Like any other major part of your home, your garage door system is an investment. Most garage doors get a lot of use, opening and closing several times a day, and replacement could easily cost you $2,000 or more. To get the best return on your money, here are 6 tips to prolong the life of your door and keep it operating smoothly for years to come.
1. Listen and watch
When opening and closing your garage door, listen for any unusual grinding or scraping noises. Is the garage door moving smoothly in its tracks or is the motion jerky in places? Any of these could indicate a problem that needs correction.
2. Limit your use
Every garage door has a limited lifespan of so many opening and closing cycles. When convenient, use your entry doors, rather than your garage door, to enter and leave your house. Limiting these opening and closing cycles can prolong the life of your entire door system.
3. Maintain the tracks and hardware
The vibration that occurs during normal operation can loosen the door’s hardware. So, check the brackets that attach the track to the walls and ceiling and make sure they’re firmly in place. Also check the fasteners that attach the garage door to the door opener unit.
Remove rust and debris from the tracks that are on both sides of the garage door.
Finally, if you see any red nuts or bolts, that’s a warning sign indicating parts of the mechanism that should be handled only by trained, experienced professionals for repairs and maintenance.
4. Lubricate
A couple of times a year, apply a silicone spray lubricant or light duty gear oil to the rollers and other moving parts to reduce stress as the door opens and closes. Wipe off the excess lubricant.
5. Test the balance of the door
An unbalanced door doesn’t last as long as one that’s balanced because the unbalance causes the opener to work harder. How do you test for balance? First, close the door and disengage the garage door opener by pulling the release handle. Second, manually lift the door to the point that it’s about half open and release it. At this point, if the door creeps up or down more than about a foot it’s unbalanced. That means you need to call in a professional to rebalance your door.
6. Make sure to test the auto reverse
Auto reverse is the safety feature that causes the door to stop going down when it encounters some obstruction, like your body, for example! This feature is activated by either a pressure sensor or photocells on either side of the door.
To test, place a piece of 2×4 flat on the ground in the path of the door and lower it. If you have a pressure sensor, the door should stop and reverse when it encounters the object. To test photoelectric cells, quickly pass an arm or leg in the path of the sensor and the closing door – but don’t leave it there! If the system is working the way it should, the door will stop and reverse.
In either case, if the safety device fails to reverse the door, call in a professional to correct the problem.
Expert Service from Robert’s Garage Door Professionals
For the very best in garage door repairs and replacements in Chicago and surrounding areas, you need to call in the experts from Robert’s Garage Door Professionals. Whatever you need, from repair to replacement, for either residential garage doors or commercial garage doors, the pros from Robert’s can handle the situation to your complete satisfaction.
For our attention to detail and our unwavering commitment to customer service and satisfaction, we set the industry standard. So, at the first sign of trouble with your garage door, give us a call at 312-933-1556, and let the experts from Robert’s Garage Door Professionals take care of your problem.
