Handy Tips To Keep Up With Your Garage Door Maintenance

Garage doors are important things because they keep your property safe. And since they are the largest moving part in your entire house, they require care, attention, and maintenance. Regular maintenance of the garage door can save you from spending large sums of money on repairs, increase the shelf life of your door, and decrease any risks to your land and property.

On top of all, it gives you mental peace and satisfaction that everything is working well. If you plan to buy a garage door opener, we recommend that you read the review from devices4home.com. In this article, we will give some tips on how to keep the garage door opener so that it works for a long time.

Inspect the door

First of all, you have to observe and inspect your door. Move it a few times, both slowly and fastly. Is it moving smoothly, or do you feel any jerks? Do you hear any screeching sound while you do that? Check on the entire surface of the door for any cracks, scratches, or any kind of damage. Also, check the system of your garage door, that is, the springs, pulleys, and cables to make sure that they are symmetrical.

Tighten the hardware

Your garage door moves a lot of times each day and thousands of times in the span of a few months. This much movement and vibration loosen down the nuts, bolts, and other hardware of these doors. Therefore, you must inspect them and tighten all these bolts and roller brackets with a socket wrench.

Test the balance of the door

A disoriented garage door will be poorly balanced. This will make it hard for the garage door opener to work on the door, thus affecting its performance and shelf life. To check the balance of your door, pull the release handle using a red cord to disconnect the opener. Next, manually move the door till halfway and check if it stays put. If it doesn’t, it means you must immediately contact some professional and get your door repaired.

Inspect cables and pulleys

Check the cables and the pulleys that connect to the bottom roller bracket of the garage door. A garage door functions with the help of two kinds of cables – extension springs that are long thin springs running along the horizontal part of the door and torsion springs that are placed on metal rods above the garage door opening. Both of these cables are high-tension parts, and therefore, you must make sure that there are no breaks, wears, or tears on these cables. If you find any such damages, you must contact the professionals.

Replace rollers

Rollers are present on the side edges of the garage door. You must inspect them at least twice a year and replace those that you find chipped, cracked, or worn. Also, it is advisable that you replace all the rollers in your door every five to seven years. You can easily replace the rollers by removing the brackets that hold them to the garage door.

Lubricate the parts in motion

Spay a high-quality lubricant on all the moving parts of your door at least twice a year. This helps to reduce stress on the rollers and prolong their lives. You can use some white lithium grease on the rollers and hinges and wipe off any excess. If you find any rollers blocked, then you can use a penetration solution like WD-40 to get it back into action. Also, grease the pulleys and bearings on the torsion-spring opener.

Test auto-reverse system

Automatic garage doors have an auto-reverse feature that performs the function of stopping and reversing the direction of the door just as it detects an object in its path. You can test the functioning of the auto-reverse system by placing a scrap board on the ground in the door’s path. Let the door come down and hit the board. If in good condition, the door will reverse back just as it hits the board. If not, you will have to contact professionals to get your door repaired.

Clear the ground

Make sure that the ground under your garage door is free from any debris and is flat and leveled. You can use a level to ensure that yourself. If you find any inconsistencies, you can try contacting professionals to get the tracks leveled.

Groom

Your garage door contributes towards a significant portion of the exterior of your home. Therefore, it becomes essential for you to maintain it for its appearance. If you have a wooden garage door, check it for any water damage and get weather-stripping done as soon as possible.

You can use an all-purpose cleaner to clean your fiberglass garage door. And if your door is made up of steel, check for any rust spots that you can repair by sanding and repainting them.