From homeowners to business owners keeping your garage door maintained is a key feature to increasing its lifespan; it also reduces the amount of maintenance required, keeping costs down. Typically, commercial garage doors are larger than residential garage doors but the theory of their operation is the same, therefore these maintenance tips can work for both applications.
In our professional opinion a garage door should be inspected at least twice per year. Here are 5 Garage Door Maintenance tips:
Test Operation
The first thing that should be done when starting the inspection of your garage door is testing the operation with the motor disengaged. Running the door manually will allow you to feel the balance of the door and make sure that it is not rubbing, getting caught on anything or jamming. If the door is not operating smoothly we recommend calling a garage door professional to do a further assessment.
Examine Hardware
A key feature to how a garage door operates is the hardware. It is important that all hardware is in operating order and not damaged. Inspect all the rollers to make sure bearings are not worn out, inspect hinges to make sure they are not cracked, visually inspect torsion springs to ensure they are not broken and visually inspect the side cables to make sure they are not rusted, broken or fraying. You can also tighten any loose screws.
Inspect Weather seal
Inspect the perimeter weather seal around the door jambs and bottom weather seal on the bottom panel. At this stage you are looking to make sure the weather seal is all intact and not cracking or ripped.
Lubricate
After inspecting the door it is crucial to lubricate all applicable parts to increase life span and smooth operation. Lubricate the garage door torsion spring, rollers, bearings and chains.
Cleaning
Since we live in Canada, our garage doors take some extra abuse when compared to warmer regions. Through the winter they are bombarded with snow and salt which can reduce the lifestyle of the panel- therefore you can clean dirty, salt and snow off your garage door panels to reduce corrosion and rust.
Please note: if you are not comfortable inspecting your garage door, call a professional. Garage doors have many moving and tensioned parts that can result in serious injury.
Call us at 1 (866) 341-3253 or contact us online for garage door installations or free on site consultation for your residential garage door, commercial overhead garage door, security shutters or roll up doors