In most homes, the garage door is one of the most neglected parts of a home. As you take care of maintenance on your home appliances, your garage door deserves the same courtesy. When you service and maintain your garage door, it will last longer and work more reliably. Garage door maintenance also saves you a lot of money on repairs in the long run. This article will discuss simple garage door maintenance tips to help you keep it in tip-top shape.
Why is it important to maintain your garage door?
There are so many reasons why you should maintain your garage door, but this article will highlight the three most important points.
- Reliability: most people use their garage doors more than once a day. When you leave for work in the morning or go shopping later in the day, you use it. Maintaining your garage door ensures its reliability. A working garage helps you escape the cold, high-heat, and even snow or rain from entering your home from your garage. It also prevents you from getting stuck outside in an emergency. A residential garage door service company can help you keep it in shape.
- Safety: garage door maintenance is crucial because delays can lead to accidents. Garage doors use cables, and if one is broken, the door can shut suddenly. Since the doors are heavy, any crash could damage your car. It can also cause injury to an individual. Regular maintenance of your garage door can prevent such unnecessary accidents. Garage door service companies can detect broken cables or torsion springs in time and fix them.
- Long-term savings: maintaining your garage door will make it last for many years. A long-lasting garage door equals a reduced cost of repairs or replacement. As stated earlier, garage doors use cables and springs. If there is damage, the components could fail. In time, this little problem could grow and affect other parts of the garage door. This means spending more money on repairing more parts. Maintaining your garage door often helps reduce unnecessary expenses throughout the year. A commercial garage door service company can handle preventative maintenance to prevent garage door failure in the future.
Garage door maintenance tips
You can maintain your garage door by carrying out some basic tasks like lubricating, inspecting, and replacing. In other cases, you may need a residential garage door service company to handle more difficult maintenance tasks. Below are some garage door maintenance tips:
- Lubricate the doors moving parts
Metal to metal friction can cause enormous squeaking and prevent your garage door from working properly. Lubrication is essential, and just a little could go a long way. It is also easy to do, so you don’t need a professional for it. Get a spray lubricant, if possible, to grease the drive screw or opener’s chain. You may also need to lubricate the hinges of the door as well as the tracks and rollers.
A small amount of lubrication can go a long way toward preventing noise and keeping your garage door operating properly. Use a spray lubricant to grease up the door opener’s chain or drive screw. It is also a good idea to lubricate the door’s hinges, rollers, and tracks. Lubricating these parts makes the operation of the door smoother and quieter. You also help extend the life of the opener and the chain. Before lubricating, read the owner’s manual so you can be sure about which screw openers need lubrication and those that do not.
- Check the hardware for tightness
Moving parts are bound to loosen over time, and this is the case for garage doors. Since it moves up and down, the hardware can start to loosen. Be sure to check it and tighten loose bolts or roller brackets.
- Perform safety test
Safety tests on your garage door help you determine when you need to call for garage door maintenance services. You can perform a garage door balance test by:
- Allowing the garage door to operate manually
- Lifting the door halfway up and releasing it
- If it slips, call a garage door service company. If it doesn’t, you’re good to go.
Another test to carry out is the mechanical reverse feature. To do this:
- Put a hard object on the garage floor door path
- Close the garage door
- If the door does not reverse direction, call a professional.
You should also test the door’s photocell. Do this by:
- Locating the photosensors under the door
- Checking the sensor alignment as they light up when properly aligned.
- Activating the garage door. Wave an object over the sensor path when it closes. If it doesn’t reverse, call a technician.
- Replace battery and bulbs
Batteries run out after prolonged use, so you may need to change them from time to time. Unplug the door opener and attempt to open the garage door with the button on the wall. If it fails to open, then you need to change the backup battery.
To do this, use a screwdriver and remove the door opener’s cover and replace the battery. You can also replace the door remote batteries and the light bulbs for the door opener. Be sure to read the manual to determine the wattage and size needed for the replacement.
- Clean the door surface
Another way to maintain your garage door is to keep it clean. If your garage door is made from wood, wipe it down with a dry cloth. Check the surface for stains or inspect for damage. You also need to determine if it needs to be repainted. Patch small holes using wood filler and sand lightly. Paint according and rinse with a hose. Pat it dry with a microfiber cloth. Be sure to brush off any cobwebs in the door and wipe it off using a soft cloth.
Would you like professional garage door maintenance?
A garage door repair company offers garage door maintenance as well as inspection services. Trained technicians can handle all these tasks and more to keep your garage door in good working condition always.
Conclusion
Garage doors should not be neglected because they can cause serious accidents if not maintained properly. Also, maintaining your garage door saves you money in the long term. However, you can lubricate, clean, and replace some parts to help keep the garage door working optimally. Do you need garage door maintenance services, then contact us today!
Recent Comments