Preventative Maintenance for Garage Doors

Preventative Maintenance for Garage Doors

If your garage door is in good working order, you may feel there is no need to pay it much attention. However, if you would like to make sure that it remains in excellent condition in the future, it is worth investing a little time in regular maintenance tasks. In this article, you will find some very useful maintenance tips from our garage door repair team, which could save you a lot of time and money. Spend a little time looking after your garage door every month and it will repay you with years of hassle-free service.

How to Take Care of Your Garage Door

There are a number of things you can do to ensure that your garage door remains in good working order for many years:

• Thorough Visual Inspection – Whether you do this once a month at a specific time or just whenever you happen to have a few minutes to spare after parking your car, it is important to run your eyes over your garage door and its opening/closing mechanism every now and then. There’s no need to get the manual out and check every individual component against a diagram: just keep an eye out for anything that looks out of place or that looks as if it is damaged. If you spot any damaged components, feel free to call our Broomfield garage door repair team to request a call out: we cover all of Denver and the surrounding suburbs, and would be delighted to provide you with the help you need.
• Physical Inspection – Every few months, check all bolts and brackets to make sure they are fastened tightly, tightening any that may have worked loose since your last physical inspection. When we carry out a garage door repair in Loveland, Greeley or any other part of our service area, we always perform such an inspection to make sure that we leave the door in perfect working order. You should also check any collar/sprocket set screws and the driver coupler or driver chains/sprockets if you have an automatic garage door, tightening them if necessary.
• Lubricate Moving Parts – As with other mechanical devices, it is good practice to lubricate the moving parts of your garage door on a regular basis. This will ensure that everything works smoothly when the door is being opened and closed, as well as eliminating unnecessary wear and tear on moving components that friction might otherwise cause. Moving parts common to all types of garage doors include the tracks, rollers and springs, all of which should be lubricated on a regular basis.
• Clean the Door Panels Whenever They Look Dirty – Dirty garage door panels will not normally affect the opening/closing mechanism, except in extreme cases, but the finish on the panels may deteriorate if dirt and grime is allowed to accumulate over time. How serious this deterioration is will depend on the material from which your panels are made but keeping them clean will make the rest of your maintenance tasks easier to perform so it is worth looking after them. Whenever we fix a garage door, we always appreciate it if the owner has made an effort to keep it clean.
• Test All Safety Features – Features such as sensors that stop and reverse a closing garage door in the event an obstacle is spotted are of no use unless they are working properly. To make sure that your garage door’s safety features continue to offer you the protection they were designed to offer, test them whenever you carry out your visual inspections. When you are testing the sensors, we recommend using an empty box or something similar: whatever you do, don’t test it by standing under the door while it’s closing! If your door has other safety features, test these at the same time and report any problems to your friendly local garage door repair company.
• Inspect the Seal on the Bottom of the Door – This should really be part of the visual/physical inspections mentioned above but we have included it here as a separate point because it is often neglected, which can have serious consequences. It won’t affect the opening/closing mechanism or be a safety issue but if it is damaged or worn, it could let water into your garage during storms, resulting in damage to the contents.
• Use It Regularly – This is a redundant suggestion for people who park their cars in their garages every day but if you have converted your garage into a living space or use it for general storage and rarely open the door, we recommend testing it every now and then. If you leave it for too long, moving parts could seize and cause problems, especially if you are not following a regular lubrication program as suggested above.

If you follow all of the above suggestions, you are unlikely to need our garage door opener repair service anytime soon but we recommend keeping our number handy in case of emergency. We offer a comprehensive service to domestic and commercial customers in Denver and the surrounding area so whether you are in need of garage door repair in Boulder CO, Denver itself, or somewhere else in the vicinity, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us by phone or by email. We hope you found this guide helpful and please feel free to check out the rest of our blog posts for more information and advice on garage doors.