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My garage door currently rubs on the outer wooden frame, and this prevents it from closing fully. As it closes, the motor seems to sense the resistance and it starts pulling the door up instead.

The rubbing seems to be greater on one side (the right side when looking from the inside out).

It's a wooden garage door, likely from the late 80's.

Here are some photos from the outside and inside:

Side 1 from outside Side 2 from outside Side 1 from inside Side 2 from inside

user453441
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    looks like your rubber/plastic wheels are consumed. Replace them – Ruskes Sep 03 '22 at 21:33
  • @Ruskes thanks, I'll look into that. I'm not sure if these rollers ever had rubber/plastic, maybe they were always just metal.. But could that actually be causing the rubbing? – user453441 Sep 03 '22 at 21:37
  • I replaced my 80s era wooden doors last year. Well worth it on the heat/AC savings. Unless this is a detached garage. Mine is right below two bedrooms. –  Sep 05 '22 at 14:23

3 Answers3

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For me the easiest solution would be to remove the 7 foot long framing laths (Profiles) on both sides.

They are just nailed in, so easy to remove.

Now sand off some in the area that you marked.

Nail them back in, using a spacer.

Ruskes
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    This was the best solution for the rubbing problem. I removed those like you suggested, and the door panels stopped rubbing. The door was still not closing, and it was because the bottom rail/track on one side was pushed away from the garage wall and towards the door, resulting in the bottom roller rubbing against the rail. I gave it a few hits with a hammer towards the wall and the now the door closes fine. Instead of sanding those pieces of wood, I think I will reattach them but reposition them to be closer to the outside, until they are flush with the rest of the garage wall. – user453441 Sep 04 '22 at 02:33
  • @user453441 clever clever – Ruskes Sep 04 '22 at 02:45
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loosen the bolts on the vertical part of the track and adjust it away from the wood.

Jasen
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  • I think this is a good suggestion in general, but in my case because the rubbing was higher up I don't think adjusting the vertical rail (the bottom one) would have helped). It is, in my case, also pressing against the floor and wouldn't be possible to adjust other than slightly, by hammering it with a mallet. – user453441 Sep 04 '22 at 02:25
  • After I resolved the rubbing problem, as per @Ruskes solution, I had another problem with one of the rollers rubbing against the bottom rail. Although in that case I had to hammer the rail/track towards the wall (off to the side) and away from the door, rather then towards the inside of the garage. – user453441 Sep 04 '22 at 02:36
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Mark the door frame where it touches/rubs against the door.

With the door open sand or use a wood plane to remove the rubbing sections.

Close the the door and check. Repeat as needed. Probably only need less than a 1/16 inch removed.

When you have removed enough, paint the bare wood for weather protection.

Can also take down the door frame and move it away a bit from the door when putting it back up.

crip659
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  • This is a good idea. I ended up removing those like @Ruskes suggested below. If I choose to sand them it might be easier with them off. – user453441 Sep 04 '22 at 02:33
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    Upon re-reading your answer, you had also suggested to take down the door frame. I think @Ruskes answer was clearer to me, since he specified the specific part of the frame that I'd need to remove. Ultimately I selected his answer, but you were right too. – user453441 Sep 04 '22 at 02:40