Seasonal Garage Door Maintenance

Did you know that you should do some bi-annual maintenance on your garage door? A garage door that is neglected will probably wear out faster because some problems that could have been caught early on become big ones that ruin your garage door opener. 

Follow these steps in the spring and in the fall, and you will be able to catch most issues before they ever become trouble.

1. Watch and listen to your door. Open and close your garage door a few times, each time inspecting a different area. Is there a jerkiness to the operation? Do you hear scratching, grinding or some other noise that seems out of place? Your garage door should operate smoothly and be relatively noise free.

If you do hear or see problems, call a trusted garage door repair technician like Gandert Door Company. Garage doors have components that can be dangerous or deadly when worked on by the well-meaning, but un-trained DIYer.

2. Clean out the track. Since it is in the garage, it's probably not an area that you dust or work particularly hard to keep dirt out of. Grimy dirt or debris in the track of your garage door can gum things up and make the garage door opener have to work harder, making it more likely to wear out faster. Also check to see if the tracks are straight. You might be able to make some minor adjustments, but leave major track work to the professionals.

3. Tighten loose bolts. Opening and closing so often can slowly and subtly work bolts loose. Check every bolt that holds the track to the wall and the garage door opener to the ceiling (or wall) and tighten if necessary.

4. Check rollers, cables and pulleys. The rollers are workhorses that can actually wear out every 5 or so years, so it's good to look at these and check for cracks, chips, or anything else. One word of caution, if you want to replace them yourself, it's possible, but do not remove the bottom set of rollers. They are connected to the lift cables, which are under extreme tension. Call the professionals if those bottom ones need replaced. The same goes for ANY wear you might see on the cables and pulleys. This is a job best left to the professionals.

5. Lubricate. Grab a high-quality lubricant and give all the moving parts a good coat and wipe off the excess.

6. Look at the door from the outside. Is it rusty? Worn? Dented? You can do a little DIY rehab on the exterior to make it look better, but you might want to consider looking at a new door if yours is over 20 years old. Better quality materials and fresh styles make garage doors a lot more interesting and beautiful than they used to be.

When you are looking for a garage door company that is full-service and has a huge selection of styles to choose from, look at Gandert Door Company! Gandert is based in Mansfield, Ohio, and offers home and commercial garage door installation to the surrounding counties including Ashland, Crawford, Huron, Knox, and Morrow. Call us at (419) 529-2002 and find out more!