Top 10 maintenance tips for your door

​1. Listen & Look

The most important preventive step you can take is to observe your garage door in action every time you use it. Is it moving smoothly? Is it jerky? Does it operate silently or does it make grinding or scraping noises? Does everything look like it's in order? 

2. Tighten up the Hardware

The average garage door moves up and down more than a thousand times a year. That’s a lot of movement and vibration, which can loosen the hardware. We would be happy to come out for a quick visit to tighten up any hardware. 

3. Test the Garage Door Balance

If your garage door is not properly balanced, the garage door opener will have to work harder, and it won’t last as long. Once you disconnect the opener pull the release handle, aka red cord. Manually move the door about 1/2 way up and if it doesn't stay put the counterweight system is off balance. The next step is to give us a shout to help get your door back in place.

4. Inspect and Replace the Rollers

The rollers, whether steel or nylon, need to be inspected twice a year and replaced every seven years or so, and even more if you use your garage door many times a day.

Worn, chipped or cracked rollers should be replaced as soon as possible. You do this by removing and reinstalling any roller brackets that are not directly attached to the cable system.

5. Inspect the Weatherstripping

If the rubber weather seal strip on the bottom of your door is brittle or cracked, replace it right away to keep the elements out of your house. 

6. Lubricate the Moving

Lubricating your garage door parts greased up will add years of seamless operation to your system – and it takes just 10 minutes a year! Use white lithium grease on the opener’s chain or screw, and a spray lubricant to coat the overhead springs.

7. Check the Cables

You should never tinker with the high-tension cables that lift your door because they have enough force to kill. But you can check their condition so you know when to hire a pro. Check for broken strands and damage near the bottom roller bracket. Give us a call to fix your cables.

8. Test the Auto-Reverse Safety Features

There are two mechanisms: mechanical and photocell. In order to test the mechanical feature, place a piece of wood or a brick on the ground in the path of the door. When the door coming down touches that object, it should reverse direction and go back up again. To test the second, the photoelectric system with beams at each side, close your door and just pass your leg in the door’s path, do this carefully!

If your opener is more than 20 years old, it may lack this basic safety features – and so it’s time to buy a new garage door opener so give us a call we are here to help!

9. Clear the Tracks

Make sure the tracks on either side of the door are free from debris and, if you are so inclined, you can use a level to check the plumb. Some of us like to store stuff near the ceiling of the garage, make sure it's out of the way of your track. Major track adjustments should be done by us, give us a call.

10. Inspect the Actual Garage Door

Don’t forget to examine the door itself. Wood doors will need to be checked for water damage and warp, as well as chipped and peeling paint. Steel doors may have rust spots that need to be sanded, primed and painted. Wash your garage door regularly with a mild all-purpose cleaner at the same time you do your car.

We hope this help you maintain your garage door for the future. We are here to serve you!

When you think garage door, think Warner!