The largest moving part of your house is your garage door if you have one. It is one of those sections that gets utilized throughout the week, months, and years. You might use it to store your car. You might also use it to keep your gym items, as a storage room, or even as an office. A garage door protects your property from the outside world. Maintaining a garage door regularly will ensure that it continues to operate properly for a longer period.
How to Maintain a Garage Door Before Taking Professional Care
Garage doors can last between 15-20 years if properly maintained. So, here are ten garage door maintenance tips to help homeowners keep their doors in pristine condition:
Visually Inspect the Moving Parts
The top technique on our garage door maintenance checklist is to observe your garage door when you use it. Do you notice any jerky movement or vibrations? Also, pay close attention to the noise it’s producing. Is it making any scraping or grinding noises? Most modern garage doors make next to no noise when it’s getting raised or lowered.
One way to notice any of such issues is to take a mental recording of how the door looks and sounds when you first install it. You can use this knowledge to compare the current state of the door. Inspect whether the cables or chains, pulleys, and springs look symmetrical.
Noticing small misalignments and fixing them on time can go a long way in saving your hard-earned money in the long run. Also, keep a close eye on any cracks or dents in the weather seals, coils, aluminum drums, and springs attached to the garage door. Rust is another factor that can have a devastating effect on the metal components.
Lubricate the Moving Parts
Many external elements, such as dust, moisture, wind, rain, etc., affect a garage door. In addition, many garages contain cans of oils, paint, gasoline, and other materials. Splatters or spillages of these materials often hit the garage door and its many mechanical parts. Although homeowners may clean the garage floor and walls, the garage door needs constant maintenance. Keeping the garage door lubricated is vital.
A well-lubricated machine is a happy and healthy machine. Lubricating your garage door parts with grease will ensure that it operates seamlessly and adds years to its life. And it only takes around 5 to 10 minutes of effort a year! Use white lithium grease on your garage door opener’s chains, screws, and metal hinges. Also, use spray lubricant to coat the overhead springs.
Almost any department store has these items. If you need help determining which item, consult a garage door specialist to find the right lubricant for your door.
Tighten any Loose Hardware
The average garage door moves up and down multiple times daily and over a thousand times yearly. This frequency can result in the loosening of the hardware. Over time, loose hardware can cause a lot of damage to not just the garage door but also to your finances. A broken garage door costs a lot to fix. It would help if you regularly inspect the garage door and the opener.
If you see loose bolts or non-solid parts like the weatherstripping peel-offs, you should waste no time. You can use a socket wrench to tighten the roller brackets and bolts to get it fixed.
Make sure the Garage Door is Balanced
Check if the garage door and the garage door opener are properly balanced. If the door isn’t aligned evenly on both sides, the garage door opener motor must work twice as hard. It could also stress and damage the engine in the long run. The garage door opener could malfunction and cease functioning if the two sensors aren’t aligned properly.
The best way to see if your garage door is balanced is by first closing it from the inside. Carefully detach the garage door from the opener using the red manual release rope. Then manually raise and lower the door a few times. Finally, submit the door halfway and release it. If it stays in one place, it is adequately balanced.
If it abruptly closes or snaps open, it is off-balance. We recommend that you consult a garage door repair service to get this issue fixed, especially if you need more knowledge or experience.
Check Cables Regularly
It is never safe to tinker the high-tension cables that raise and lower your garage door. You could risk serious harm trying to remove a rope or chain from its groove. However, you can visually check it for wear, fraying, kinking, or cracks. You can use a flashlight to trace the cable to make the task easier. Inspect the wires of the garage door, both raised and lowered. You should avoid contacting a garage door maintenance service if you see any cable damage.
The same applies to the garage door chains. You can lubricate and use anti-rusting chemicals on any visible rust. But if you see the chain starting to break or has loose parts, you should keep your distance and hire a specialist immediately.
Check the Springs Regularly
In the same way, you should check the cables for any noticeable damage and all the garage door springs for any wear or rusting. Check for rusting or suspicious bending. If you have an automatic opener system, you can disconnect the opener after closing the door. If you can lift the garage door easily, your springs are in good working condition. In case your garage door gets stuck or imbalanced in other places, consider hiring a garage door specialist to fix it.
Test Safety Features
Garage doors come with some safety features that protect you and your property from harm while in operation. You can check whether the photo-eye works by opening the garage door and placing a box or sticks between the two sensors. The photo-eye is a motion detection feature built into the garage door opener that uses lasers to detect any object in front of the garage door. If the sensors are aligned and in proper condition, they should notice the objects immediately and start reversing back into a safe position.
Clean and Paint the Door
A fresh new coat of paint can do more than improve your garage door’s aesthetics. It can also help protect your door from rusting, corrosion, oxidation, and other weather damage. The right coat of paint also prevents moisture accumulation and keeps sunlight damage at bay. If your garage door is made of wood, painting it once a couple of years can help it stay functional longer.
Before painting your garage door, use a primer. Using a primer will not only make the paint coat look even. It will also laminate and gloss over any micro textures and holes that the door surface might have. Applying a new coat of paint to a metal or vinyl door is also an excellent way to enhance your home’s appearance. Think of it as a large-public canvas.
Seal the Garage Door
Often called a door sweep or a door bottom seal, this long rubber or vinyl strip is attached to the bottom of the garage door. Since it is a flexible material, it compresses between the door frame and the floor when closed. Its purpose is to keep water, dirt, cold breezes, and insects from entering your house. Installing a door sweep is necessary if you live somewhere prone to flooding and hurricanes. It can also help decrease energy bills by increasing your home’s insulation and can reduce damage to your garage door.
Schedule Professional Maintenance
There is an important part of your house that needs regular inspection. But maintaining it is also the last task you want to deal with. Your garage door will need maintenance regardless of how often you use it throughout the day. Getting your tool kit out and working on it yourself might sound ideal – and sometimes, it is! But tending to the matter without adequate know-how and experience can further damage the door.
If you want to repair and maintain your garage door in top shape, hiring a garage door repair specialist is the right option. With their expertise and knowledge of the tools needed, you can save time and money on repairs. Since you cannot carry out the task, you can also protect yourself from injuries. In the same way, if you have a reliable garage door specialist, the top benefit of scheduled maintenance is that you’ll create a professional relationship with the service provider, who will in the future help you with prompt service.
