You rarely think about your garage door, but it’s easily the heaviest moving object in your home. Used several times any given day, it can be used literally thousands of times a year. That’s a lot of wear and tear. And at several hundred pounds, a neglected garage door adds up to plenty of danger, especially for kids and pets. Your garage door needs some TLC, just like all the other potentially-catastrophic things in your house, like your water heater or furnace.
Having your garage door inspected by a local exterior door installer at least once a year should be on every homeowner’s to-do list, right up there with cleaning out the gutters and testing the sewage system. It will help spot any issue requiring garage door repair before it’s a safety concern. But homeowners shouldn’t stop there; performing a short inspection of your door on a Saturday afternoon seasonally can go a long way in reducing garage door parts, repair and replacement costs. And it doesn’t take much time, especially since you’ll know what you’re looking for.
Here are 4 tests you should perform on your garage door seasonally so you can either tune up the door yourself or call in a pro to nip the problem in the bud:
Force Setting Test
You can test the force of your garage door by holding onto the bottom of the door as it closes. If it doesn’t easily reverse, you may have excessive force that could use a little adjustment. This is a quick and easy fix, but it’s still best left to a garage door technician; they can be in and out in no time.
Balance Test
A door that’s off-balance is more likely to come off track, as well as put unbalanced wear and tear on other door parts, like the rollers, tracks and springs. If, when the door is lowered, one end is higher than the other, you’re going to need to have the cables adjusted and tracks realigned.
Limits Test
Has your garage door stopped opening all the way, or you can hear the opener running even after the overhead door is fully raised? The opener’s limits need reset. This is something that’s safe to fix yourself, but it’s also another super-quick, low-cost service call if you want to guarantee it’s done well.
Visual Test
Take a seasonal look at your springs, cables, rollers, pulleys and other hardware for signs of damage or wear. If you see anything amiss, have a professional take a look. Periodically test the bottom of the door. Raise it up and see if one side of the door leans towards one side. If it does, you might need a professional to help balance it. It could also by a symptom of another problem like weakened springs or a loose track. A garage door specialist will be able to diagnose and fix the issue in no time.
Regular Maintenance
The real key to minimizing service visits and associated costs with broken garage doors is to add a regular maintenance routine into your regular inspection routine. And it’s just a few simple tasks.
- Gently clean the tracks, rollers, photo eyes, and springs of gunk and debris. A damp washcloth with water and vinegar will do the job. Be very careful and gentle with the springs; a little dry wire brushing usually does the trick.
- Remove surface rust from any garage door parts.
- Inspect all the hardware on the garage door and its infrastructure. If you see stripping and corrosion, remove these parts, repair and fill any damage they left, and replace with new hardware.
- Replace any worn rollers; nylon is recommended.
- Lubricate all the moving parts of the door – hinges, rollers, springs, pulleys. But note: make sure to use a lithium-based lubricant specifically for garage doors. WD-40 can actually be corrosive to garage door parts and hardware. Another note: never lubricate the tracks; it will just attract more gunk and debris, making it harder for the garage door opener to pull the door open and push it down.
If you take care of your garage door and its opener, it’ll last decades, and it will stay looking and functioning just like new, which saves you money and inconvenience in the long run.