Tips for Proper Garage Door Maintenance
Maintaining your garage door and the mechanisms involved with it is important to keep everything working properly. You can do many of the maintenance procedures yourself to increase the life of the motor and avoid hefty repair bills. Here are some proper garage door maintenance tips that will help you save money and increase the life of your door.
Checking the Alignment
As often as you use your garage door, it is sure to become out of alignment from time to time. With all of the moving parts, your garage door should be adjusted twice a year to ensure that it is properly aligned. You can do this by tightening any springs or hinges that seem loose. Also, check the tracks to make sure they are aligned with the rollers, too. If you notice anything else that is loose, such as screws, nuts, or bolts, you should tighten those as well.
Lubrication
Any mechanism that has moving parts also requires regular lubrication to keep things working smoothly. The parts of your garage door opener that should be lubricated regularly include the roller tracks, the roller wheels, pulleys, bearings, springs and hinges. You can simply use WD-40 or some lightweight household oil to do the trick.
Painting
If your garage door is made from wood, you should paint it at least every three years. Both sides – the inside and the outside – should be painted because this helps prevent the door from warping.
Safety Check
Since 1993, garage door opener manufacturers have been required to equip their products with an automatic reverse system and a sensor that detects if something is in the way of the door while it is closing. This mechanism will then stop the door from closing and reverse its direction to prevent injury. You should test this mechanism every few months to make sure it is in proper working order. You can do this by pushing the button on your remote to close the door. Then wave a broomstick or other long object in front of one of the sensors. The door should reverse direction.
If the door does not reverse, try cleaning the “eyes” on the sensors with a soft cloth. If they look like they are out of alignment with each other, try to adjust them by hand and test the mechanism again. If the door still does not reverse, contact a company that specializes in garage door repairs to inspect the problem for you. These are just a few of the things you can do to keep your garage door opener in the best and most efficient working order.