Garage Door Maintenance

Garage doors are one of the most overused parts of your house. Sadly, it is also the part that receives the least attention when it comes to maintenance. if you don’t take care of your garage door, it can put a lot of stress to the automatic garage door opener that will lead to it breaking down. That situation can also give you a lot of headache and stress. Therefore, you need to schedule regular maintenance for your garage door at least twice a year. To ensure that you have thoroughly checked your garage door, here’s a checklist that you can follow:

A well-oiled and well-maintained garage door doesn’t have a grating sound nor does it have jerky movements. Once you hear and see these, that is sign that something is wrong with it. Check both sides of the garage door system including the pulleys and rollers. You should also check to ensure that the garage door tracks do not have any dirt or debris. Check all the vertical alignments to make sure they are vertical. If they are not you can make some adjustments if they are minor. However, if the problem is much more serious than you expect, you should ask an expert to make the repairs.

It is funny because many people often forget that their garage door opener is not working simply because the power source is unplugged. While it can sound really ridiculous, this actually happens from time to time. But if you are sure that the power source is plugged, then it could be that it is broken.

Schedule a checkup twice a year and replace any damaged rollers. Generally, you can just remove the brackets that hold them to the door. However, NEVER remove any of the bottom roller bracket found at the sides of the door because they are attached to the lift cables, which carry extreme tension.

You should also check the pulleys found at the bottom roller brackets. Most garage doors are equipped with either a torsion spring or an extension spring. Torsion springs are attached to a metal rod found above the door opening. Extension springs, on the other hand, are long and skinny. You can find them running alongside the horizontal portion of each door track.

While you can make some adjustments on the rollers, expert garage door installers do not recommend doing a DYI repair on broken cables and pulleys. These parts are under a lot of tension and touching them without expert help can result in an accident. To avoid any accidents from happening, call a garage door technician to do this.

If you have an automatic garage door, you’ll find an auto-reverse feature in your door. This function stops and reverses the door’s movement when the door hits any object while it’s closing, or it detects some obstruction in its path.

A pressure sensor controls this reverse system. You can test if it’s working properly or not by placing a small piece of board and place it on the ground below the door. Once the door touches that piece of board, it will automatically reverse it’s direction and go back up.

If it needs some adjustments, check the instruction manual that comes along with it. You will find information how to make adjustments or repairs for each part, including the auto-reverse function. If you are using a garage door that do not have this basic feature, you might be using an older model which does not pass your area’s building code. Check your local building regulations to see if you are in compliance or not. You might need a new garage door.

The weatherstripping is the rubber part that runs along the bottom of the garage door. It keeps the elements, like dust and water, out of your garage. Most weatherstripping fits using a flange that slides into a groove. However, if you are using a wooden door, it is nailed in place. Regular checkups ensure that it is working properly and is still in good shape. Re-attach any loose weatherstripping and fix the damaged ones.

Continuous use makes even the best garage doors subject to the normal wear and tear. As time goes by, the moving parts wear down or damaged; however, you can extend their lives by keeping them well-lubricated regularly. For the moving parts, such as hinges and rollers, lubricate them using a high-quality lubricant. The solution ensures your parts free of any squeaking noises and in optimum performance. Before applying the lubricant, clean the area from any dust or debris. Spray some lubricant on the beatings of torsion-spring openers and the pulleys found on extension-spring openers. If the parts are a bit rusty, spray some lubricant on it. If the opener has some rusty screws or bolts, lubricate these as well, but never use any lubricant on the belt-drive opener.