Garage Door Maintenance Tips

Few Tips For Garage Door Maintenance

Like all the other things in your home, various components both electrical and mechanical of a garage door need to be maintained regularly to ensure that the door keeps working as desired. Over the years, weather conditions, regular use and friction in the moving parts leads to decreased performance of the door.

Therefore, regular garage door maintenance is necessary to ensure that it keeps working without any issues for a long time to come. However, basic understanding of the working mechanism of the door is necessary to perform timely maintenance.

Needless to say, a garage door is very different from all the other doors in the home. It is important to read the manual that has been supplied with the garage door to understand how various mechanical and electrical components work together. This will help you in understanding the basic working mechanism. Once you have understood the basic workings, you can proceed with general maintenance.

Garage Door Maintenance Tips

You should begin with inspecting various components such as the chain belt, drive belt, metal tracks, door opener, electrical connections, bearings, rollers as well as dents in panels among others. You need to look out for general wear and tear as well as signs of rust on the metal parts. Also, if the tracks are not in alignment, you should straighten them with the help of a carpenter’s scale.

All the moving components need to be properly oiled to ensure smooth operation. It is recommended to use only ideal oil grade as per the recommendations of the manufacturer. It is important that you do not use WD-40 for lubrication as it may damage the components. Also, grease the metal tracks and various other parts such as screws, hinges, rollers and chain among others.

Almost all the modern doors have electronic openers that are programmable. The default settings are set by a professional technician. It is important that you do not change the settings unless you clearly understand the operating instructions of the electronic openers.

If you have been using the door regularly, it is quite likely that there are few dents on the panel. These are dents can be repaired quickly with the help of cotton clothes and a small hammer. Subtle hammer moments with folded clothes on the surface of the panel can quickly repair these.

A ventilation fan inside the garage is necessary for lowering humidity. You may also install an exhaust fan near the window. Some of the homeowners prefer the insulated garage doors for saving on heating/cooling costs.

Accumulation of dust and dirt may lead to rust. A mild household detergent can get rid of rust on aluminum and steel. In extreme cases, you may use sandpaper for removing rust.

Overall, regular maintenance of garage doors can save you a lot of money in the long run. If you ignore maintenance, you will need to spend lot of money to replace some of the components later due to rust or other issues. It is also important to keep in mind that you need to hire the services of a professional for serious repairs to ensure that you do not damage the components and the repair is done in a safe manner.