Maintaining Your Garage Door During COVID 19

Garage door repair is often neglected but regular inspection and repair should be part of your twice a year routine. Disabled garage doors can put a lot of pressure on an automatic garage door opener and saving an hour or two each year in early spring and late fall will save you from a costly bill for repairs.

1 – Observe the Door

Watch the door and listen. A well-kept, well-tuned garage door, as it goes up and down, is relatively quiet, so you will not see jerkiness in its motion. Test the rods, pulleys, and cables at all sides of the system and make sure they look symmetrical.

 2 – Clean the Tracks

Check the tracks on both sides of the door to make sure they are safe from rust and debris. You may also use a level to ensure the tracks along its vertical sections are perfectly aligned. You can make small changes yourself, but a skilled technician faces a challenge with major changes to the line.

3 – Tighten The Hardware

As the standard garage door goes up and down several hundred times a year, the door and hardware would be loosened from the movement and vibration. Test the brackets connecting the door paths to the wall and ceiling, and the fasteners linking the opener unit to the garage door frame. To tie up any loose bolts you find, use a socket wrench.

4 – Inspect The Rollers

The rollers should be checked at least twice a year around the edge of the garage door, and replaced every 5 to 7 years. Patch any rollers you find are chipped, scratched or damaged during your inspection. You can remove most of the rollers by simply removing the brackets that hold them at the entrance.

5 – Check the Cables and Pulleys

Inspect the lift cables and pulleys attached to the ramp's lower roller brackets. These provide the link between the springs and the entrance to ensure safe elevation and lowering of doors. Garage doors have one of two distinct spring types. Extension springs are long, slender springs which run across each doorway's horizontal part. Over the door, the torsion springs are mounted opening onto a chain. All forms employ port cables to lift.

6 – Lubricate The Moving Parts

Keeping well lubricated rollers and other moveable parts can reduce stress on rollers and door openers and improve their useful life. Apply the rollers with a high-quality spray lubricant and hinge twice a year, such as white lithium grease, and clean any excess. If any rollers tend to be stuck, spray them with a penetrating solution, such as WD-40, wipe them clean and apply grease.

7 – Clean and Paint the Door

Check the door itself, and therefore account for the other bits. If the door is rusty, look for spots of rust that need sanding, polishing and painting. Beware of wooden doors is common as warping and water damage. The chipped paint is stripped and cleaned, then sanded and repainted. If you have a wooden door with no weather stripping, make sure that the bottom edge is well sealed or painted. The fiberglass frames can be washed with an all-purpose cleaner.

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