How do you extend the life of garage doors  

September 20th, 2022

With the seasons changing and fall quickly upon us, winter will be here soon enough.

 

Today’s post is by Troy Lowe; Vice President of Development at SafeSourcing.

With the seasons changing and fall quickly upon us, winter will be here soon enough.  When winter approaches more people will now be making room in their garages for their automobiles.  Storing your vehicles in a garage during the winter season helps you to avoid scraping ice or snow off your vehicles and keeps it warmer so it will heat up quicker during your commute.  With colder temperatures on the way it may be time to have your garage doors maintained.  Below is a BLOG that I wrote a few years ago that still holds true.

Garage doors are expensive and need to be maintained to extend their life.  Some of the maintenance items can be done yourself while more complex maintenance items may require a trained technician.   It is a clever idea to inspect the doors and the hardware monthly to ensure that a small issue does not become a bigger more expensive issue.  To examine the hardware, close the door and inspect the springs, cables, rollers, etc. for any damage or wear.  Inspect the mounting hardware carefully and tighten any loose connections.  Make sure to check all the cables for any fraying.  If any of these parts are damaged they will need to be replaced.  Replacement of damaged parts may be difficult and require a trained technician.

One of the most important maintenance options is to make sure the door is well lubricated.  To ensure that it is, open and close the door and make sure that the door does not make any strange noises.  A noisy door could mean that it needs to be lubricated or some connections may have come loose.  If the door needs to be lubricated this can be done by applying a lithium-based spray grease or a silicon spray.  You want to use this type of spray to lubricate all moving parts of the door.  When lubricating the parts, make sure to close the door and disconnect the automatic garage door opener if one is attached.  Lubricate the parts of the door that are used to move the door along the tracks.  You want to lubricate all hinges, locks, and the arm bar as well.  Most garage doors come with either metal or plastic rollers.  If you have metal rollers you may be able to see the ball bearings in the center of the roller.  If so, use the tube on the spray bottle to lubricate the ball bearings within the roller.  Next, you want to grease all the pulleys.  As with the rollers, you want grease the exposed ball bearings located in the center of the pulleys.  Lastly, if your garage door has a torsion spring, remove the straw from the spray bottle and coat the spring and bearing plates.  When finished lubricating, move the garage door up and down to help spread the applied lubrication.  Reconnect the automatic garage door opener and open and close the door to ensure that it is connected properly.  The door should operate a little smoother and with less noise.

If during the inspection process you find an issue that requires a trained technician, feel free to contact SafeSourcing.   We can gather all the necessary information for you and help you decide which company meets your needs.  If you would like more information on how SafeSourcing can help you, please contact a SafeSourcing Customer Service representative.  We have an entire team ready to assist you today.

 

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