Properly Maintaining Your Garage Door
The garage door is one of the most used parts of your home. Between repairs and upgrades, keeping your garage door in the best condition is essential. This will help with its overall longevity and ensure it doesn’t break down during an emergency. In this post, we’ll outline different ways of maintaining your garage door so that you can avoid any future issues!
Clean the Tracks
- You’ll want to clean the tracks for your garage door to roll smoothly. These can be cleaned with chemicals or with a vacuum cleaner attachment. You can also use a toothbrush or steam cleaner to eliminate debris that builds up over time.
Maintaining Means Lubricate the Tracks
- You can use a garage door lubricant to keep your door working smoothly and quietly. Lubricate the tracks with a rag and spray lubricant once every few months, or apply an oil can to ensure your garage door doesn’t squeak. If you’ve got an older garage door style, you should consider using a brush for more thorough cleaning and maintenance.
Check the Springs
If your garage door is older than 15 years, it’s time to check the springs. Your garage door spring can break and cause injury if it isn’t properly maintained. To check if your springs are damaged, look for the following:
- Rust on the springs
- Bent or cracked guide rails
- Spiders or mice nest between the track and the opener brackets
If you see any of these things, it’s time to call a professional!
Check for Loose Hardware or Bolts.
You should also check the garage door opener, which is the device that detects when your garage door is open and closed it. Finally, the springs are what help keep the garage door raised. You should check these as well. If any of these parts are loose, they’ll need to be tightened or replaced before you can continue using your garage door safely.
Next, look at all the hardware and bolts on your garage door to ensure none have become loose over time. This includes things like hinges, strike plates (these hold up the actual hinge), pulleys and springs inside of brackets (pulleys help lift/lower a section), cables that run from one side to another for an entire section to move correctly (called torsion springs), rollers attached near each end so wheels may glide smoothly across tracks when opening/closing. These are just some examples, but other components may depend on your specific model’s design!
Replace Broken Rollers
When you’ve got a broken roller, spring, or track, it’s time to replace the item. A professional should also change hinges and cables if they are damaged.
The cost of replacing these parts can vary depending on where you live and what company you use for the job.
Regularly Maintaining your Garage Door Will Prolong its Life.
- Cleaning the tracks-the tracks that guide you should clean your door regularly to remove the built-up dirt or dust. You can do this with a soft brush, and if you have a garage door opener, use it to get into hard-to-reach spots.
- Lubricating the tracks, if you have an automatic garage door opener, it’s also a good idea to lubricate the tracks every few months so that they move more quickly and quietly when you open them up manually when operating electronically.
- You should check the springs for wear and tear. Springs hold up your garage door and keep it balanced during opening and closing, so make sure all four of them are in optimal condition by checking for signs of wear or damage (such as corrosion), which could indicate that they need replacing soon.
Conclusion for Maintaining your Garage Door
It would be best if you keep your garage door in good condition. It’s crucial to perform these maintenance tasks regularly. For example, periodically lubricating the tracks can help prevent rust and corrosion that might otherwise damage them. Similarly, checking springs will ensure they don’t break when opened or closed too quickly—this is especially important if they are used frequently (like on a commercial site). Finally, replacing broken rollers helps ensure smooth operation while extending the life of other parts, such as springs, if they were damaged by rough treatment during use! Or, if you’re short on time and want some assistance, contact us at Straight Up Garage Doors to take care of that for you!
