Garage doors are one of the most overlooked maintenance items in your home, yet we use them every day. Some of us even use your garage door as our main entry way, often coming and going over a dozen times a day! Yet with all of this use, we never think about our garage door until it fails.

This month is Garage Door Safety Month. Our goal is to make sure by the end of this month, our customers are educated to the dangers of their garage door, and how to ensure they’re not affected by them. One of the easiest ways to make sure you and your family are safe, is to follow a simple garage door maintenance plan once a month!

Check out some of our tips for monthly garage door and garage opener maintenance you and your family can follow! And as always, if your garage door does fail, call a professional to take a look at it!

 

  • Lubricate! One of the easiest ways to keep your garage door moving is to make sure you lubricate it monthly. You can pick up a can of garage door lube from your local hardware store for a few bucks that will last you all year! Simply spray the hinges, tracks and springs to ensure your garage door is able to move freely!
  • Check your cables! One of the most common, and dangerous, garage door failures is when a cable breaks! Your door is lifted by two cables, one on each side, and when one of these breaks, it can cause your garage door to go crooked, jam, or fall off track! Visually inspect your cables once a month to ensure they are not fraying in any areas! A fraying cable is a warning sign that you need to call a professional ASAP!
  • Door Balance! The most dangerous failure to your garage door is a broken spring! Repairing a broken spring should NEVER be attempted by a homeowner. Additionally, when a spring does break, your garage door can become ‘dead weight’, causing an unnecessary amount of damage to your garage opener, or worse causing the door to come down hard and fast. Once a month, disconnect your garage door from your garage opener and test the balance of your door. Lift your garage door half way and let go. It should stay. Then lift your garage door all the way up and let go. Again, it should stay where you let go. If your door stays in both positions, it’s balanced and can be reconnected to resume operation. If it doesn’t stay, bring your garage door down to a safe position and call a professional to inspect further!
  • Listen to your door! One of the biggest keys to a failing garage door or garage opener is the sound it makes. Your garage door and opener should operate with minimal noise! Screeching, grinding, creaking, and clunking noises are all bad! A loud garage door is a failing garage door! If your garage door is making odd noises it’s best to call a professional technician to have your garage door system inspected thoroughly!

When a garage door fails, it can cause bodily harm or property damage very easily! Your garage door is the largest moving object in your home! Following these steps will help ensure you and your family stay safe from a failing garage door and will prevent large repair bills, or worse, full garage door replacements!

If you would like to have your garage door inspected by a professional, please contact us today!