Symptom check
The closed garage door bangs and shakes every time the wind gusts
A closed door rattles in wind when something that holds it has worked loose: hinge and track bolts, worn rollers, a seal that lifts, or a wide door with too little stiffening. Most of it is tune-up work, and none of it is urgent.
Updated
Listen from inside during the next gust
Stand inside the garage, clear of the door, the next time the wind picks up, and note whether the noise comes from the sides, the top, the bottom edge or the opener rail. Keep the door shut and locked while it blows, and skip running it through the strongest gusts. Once it calms, look at the spot you heard, and leave every fastener near the bottom corners alone.
What usually causes it, in order
A closed door hangs on its rollers and rests against the stop molding, so any play anywhere in that chain of parts turns into noise when the wind pushes.
- Most common
Hinge and track bolts that have worked loose
What you notice: A metallic clatter along the section joints or the side tracks, with bolt heads on hinges or track brackets standing proud or ringed with fresh rust.
The repair: Snug every hinge, track and bracket fastener to the door, and replace any hinge whose holes have worn oval. Garage Door Tune-Up, from $135
- Common
Worn rollers with play in their stems
What you notice: A knock at each roller as the wind pushes a section in and out, and wheels that wobble or sit loose where the stem meets the hinge.
The repair: Fit a fresh set of rollers sized to the track so each one rides snug in its channel. Garage Door Roller and Hinge Replacement, from $195
- Common
A bottom seal or side weatherstrip that lifts
What you notice: A slap or a whistle at the bottom edge or up the jambs, where the rubber has stiffened, torn or stopped touching the closed door.
The repair: Fit a new bottom seal and perimeter weatherstrip, each set to meet the door along its full edge. Garage Door Weather Seal Replacement, from $145
- Less common
A wide door flexing between its struts
What you notice: A 16-foot or wider door booms and bows inward with each gust, and its sections carry few struts, or one that is bent or hanging by a bolt.
The repair: Add or replace struts the door maker specifies, then rebalance the springs for the weight they add. Garage Door Panel Replacement, from $445
- Less common
Play at the opener arm and header bracket
What you notice: A knock from the top center of the door, where the curved arm meets its bracket, each time the wind leans on the door.
The repair: Tighten the arm, door bracket and header bracket hardware, and replace a worn arm or a cracked bracket. Garage Door Opener Repair, from $155
- Less common
Track brackets loose in soft framing
What you notice: A whole vertical track shifts when the door is pushed, and a lag screw spins freely in jamb wood that has gone dark or crumbly.
The repair: Refasten the track into sound wood, replacing rotted framing first. Garage Door Track Repair, from $165
Safe checks before you call
Do these from inside with the door shut, on a calm day if you can, touching nothing at the bottom brackets or the cables.
- Push gently on a middle section from inside and listen for the same knock or clatter the wind makes.
- Run a flashlight along each hinge and track bracket for bolt heads that sit proud or rust streaks where metal has been working.
- Look at the bottom seal and the side weatherstrip for rubber that no longer touches the door.
- On a wide door, look along the sections for a strut that is bent or hanging from a single bolt.
- Watch the opener arm at the top of the door while someone presses lightly on the outside.
- Keep the door closed and locked through a windy spell, and save any tightening for a technician.
How much a closed door should move in the wind
A little give is built into every sectional door, because rollers need room to turn in the track; banging, booming panels or a gap opening at the jamb is more than that.
DASMA points out that wind can push a door into the garage or pull it out of the opening, so a closed door takes load in both directions during a gust. Hinge bolts, roller stems, track brackets and the jamb wood behind them absorb that push and pull thousands of times a season, and whichever is weakest starts to knock first.
Where the east wind hits Clark County doors hardest
The east wind blows hardest where the Gorge opens onto the county, so doors in Camas, Washougal, east of I-205 and on lots that face the river take the most of it.
Ahead of a September 2020 event, the weather service warned of a historic east wind for the Clark County lowlands, with Camas and Washougal named. Wide two-car doors flex the most in a gust, so their hinges and struts are the parts to watch. The gust records, the river-facing streets and what a wind load label means are laid out in our wind load guide.
What not to do about a rattling door
Skip the homemade fixes, because the usual ones either do nothing or create a new problem for the springs and the track.
A car nosed up against the door holds nothing back; DASMA says it adds no reinforcement and can leave both damaged. Lumber or angle iron bolted across the sections adds weight the springs were never set for, and DASMA cautions against reinforcement the door maker did not specify. Shut and lock the door while the air is still calm, and leave the opener idle mid-gust.
What a wind tune-up covers
A tune-up aimed at wind noise snugs what has loosened and replaces what has worn, so the door sits quietly in its tracks again.
We tighten hinge, track and bracket fasteners, swap hinges with oval holes, check every roller and the opener arm, reset the seals, and confirm the door still balances on its springs. A strut the maker specifies can go on where a wide door flexes. None of that gives a door a wind rating; any rating belongs to the label the door maker put on it.
Door rattles in wind: questions and answers
How much should a closed garage door move when the wind blows?
Only a little, enough to hear the rollers settle, never enough to bang. Rollers need some room in the track, so a slight shift is normal. A door that knocks at every gust, booms in the middle or opens a visible gap at the jamb has fasteners, hinges or rollers that have worked loose and should be snugged.
Can the opener rail make a closed garage door rattle in the wind?
Yes, through the curved arm that joins the trolley to the top of the door. When the arm, its bracket on the top section or the header bracket over the opening loosens, every gust that moves the door rocks the arm and knocks at the top center. Tightening that hardware, or replacing a worn arm, quiets it.
Will new weather stripping stop my garage door rattling in the wind?
It stops the flapping and whistling at the edges, not a clatter from loose hardware. A stiff or torn bottom seal or side weatherstrip slaps in a gust and lets rain in sideways, so replacing it helps. If the knock comes from the hinges, rollers or tracks, new rubber will not reach it.
Why are the hinge bolts on my garage door loose after a windy winter?
Each gust flexes the sections a little, and thousands of small flexes back the fasteners off over a season. Clopay names hinges as prime suspects when a door rattles. Snugging them every so often keeps the holes round; once a hole wears oval, that hinge is replaced, because a bolt will not stay tight in it.
Does a garage door that rattles in the wind wear out its rollers and hinges?
Yes, slowly. Every knock is metal striking metal, which wears roller stems, ovals hinge holes and loosens the track brackets a little more each time. A rattle left for several winters often ends in a set of hinges or rollers rather than a quick tightening, so it is cheaper to deal with early.
Where to go next
Nearby service areas
This call comes in from Rose Village, Yacolt, Cascade Park and the rest of our Washington service area.
Want a price before anyone drives over?
Call and describe what the door is doing, or text a photo of the door and the spring above it. You hear the likely repair and where its price starts, then decide.