Why Garage Door Maintenance Is Necessary
As your garage door moves back and forth over time, its hardware can become loose. A technician who comes for maintenance will inspect the bolts that hold your track to both walls and ceilings to tighten them as needed.
Photosensor and mechanical auto-reverse features of your garage door provide safety by preventing it from closing on an object, such as a two-by-four piece of wood placed directly in its path of closing – these should cause it to reverse direction when activated.
Check the Rollers
Your garage door relies on an intricate system of moving parts to work properly, including tracks, rollers, springs and other hardware. A professional should inspect these components to ensure they’re in top shape to prevent future issues with your door.
At first, professionals will assess the rollers. They’ll inspect their location as well as their connection to the panel; any damaged or cracked rollers should be repaired or replaced as soon as possible. A professional will also check for bends or cracks in the track that could cause it to jam when moving up or down; ensure the auto-reverse feature works appropriately to avoid injury or property damage, and test any photo eye sensors to make sure they’re operating as intended.
Your rollers could just need some light lubrication in order to continue operating efficiently, using axle oil can help ensure they move without friction when exposed to changes in temperature and humidity.
Steel rollers without ball bearings can be noisy from day one and become noisier over time, becoming even louder with time. While these issues can be addressed easily with adjustments, industrial nylon rollers provide much-quieter alternatives with extended life span.
If your rollers have become flat on one side, they could begin eating away at the metal edge over time and making it more difficult for it to travel up and down your track. To fix this problem, remove and replace them with new rollers before lubricating each of them to reduce stress on these vital components and lengthen their lifespan while also helping prevent other potential issues in the future. Lubrication should be conducted twice annually to avoid costly repair bills in future; you could make this small investment today to avoid expensive repair bills in future.
Check the Weather Stripping
If you feel a draft at the bottom of your garage door, weather stripping could be to blame. This strip helps protect against cold air, water, dirt, rodent droppings and heat loss from entering through its edges; additionally it also helps prevent heat loss through its walls. Over time however it may wear down due to heavy traffic in certain areas; trained professionals should inspect it for damage before replacing as necessary.
Your weather stripping requirements depend on the construction and materials of your door. There are three common options for weather stripping:
Door sweeps. Door sweeps are small pieces of stainless steel, hard plastic or aluminum mounted at the bottom of doors to block outdoor air from seeping between threshold and doorway. Easy to install and often lasting many years – they make your life much simpler!
Rubber weather stripping. Available at hardware and big box home improvement stores, rubber weather stripping can help save on energy costs with its simple installation process and its ability to slide into grooves at the base of garage doors. Nail or glue attachment methods work just as effectively but tends to wear quickly over time.
Foam tape weather stripping. This product makes installation quick and easy with its peel-off backing, just peel it back then press in place! For the best results, first clean all surfaces where the strips will go with mild detergent then measure and cut the strips to size before taking down their backing for pressing into place.
Installing foam tape weather stripping requires an uninterrupted day without rain or fog for best results, as its adhesive works better when dry.
Professionals can also inspect for loose nuts, bolts and screws and test the auto-reverse feature (which stops and reverses the door if something comes into its path during closing), eye sensors for damage and ensure they’re cleaned regularly to avoid interference with their operation. If sensors stop functioning as intended, a trained professional can disconnect and replace them as required.
Check the Pressure Sensor
Garage doors can be extremely heavy, placing undue strain on their springs as they raise and lower them. Any signs of wear that go undetected over time could pose a threat to its function; with regular maintenance services in place to identify issues and resolve them before becoming major issues that cost money in repairs later.
An experienced technician will also inspect the automatic reversal function of your garage door, which stops and reverses its path when something blocks its path. This feature provides crucial safety protection to you and your family and should always function optimally.
Your garage door contains sensors designed to detect objects in its path and know when it may collide with them, known as photo sensors, located at each base of your garage door. To test them out, activate your garage door and wave something long such as a broom across its path; if it stops and reverses then everything should be working perfectly.
There are other safety features, like door edge sensors that are installed at the base of each garage door, that serve the same function by sensing any pressure or obstructions when closing. A trained professional will be able to advise which features are suitable for your home.
Your garage door is one of the biggest openings in your home and gets heavy use every day, making it essential to take good care in maintaining it. While it may be easy to overlook it at times, regular inspection and maintenance will help extend its life and reduce costly repairs down the line. With some time and effort spent keeping up on maintenance duties, your garage door should remain functional for many years ahead. Check out this guide for tips on keeping it working smoothly!
Test the Opener
The garage door opener is an indispensable machine that helps raise and lower garage doors with just the press of a button. However, like any mechanical device, its components can become worn-out over time, leading to jerky movement or noises from its motors. Regular preventative maintenance will keep your garage door functioning at peak condition longer.
Carefully examine all pulleys and cables for any signs of looseness. If there are dents in springs or frayed cables, replace them as soon as possible in order to prevent further damage to your opener and door as a result of poor functioning pulleys or cables. Poorly functioning pulleys or cables can put undue stress on an opener’s lifespan as it goes up and down causing it to wear down faster or damage it as it moves upward or downward.
Adjust the track brackets to reduce friction between your garage door and its tracks by loosening their nuts, and moving them until there is about a quarter to half inch of play between your door track and wall – this will help your garage door run more smoothly and quietly, possibly even lessening scraping metal against walls!
Make sure your door’s sensor beam is aligned by activating its opener with either remote control or wall switch and placing an object (e.g. a rolling ball) into its path; once again the garage door should stop moving downward and reverse direction if this works, otherwise refer to your owner’s manual for instructions on adjusting Safe-T-Beam System.
As part of your routine maintenance schedule, lubricate all moving parts of your garage door at least twice annually to reduce stress on the opener and extend its lifespan. Spray light lubricants like white lithium grease onto rollers and hinges for best results; similarly lubricate rail gear where it meets trolley carriage using silicone spray that won’t attract dirt.
