Maintaining your garage door is a great way to keep your door in good working condition. We recommend you perform regular maintenance checks on your system. If you haven’t had a professional tune-up in over a year, now is a good time to get that scheduled. In between the professional visits, here are preventative maintenance tips you can use:
1. Tighten Loose Bolts
When the door operates, it can loosen up bolts, nuts, and other hardware parts. You will need to go around and tighten up all of these parts from time to time. If you let the nuts and bolts become too loose, they will end up falling out and causing issues with the door.
2. Check The Balance
Just like tires that need to be balanced, so does your door. If it is not properly balanced, then there will be a greater strain on the opener. Eventually, it will lead to other problems on the garage door, such as worn rollers and bent tracks.
To test the balance, you will need to release the emergency pull cord. This will disconnect the door from the garage door opener. After it is disconnected, then raise the door halfway. If it doesn’t stay in place, then the balance is off in the springs.
*only a professional should work on garage door springs
3. Add Lubrication to Mechanical Parts
Lubrication needs to be added to the tracks in order to keep the rollers working properly. Also, you need to add lubrication to the opener’s screw or chain. Use a spray lubricant like WD-40. If you are not able to do this yourself, our team can come out and do a Tune-n-Lube service for you.
4. Check The Safety Eye Sensors
Safety sensors are located at the bottom of the doorway where your garage door opens and closes. These sensors are on either side of the doorway to send a signal across the pathway. If something breaks the line, it will cause the door to reverse. This will keep you and your family safe.
To test the reversal function, you need to place your trash can or some other item in the way of the sensors. Close the door and see what happens. It should stop moving halfway closed and then reverse. If it doesn’t, stop the door before it hits the trash can. You will know that the sensors need to be changed.
5. Clean the Tracks
The garage door tracks should be free of dirt and debris. You can use a blower to blow off the tracks. Or, you can use a stiff brush to get rid of the leaves, dirt, or anything that is in the way.
After you clean the tracks, you will want to add lubrication. You will end up getting rid of the necessary lubrication the door needs to function properly.
Call Us For General Maintenance
If you need a professional to come out and handle your maintenance needs, be sure to give us a call. Our team is here to help you with all of your garage door repair and installation needs. We can also handle your general maintenance requests as well.
We look forward to hearing from you.
