Property owners must know a few things regarding how to take care of their garage doors. Once installed, you find the garage doors working smoothly for a period of time. Some of the very common problems you might come across with your garage doors include stopping the mid-way, getting struck, making noise, door off-track and many others. When you face any one of these problems, you might wonder how you could have avoided it. Garage doors are very large moving parts and they are on continuous use in your establishment or household. Therefore, you cannot neglect the regular maintenance of your garage door. There are a few things you need to do yourself regularly. For a few issues you need to call professionals.
Talking of wooden garage doors, property owners must understand the importance of painting. Often, they neglect the painting of the inside of the door. Painting is not a n aesthetic requirement alone, it gives durability to doors. By regularly painting your wooden garage doors at least once in two years, you can prevent warping and rotting.
Pre-insulated steel garage doors are perhaps the best option for property owners. These kinds of doors have the ability to regulate the temperature inside the garage and in the surrounding rooms. A properly insulated garage door can help you significantly save on your heating or cooling bills. They come with insulated walls: rubber seal on the bottom and vinyl trim around the sides and top. Over and above, steel doors require lesser maintenance and therefore, they are the most popular choice among property owners.
In regular intervals, you need to test your garage door. While the garage door is not connected to the motor, you should be able to pull it easily half way up and half way down and have it stay there. If the door falls down to the floor without staying half way or shoots up very quickly, it is a sure sign that there is a balancing issue. If you are operating it manually, the garage door should not be too heavy to move. While the door is mid-way up, it should hang equally on both the sides.
Property owners need to spray garage door lubricants at least once in six months. While doing this, spray the lubricant only on the moving parts including rollers, hinges, springs, bearing plates, and other moving parts. In case of wooden doors, check the nuts and bolts to see whether they are tight. Beyond lubricants, steel doors might not need any extra maintenance.
There are some common signs that will indicate you of a problem with your garage door including unusual noise, having to press the garage door button more than once to operate, when the door does not move smoothly, when you see the door misaligned and when you are not able to stop it half the way. In any of these cases, the problem could be with the motor, opener or the door itself. When you disconnect the door from the motor and move it yourself, you will know whether the problem is with the door or the motor.
It is advisable you get some professionals to examine your garage doors at least once in two years. The ideal thing is to call the professionals once a year to carry out the maintenance tasks including spring balance, force adjustment, rail lubrication, cable jumps and winter care. Knowing the basics about your garage doors, maintaining them regularly and fixing the issues when they are small will help you have a trouble-free, safe and secure garage door.