Overlooked, neglected, and forgotten, but the garage door keeps serving you until it can’t.
The garage door is often overlooked in the building and it’s strange because it is used more than once a day. A lot of people just assume once they’ve set their garage doors then it is final.
Well, you’ll be in for a rude surprise when the door that keeps serving you just wouldn’t work anymore. It wouldn’t care if you have to go to work that morning or have to take the kids to school.
Objects with moving parts need to be serviced even more so for a door that serves you diligently.
How Often Should Your Garage Door Be Serviced?
Experts in Santa Clarita garage door repairs advise servicing a perfectly working garage door at least once a year. For older doors or doors with issues, servicing at least twice a year is advised.
This should keep your door from breaking down and leaving you stranded or locked out.
It would be ideal to fix your servicing around the winter when there’ll be a sharp change in temperature and during spring when the temperature changes again.
Even though you’re servicing your garage door yearly, there are things you can be doing monthly to keep your door in top shape and make your yearly servicing faster.
Things to Check
Doing these things will allow you to enjoy your garage door for years without it breaking down, you can easily do these things at the end of every month as they would take a lot of time to complete.
Lubricate All Moving Parts
Use the recommended lubricants to keep the metallic moving parts like the rollers, springs, and hinges going smoothly and reduce the wear and tear caused by friction on those parts. Make use of non-greasy, non-silicone garage door lubricant.
Balance the Door
Disconnect the opener by pulling the red lever. Raise the door halfway and let it go. If it continues to move up or down on its own, it means the torsion spring needs adjustments.
This would be more common during the winter as the cold temperatures tend to break springs.
It is advised to seek the help of professionals as the spring packs a lot of tension that can be dangerous for people without experience of handling these strings.
Check the Door’s Rollers and Hinges
Continuous use of your garage door will loosen bolts and nuts and can cause accidents. Make sure to fasten all bolts and nuts. You want to also carefully check the hinges and rollers as they tend to break after a while.
Tightening bolts and nuts and replacing worn-out hinges and rollers can easily be done without the need for a professional.
Check the Bottom Seal and Weather Seal
The bottom seal and weather seal ensure when you close your door light and air cannot enter from outside. It seals the door. But after using the door for a while, the elements, animals, or even kids may damage the seal.
You may begin to see light rays coming in from under the door after closing it. This may be a sign that the bottom seal and weather seal need changing.
Check the Garage Door Window Glass
Not all garage doors have windows but if yours has a window, you need to constantly check the window glass for cracks.
A cracked window should be replaced immediately to avoid accidents involving broken glass.
Grease All Nylon Parts
We talked about lubricating metallic moving parts but other non-metallic moving parts also need lubrication. The gears and rails most especially need grease to function properly.
Use screws to open the motor and apply grease on all moving nylon parts. This is especially important during the winter as the drive gears can strip easily.
Lastly
Your garage door will serve you for a long time if you service it at least once yearly and twice yearly for older doors or doors already developing issues.
Doing the monthly check-up yourself will further prolong the life of your garage door and save you a lot of money you would have otherwise spent on repairs and changing of parts.
