Maintaining a Garage Door

You’d be surprised how much use and abuse your garage doors get in a year if you were to more closely pay attention to them. Most homeowners take them for granted and do nothing in terms of maintaining them. Maintaining a garage door periodically is important for ensuring that your garage doors always work properly, and for not becoming a safety hazard to you and your vehicles.  Garage doors have been known to occasionally fall off their tracks or have a spring break.

 In the process, they end up damaging vehicles parked in the garage and occasionally injuring people. Consequently you should inspect your garage doors and do a little maintenance on them twice a year.

Check Garage Door Tracks

Take a close look at the garage door tracks as the first step in performing garage door maintenance. Make sure they are securely bolted to the garage door frame and ceiling. Also make sure the bolts and nuts that hold the sections of the track together are securely tightened.

Over time these bolts and nuts can become loose from all of the mechanical motion that is involved with opening and closing the garage door. When they do, they can cause the garage door to jamb, or even worse, cause the garage door to fall off its tracks.

They can also cause the garage door opener to have to overwork to lift or close the door, which could lead to burning out the garage door opener motor. So if you see any loose track bolts or nuts tighten them with a wrench.

Also, grease or oil the garage door tracks and rollers so that the garage door rollers run smoothly in the tracks. In addition, check the bottom of the tracks to make sure they are not rusted out. If they are then you’ll need to replace the tracks, or at least the lower section of them. Lastly, make sure the tracks are level and parallel with one another. If they are not, then adjust them accordingly. Garage Door Springs Next, examine the garage door springs to make sure they are securely fastened to the garage door and garage door frame.

Make sure that the springs expand and contract smoothly when opening and closing the garage door. Also, disengage the garage door opener, if there is one, and manually open and close the garage door. See if it takes a great deal of effort to open or close the garage door with your hands. If it does, then the springs need to be adjusted. The garage doors should be adjusted such that when the garage door is positioned half way open it remains statically in place.

If it wants to move on its own, in either the up or down position, then the springs need adjusting. Please note, however, that adjusting garage door springs can be very dangerous. Consequently, you should call in a professional garage door installer to adjust the springs.

If the garage door springs are operating correctly, then simply wipe them down with a cloth that has a little motor oil on it. This will help to protect the springs from rusting and ensuring that they move smoothly. Garage Door Torsion Springs and Rollers If you have a garage door with torsion springs and rollers, first make sure that they are securely fastened to the garage door frame and garage door.

Make sure the roller brackets operate smoothly when opening and closing the garage door, and that there are no loose nuts that hold them to the garage doors.

If the rollers are not turning freely when opening and closing the garage door, grease or oil them and the tracks. If the rollers will not turn or are rusted then replace them.

Disconnect the garage door opener if there is one, and manually open the garage door to the half way open position. If it moves up or down when you let go, then the torsion spring needs adjusting. If the torsion spring needs adjustment, then again call in a professional garage door installer to adjust it. Adjusting a torsion spring on your own can be extremely dangerous.

Garage Door Threshold Seal Inspect the garage door threshold seal. Make sure it is not damaged in any way, and that when the garage door is closed it forms a tight seal with the garage floor. If you see any air gaps then either adjust the garage door threshold seal or replace it.

Check the Garage Door Panels

Make sure the garage door panels are not damaged in any way. Also make sure the garage panel hinges open and close smoothly and that the hinge screws are not loose. Tighten any loose screws with a wrench or screwdriver.

To conclude, by performing this simple garage door maintenance checklist twice a year, your garage doors you should operate smoothly and safely all year long.