more efficiently.
The best part is that torsion springs produce less noise than extension springs and have increased longevity. However, proper maintenance is necessary if you want them to retain their longevity.
Removing the old springs is pretty simple. Open the door first. Then unhook the springs. But, for installing a new set of springs, we suggest taking professional help. One needs to properly manage the springs, otherwise it might harm the concerned person.
If you intend to replace extension springs with torsion springs, you must consult a professional because they aren’t directly interchangeable.
Replace Garage Door Bottom Seals
Besides rollers and door openers that are most commonly responsible for noise production from a door, garage door bottom seals are also the culprits. Though they produce less noise as compared to the other components, it’s worth replacing them with better ones.
When you are following various methods to quieten your garage door, why neglect the garage door seals? Instead, replace the existing ones with seals that come with a better padding and fit properly in place. This will prevent the garage door from slamming loudly.
Insulate the Garage Door
To ensure complete garage door noise reduction, one must insulate the garage door. Usually, garage doors are made up of materials like vinyls, aluminum, steel which act as great transmitters of noise. Therefore, if you intend to make your garage door quiet, invest in materials that absorb sounds and make the door quieter.
Increase the mass of the door. Additionally, add sound dampening materials to it. Depending on this, there are three methods you can follow. Let’s go through them one by one:
Foam Board Insulation
This kind of insulation is available in the form of foam panels which aren’t basically thick. Nevertheless, they do offer significant resistance to sound vibrations. They are best suited for garage doors because they aren’t bulky and are great at sound dampening.
Batt Insulation
This is the second kind of insulation that’s mostly used to insulate ceilings and walls. However, a lot of people use them to insulate garage doors. Contrary to the former kind, they are bulky and can be damaged if not covered properly.
Reflective Insulation board
This is the third kind of insulation that’s also available in the market. Homeowners usually do not prefer to buy these insulation panels because they are too thin and don’t come with significant sound dampening qualities.
Therefore the best thing for homeowners would be to attach foam board insulation on their garage doors using polyurethane glue and stick it to the inside of the door. Make sure to cover the entire surface of the door for better results.
Don’t miss:
How to keep Sound in a Room
How to Soundproof Sliding Glass Doors
How to Soundproof Barn Doors
How to Soundproof a Hollow Door
The Bottom Line
Nobody wants a noisy garage door. It’s annoying and irritating for not only the residents but also the neighbors.
Hopefully, these garage door noise reduction methods would help people who intend to make their garage door quiet. If you follow these tips, you are sure to have a quiet garage door and live in peace!