Making It Last – Garage Door Maintenance Tips

Posted on April 11th, 2023

A Few Suggestions for Garage Door Maintenance from Absolute Garage Door Builders

You may not have ever thought about it, but the chances are good that your garage door is the largest moving object in your house. And it’s one with a lot of moving parts and one that gets a lot of use, especially if you have an attached garage.

Depending on the size of the door, what the door’s made of, and your location, replacing your garage door can be expensive. Replacement could easily run you in excess of $2,000. All things considered, therefore, it’s a good idea to take a few simple steps to protect and preserve that door.

Maintenance Tips to Consider

What follows are a few tips that we think can help, steps that most any do-it-yourselfer can perform.

Limit door usage

One thing most anyone can do is to limit the number of times the door opens and closes every day. As an example, if your garage door does 10 up-and-down cycles daily, you’ll probably have to replace the springs every 2 ½ years. By contrast, with only two cycles a day, the springs will probably last seven to eight years.

One way to limit usage is to avoid using the garage as your main entry or exit point. Use the front and back doors instead, and cycle the garage door only when moving your car in or out of the garage.

Give it a once-over a couple of times a year

You don’t have to be a garage door specialist to do this. Just look at the door and its hardware for any potential problems, like rust or peeling paint on the door. Also, accumulated dirt and debris in the door tracks, or loose tracks, for example.

Clear debris and tighten the tracks

Clean the tracks by removing any debris and rust that you find on them. Also check the hardware holding the roller brackets to the wall and ceiling and tighten any loose bolts. The vibration from repeated use can cause the hardware to become loosened.

Also check the fasteners holding the garage door opener unit in place.

A word of warning: Do not try to adjust any red nuts and bolts. The red paint is a warning sign, and those should be left to the specialists, not the amateur.

Apply lubricant to keep it running smoothly

Keeping all the moving parts adequately lubricated reduces stress on the rollers and the garage door opener. A couple of times a year it’s a good idea to apply a spray lubricant to the rollers and door hinges. Then wipe away the excess lubricant.

Test the balance

An unbalanced door makes the garage door opener work harder, shortening its lifespan. Testing the balance is an easy thing to perform.

Close your garage door and pull the release to disengage the opener. By hand, open the door about half way and release. If the door is balanced it should not move more than a foot or so, up or down, before stopping.

If it’s unbalanced, call in a repair specialist for garage door repair.

Check your automatic reverse

Newer garage doors have an automatic reverse feature to prevent tragic accidents. Yours will be either a pressure sensor or an auto reverse powered by photoelectric cells at the base of the garage door.

If you have a pressure sensor, open the door and place something like a brick in the pathway of the door. Close the door, and when the door encounters the brick it should automatically reverse.

With photoelectric cells, wave your leg and foot in the door’s path as it closes. The door should automatically reverse.

In either case, if the auto reserve is not working properly, call in a specialist to fix it.

Clean and repair

To get the maximum lifespan out of your garage door, inspect the outside of the door. In the case of a metal door, remove any rust and apply fresh paint to the once rusted area.

For wooden doors, remove chipped or damaged paint, sand, and repaint.

For fiberglass doors, wash with an all-purpose cleaner.

Absolute Garage Builders – The First Name in Garage Construction in Chicago

Whether you have an attached or a detached garage, we hope you’ll find these garage door maintenance tips helpful.

And when you’re ready to add a garage to your property, contact us at Absolute Garage Builders, your garage construction specialists in Chicagoland.

We have many different floor plants from which to choose, and whatever you need, we can build to your wants and specifications. And we’re always glad to give you an absolutely free construction estimate.

For the very best in garage construction in the greater Chicago area, do not hesitate. Contact Absolute Garage Builders today!