Neighborhood Garage Door Services of Charlotte, North Carolina wants you to remember when winterizing your home that there is one thing that should not be overlooked, that is your garage door. It’s very important to winterize your garage door as a part of helping to extend the garage door’s lifespan. It can also extend the amount of time you have before needing to replace the door all together.
Protecting Your Door At All Times During A Winter Storm
There are three stages to making sure that you protect your garage door from the cold winter months and the snow and ice as well. We want to help you make sure that your garage door is winter ready so here are a few steps you will want to take before, during and after any storm.
Providing routine maintenance to your overhead door is very important to keeping the mechanics of the system running smoothly and properly, especially so with an impending snow or ice storm expectation.
Before
- Lubricate all the moving parts. During the cold winter months the moving parts can stall which causes them not to work right which can spell trouble down the road. Lubricating the rollers, tracks, and springs ahead of time will help the door to continue to run smoothly during the cold and rough winter months.
- Place sand or salt around the door area. Spreading sand or salt in the driveway will help the ice to melt, therefore will keep you from sliding and possibly causing you to collide with the garage if the drive is very slick with ice. Putting sand or salt around by the garage door on the inside as well as outside can help to prevent the garage door from freezing to the ground or the floor.
- Get out all winter tools needed like shovels, snow blowers and sand or salt. Garages serve multiple purposes, they store cars and other vehicles as well as being used for storage of tools and equipment such as mowers and shovels along with products like salt and sand. If you know ahead of time that a winter storm is approaching then go ahead and get your winter tools out and ready. This will allow you to clear up the snow and such from the door quickly without having to open the garage up during the storm.
During
- Try to shovel while it is still snowing. The weight of the snow and/or ice piled up on the garage door can damage the paint as well as many other parts of the garage door as well. So try to get out there and start shoveling the snow away from the door and off the driveway while it’s still falling, this way it saves you from having to do one massive shovel later.
- Shovel it to the ground. When you’re outside shoveling the snow away from the garage door make sure that you shovel all the way to the ground and not just enough to clear the way. By shoveling all the way to the ground that allows the grounds temperature to rise and will help prevent it from refreezing.
After
- Check the door for damage to any metal parts. After the storm has hit and all is over and done with you will want to be sure to check the door, the cold weather and snow and ice can cause the metal parts to contract and settle or even realign. If the door needs to be repaired in any way then it can easily be fixed by a professional.
These are some ways that you can winterize your garage door this winter, here at Neighborhood Garage Door Services of Charlotte, North Carolina we want you to have all the knowledge and steps necessary to protect your garage door from the winter weather and the cold months.
