The best times of year to do your routine garage door inspection are when a season change is coming on. Every season poses different challenges for your garage door – harsh UV rays in the summer, rain and hail in the winter. And unfortunately, here at home, wildfire season, too. 

Whether you’re made late for work or can’t escape your garage during a wildfire evac, a broken garage door is always a bad thing. Paying a little attention to your door goes a long way in preventing repairs, mitigating danger, and increasing its lifespan. And it doesn’t take much time or virtually any tools, so it’s convenient to do yourself, but also really affordable to have us deal with the inconvenience for you.

Preventing Damage with Regular Garage Door Checks & Maintenance

Ignoring the signs your garage door needs help is a bad idea for several reasons:

1. Home security. A weak, rusty or bent garage door leaves your home susceptible to break-ins.
2. Personal safety. A dilapidated garage door can fail at any time and injure people or property.
3. Energy costs. If your garage door is off track or otherwise unsealed, you’re certain to spend more energy on climate control.
4. Home health. Leaving corners and hinges to rust or the garage frame to rot creates the space bugs, mice and other unwelcome creatures need to get inside your garage. Not to mention that debris buildup leads to mold issues and provide moist environments for new bugs to nest and reproduce.

And like we said – performing this garage door repair task on your own is easy and can often be done in less than a half hour. Here’s our best advice for keeping your garage door in ship shape:

1) Start by visually inspecting your door for any signs of damage. Check for rust and corrosion on the panels, rails, torsion springs, and any other metal parts. Inspect your cables for signs of fraying. If you encounter one of the following, you’re job’s already done – you should stop using your garage door immediately and give us a call right away:

• There’s a visible deformity or break in the spring.
• A cable is visibly frayed or broken.
• The garage door track has a visible break or severe bend.
• The garage door has jumped its tracks.
• A panel hinge/s is so corroded it’s no longer supporting the panel.

The reason these situations aren’t a DIY repair are because they’re kind of dangerous. And they also require experience in calibrating the operation and balance of a garage door. It’s not only easier to have us do these repairs, it’s safer, and saves you risk.

2) Use a cleaning solution to remove any rust you find. Avoid harsh cleaners and opt instead for a weak soapwater mix and a microfiber cloth. Surface rust can be removed easily, sometimes with some gentle help from a wire brush. However, you should consider replacing parts that are badly rusted before they fail on their own. 

3) Wipe down the tracks, being sure to remove any buildup of grime.

4) Lightly lubricate moving metal parts on the door. Avoid using WD-40 as this will actually strip lubrication. Stick with a silicone spray or white lithium grease. You should lightly lubricate the rollers, but never the tracks – stick to cleaning only when it comes to those. If you lubricate the garage door’s tracks it will cause them to gunk up with dirt and debris that will interfere with the operation of the door.

5) Once you’ve finished inspecting, cleaning, and lubricating, you may need to retighten nuts and bolts on the door. Replace any that are stripping or rusting. If you notice corrosion extends to the door panel underneath, assess the damage.

If you’re in the Sacramento area, give us a call. We offer appointments, regular seasonal tune-ups and inspections that keep your door in great shape. Or if it’s time for a new garage door – we can help with that, too! You can even design a custom garage door virtually.