How to maintain a garage door?
Your garage door is the largest and heaviest moving object in your home. You should maintenance your garage door at least once a year to prolong the life of the moving parts. In addition to having a professional garage door technician maintain your garage door once a year, there are some added tips you can do as a homeowner to make sure your garage door stays in top working condition.
Lubricate!
Your garage door system is heavy, it’s big, and it moves a lot. You need to properly lubricate your garage frequently. While we recommend a professional garage door maintenance once a year, we advise homeowners to lubricate their garage door every 3 months. Using a proper garage door lube, spray your hinges and springs thoroughly. It only takes a few minutes and it will have a dramatic impact on the life of your garage door parts!
Door Balance
When you lubricate your garage door you should also check the balance of your garage door. Your garage door springs lift your door, making a heavy door easy to move. Like any other parts, with time, your garage springs begin to weaken and eventually will break. Once this happens, your garage door will no longer function correctly and can cause damage to persons or vehicles. Make sure your garage door is balanced by bringing the garage door down with your opener and then disengaging your door from the automatic operator. Now you can lift the door by hand and a properly balanced garage door should stay at the halfway point and all the way open without your assistance or drifting back down. If your garage door isn’t balanced, call a professional garage door company for assistance! Do not attempt to work on your garage door springs on your own!
Look!
Visually inspect your door while you are lubricating the hinges and springs. Are the cables fraying? Are the rollers bent, broken, or wobbly? Do you have any cracked hinges or panels? These are some of the common signs of an aging garage door system. That doesn’t mean you need a whole new garage door! Most of the time we can replace these aging parts and make your current garage door as good, if not better, than new!
Remember to follow these steps every 3 months with your garage door and call a professional garage door technician once a year for an in-depth garage door maintenance and tune-up!