Preventive Maintenance Tips for a Long-Lasting Garage Door

Garage door is an essential aspect of any home since it ascertains security, ease, and appearance of the home.

Still, as with any other mechanical device, it needs to be properly maintained in order to work flawlessly and serve for quite a long time.

Performing periodic checkups is important to avoid incurring high expenses that may be needed to fix a complicated garage door issue or replace some of its components which are of assistance in the daily operations in the garage.

Below are some important guidelines that you need to adhere to if you want your garage door to be in good working condition.

1. Inspect the Door Regularly

This entails checking the assets at regular intervals in a bid to take care of any defects that may have occurred.

It is recommended that a homeowner should spend some time in every few months to perform a simple examination on the garage door for possible damages.

There should be no sign of visible crack, rust formation or dent on the door panels.

Also, one must take their time to ensure that the door is sliding up and down the tracks properly without Any form of deviation.

Having found a number of potential ways how a door can be dangerous and how it can be hazardous to use, you should also know that when your door is not smooth, that is when it squeaks as you open or close it or it shakes and moves in jerks, then it tells you that your door is due for repairs or maybe you need the services of a professional to come and have a look at the issue.

2. Keep the Tracks Clean and Aligned

It is imperative to point out that the tracks that help your garage door to operate smoothly are very important.

Regularly, residues such as dust and dirt and other small items collect and set at the tracks of the door making the door pull off the track or even get jammed.

It is also worth ourselves taking care of regular cleaning of the tracks with a damp cloth in order to remove all of the depicted debris.

You can as well use a level to make sure that tracks are parallel to the road as they should be.

If the tracks are not in the right position then it is advisable to call for a mechanic as this might lead to a lot of damages.

3. Lubricate Moving Parts

Lubrication is considered to be one of the most straightforward yet efficient ways of maintaining garage doors.

The components that actually move, that include hinges, rollers, springs and tracks all must be greased to avoid friction and stress.

Choose a ‘heavy-duty’ garage door lubricant and make sure that all the moving parts are lubricated at least twice a year.

Do not apply grease as this substance tends to attract dirt and grime intruding with the free movement of the door.

A garage door full of lubrication will run smoothly so that it does not create much noise, nor cause anything wrong to happen mechanically.

4. Test the Balance of the Door

This means that each section of the garage door should be proportionate in size with the other in order to allow easy operation as well as operation which won’t harm any individual.

An unbalanced door implies that some parts of the door will be subjected to extra load and as such they will wear out the opener and other parts faster.

One way of testing the balance is to pull the switch of the automatic opener and then by pulling the door halfway up.

But if it remains static then the door is well balanced.

In this case it means that the springs of the door might require some bending to either lower or lift them up.

Never attempt to perform spring adjustments on your own because the pressure in these components is lethal.

5. Check and Replace the Weather Stripping

A close look at the sides of the garage door will reveal the weather stripping that keeps dust, water as well as pests out of the garage.

In the course of time, the weather stripping could become cracked or worn such that they are not as efficient as when newly installed.

Check the weather stripping once a year and if they are in bad condition replace them.

Replacing them with new ones can enhance the garage insulation and energy conservation since it foes not allow for creation of drafts in the garage.

6. Tighten Loose Hardware

Daily use can also stress the structure of the system and vibrate screws, bolts, and other clinginging hardware.

You should also look at the brackets, hinges, and rollers, among other parts of the garage door, to confirm that they are well secured as they are parts that can come out at times.

Holding the hardware loosely is not a big issue that one will regret to solve later when other issues like misalignment or additional wear and tear on moving parts will arise.

7. Test the Auto-Reverse Safety Feature

Most of modern garage doors have an auto reverse function that will stop the door from closing if it finds an object in its way.

This is a very important safety feature, particularly in homes that have children /or pets. To have fun testing the auto-reverse, one has to place an object like a wooden block in the door’s closing path.

In the event the door does not stop or reverse as soon as it comes into contact with the object, it is advisable to seek assistance of an expert to work on the sensors.

8. Replace Worn-Out Rollers

Garage rollers are very crucial parts of the door because they enable its easy running along the tracks.

As time passes by, they can break down or get ravaged by different forms of abuse.

Carry out a check on the rollers at least twice in a year and determine whether they are worn out or damaged.

It is, therefore advisable to replace them if they develop cracks or are worn out than they should be.

As compared to metal ones, nylon rollers are generally longer lasting, then again the rollers now and then should be replaced so as to ensure the efficiency of the garage door.

9. Inspect and Test the Garage Door Opener

The garage door opener is the main component which creates the functionality of the entire system.

Check whether there is any major issue with the opener by listening to some of the noises it may be producing or checking whether, it may be rusty in its operation.

Check the performance of all remote controls and switch in the walls to confirm if they are in the right working status.

For instance, replacing the batteries in your remote controls can be done annually so that you do not experience a sudden breakdown of the said controls.

If you find anything strange or wrong with the opener’s performance then it is advisable to call a professional to inspect or fix the opener further.

10. Schedule Professional Inspections

Most of the garage door maintenance activities can be handled by the homeowner, however, it advisable to hire a professional who will carry out thorough inspection of the door at least once every year.

An experienced professional can discover possible problems that started to develop and might fixate on them before turning into severe complications; Also, there are procedures that need a technician’s tools and skills, for example, tightening the springs or buying new parts.

Conclusion

A routine check on your garage door is very important if one wants to make sure that they have a door that shall serve them for a long time.

Basically, simple little measures as mentioned above go a long way in ensuring that you do not incur unnecessary charges of repairing your garage door as long as it will last longer.

Some basic activities you can perform at home as part of its maintenance is cleaning the tracks, greasing some moving parts and even calling professional technicians to inspect your garage door.