My garage door rattles in the wind. Is that a problem?

A little movement in wind is normal, because a garage door is a large surface that has to move freely in its tracks. Loud or worsening rattling is different. It usually means something has loosened or worn, and a door that shakes hard in gusts puts extra stress on its hinges, rollers and track brackets.

Common causes

• Loose hinge bolts or track bracket fasteners.
• Worn rollers that have too much play in the track.
• Cracked hinges that let the sections shift against each other.
• Panels that flex or bow, especially on wide doors without reinforcement.
• Worn or missing weatherstripping that lets the door knock against the stop.

What you can check

With the door closed, look from the floor for loose or missing bolts, cracked hinges and gaps along the weather seal, and watch whether the top section bows when the wind picks up. Do not loosen or tighten anything on the bottom brackets or near the cables, which are under spring tension.

What a repair looks like

We repair loose or damaged hardware and replace worn rollers or hinges. Where reinforcement would help, we follow the door manufacturer's reinforcement plan rather than adding a generic bar, and any added weight means a balance check afterward. One caution: struts make a section stiffer, but they do not turn a standard door into a wind-rated one. Repair visits carry a $45 diagnostic trip fee, with a written price before work. See whether garage door struts are universal.

Read more

• Garage door strut guide
• Garage door tune-up
• Garage door weather stripping

Related questions

• Is my garage door ruined if a car hit it?
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• Can you fix a golf cart garage door?
• Can you repair a tall RV garage door?

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