Your garage door is very important and like any part of the house it should be regularly maintained as well. A properly maintained garage door will not only look good, but help you avoid accidents and mishaps that can harm your car or risk your health (and life) too!. Also in houses that are centrally heated, properly maintained garage doors will seal the heat within and thus help lower your electricity bills.
There are many roles in garage door maintenance; it will vary according to the type of door you possess. If you have an electric door, its maintenance is obviously going to be different from that of a manual garage door. But some things are same for all kinds of garage door and here are some tips on maintaining them.
Maintaining the springs of your garage door
Springs are one of the most important parts of your garage door. For opening and closing the garage smoothly, you have to make sure that this spring is in its best form. Coat it with oil every season. For that allow the oil to drip down and coat the cables. If you are finding it hard to open and close the garage, the springs may be out of alignment or worn out. In such cases it is better to go for professional help rather than doing everything it yourself.
Maintaining other hardware
Besides the springs, there are many hardware elements that make up your garage door, including hinges, roller, and levers. These should be regularly checked every six months. Tighten any loose screws, belts and other such parts before they fall out of adjustment. Other things to look out for are worn out parts.
Maintaining electric garage door
If you have difficulty opening and closing the electric garage door, first and foremost disconnect the garage door opener. Then try to open and close it manually. If that works fine, it means your door is perfect but there is some problem with the opener itself. Get professional help or contact the person you bought it from, provided you have a warranty available.
Maintaining the door chain
Make sure that your garage door chain tension is not sagging more than ½” below the rail. Correct it if its so, otherwise it will hit repetitively against your rail, consequently forcing the drive sprocket to wear prematurely. Tighten it till it rests to about ½” above the base rail but make sure that it is not too tight, otherwise the tension itself will wear the chain out.
Insulate the garage door
In order to reduce your energy expenditure, it is very important that your garage door is properly insulated. Use one of the many garage sealing kits available online for the same. These are simple to use and come with step-by-step instruction guidelines. Tools and adhesives are most of the time included in such insulation kits.
Many times, these minor maintenances can be done by the owner themselves. But if there are some replacements to be implemented, then it is better that you go for professional help. Remember that a single part of your garage door that is installed wrongly can cause serious malfunction. So it is better to let professionals change springs, hinges, rollers, etc. Also use light lubricants to grease your garage door. Heavy oils can cause build-ups so using them for maintaining your garage door is duly discouraged.
