Your garage door is the largest moving part on your home, and if you’re like most people – yours is used multiple times a day. Garage door maintenance will keep your garage door operating smoothly. Preventative maintenance is something all home owners can do.
Here’s our list of the Top 10 Garage Door Maintenance things you can do to keep your garage door functioning properly:
1. Observation
The first step is to observe your garage door while it is operating. Is it jerking, popping or grinding? If you feel like some days you’d be safer walking out of the front door than under that future safety hazard, its a good sign your garage door may be in need of a tune-up.
2. Tighten All Loose Nuts, Bolts and Screws
Over time through the constant vibration caused by operating your garage door, the hardware on your door will start to shake loose. Loose hardware will cause jerkiness and inevitably – a non functioning garage door. Safety tighten all of your loose bolts and brackets.
3. Lubricate
Lubrication reduces friction, which reduces wear and tear. This takes place over time to your garage door hardware. We always recommend using a silicone based garage door lubricant and lubricating all of the moving hardware on your garage door once or twice a year. Examples of this are your rollers, garage door springs, hinges, pulleys, cable loops and bearing plates. This simple 5 minute process will dramatically extend the life of your garage door.
4. Inspect your Cables
We never recommend attempting to replace your garage door cables. They are under extreme tension and physically lift your garage door. There is enough force there to kill and it should always be handled by a professional. However, you can examine them for rust or fraying. Those examples are good indicators its time to have them replaced.
5. Garage Door Balance Test
A properly balanced garage door is like a business partner to your garage door opener. When your garage door isn’t lifting the right amount of weight, your garage door opener will have to work harder and won’t last as long.
Pull the emergency (while the garage door is closed) and manually lift the garage door halfway open. If your door doesn’t stay up, your spring system is imbalanced and should be serviced or replaced by a Service Professional.
6. Inspect and Replace Garage Door Rollers
Just like the tires on your car, your garage door rollers should be inspected a routinely replaced when worn down. After the ball bearings wear down, or the wheels crack, your roller won’t roll properly. This affects how well your garage door functions. Rollers are replaced by removing and reinstalling any roller brackets that are not directed attached to the cables.
7. Clear Debris
Most garages become storage and collect leaves and dirt. Don’t be embarrassed if you fall into this category. However, if your junk is binding up your garage door, you will be embarrassed when your local service professional comes to save the day and finds one of your golf clubs stuck in the track keeping your garage door from closing. Make sure the track is clear of debris and miscellaneous objects.
8. Replace Weatherstripping
Over time mice, weather and sometimes the back end of a car will damage your garage door weatherstripping. This keeps the elements out of your garage which helps maintain the proper functionality of your hardware. If you notice any chipping, cracks or gaps – its a good sign that its time to stop by your local hardware store or call a professional to replace it.
9. Reinforce or Replace
Sometimes in while in a rush, customers will run into their garage doors thinking they have fully opened. While this is a common issue these days, you should have whichever panels are damaged replaced or reinforced. Continuing to function your garage door with binding or misaligned panels will eventually cause issues elsewhere.
10. Keep it Clean
Just like your kitchen, a clean garage door keeps everyone happy. Keeping it clean keeps hardware from rusting and collecting build up. This can make replacing parts more difficult. This simple step will save you time and money when a technician comes out and has to spend extra time filing corrosion off of prime components.
Not to mention, your garage door makes up a large portion of the exterior of your home. Keep it clean and I promise your neighbors will have less to complain about.
