We often don’t pay much attention to our garage doors until we need to. By then, it’s often too late. Repairs and spring maintenance can be expensive. Letting your garage door fall into disrepair can leave you in an awkward position.
It doesn’t take much time or effort to make sure your garage door is in great working order. It gets a great workout and not keeping it in good shape puts a lot of stress on it.
Spring Garage Door Maintenance Tips
Having your garage door inspected will prevent it from getting too much damage.
Look and Listen
Operate your door while you watch it in action and listen for any strange noises. The door should move smoothly up and down and you shouldn’t hear any grinding or scraping noises. Check from both sides.
Oil The Moving Parts
Make sure you keep the rollers, hinges, and other moving parts well lubricated. This will lessen the stress on the door and door opener. Use a high-quality spray lubricant on the rollers and hinges. Clean off any excess.
If any rollers or hinges are seized up, try a penetrating solution and when they are free, apply lithium grease. Also, lubricate the spring system. This includes the pulleys on extension-spring setups and the bearings on torsion-spring setups. If your garage door opener has a screw or chain, lubricate these as well. Don’t use a lubricant on a belt-drive opener.
Test The Door Balance
To extend the life and use of your garage door and garage door opener, regularly inspect the balance. If it is not properly balanced, the garage door opener will have to work harder.
Pull the release handle on the garage door opener so it is in manual mode. Then open the door halfway and see if it stays in place. If the door begins to fall or go up, it’s not balanced or the springs are beginning to wear out. Call us for that.
Tighten The Hardware
The constant motion of the door every day adds up hundreds of times each year. This can loosen up the hardware needed to operate the door and track. Check the brackets that hold the door tracks to the wall and ceiling.
Also, look at the fasteners holding the garage door opener unit to the framing. Use a socket wrench to tighten up any loose bolts that need it.
Clear the Tracks
Take a close look at the tracks on both sides of the door to make sure there is nothing in them or any rust. If they seem uneven, check them with a level. You can make small adjustments yourself, but track adjustments are a job for us.
Check the Cables and Pulleys
Check the lift cables and pulleys that are attached to the bottom roller brackets on the door. Your garage door has either extension springs or torsion springs.
Extension springs are long, skinny springs that run alongside the overhead part of each door track. Torsion springs are mounted to a metal rod above the door opening. Both types use cables to lift the door.
Ideally, you shouldn’t touch your springs, as they can cause severe injuries. You are better off calling us to come in and inspect them for you and do spring maintenance. We can inspect your garage door, make any repairs you may need, or fit you out with a new one.
Whether you just need a few minor repairs or it is an emergency situation, Team Tayor can help. As soon as you notice anything out of the ordinary, do not delay in calling us for garage door repair.
