How To Prolong The Life Of Your Garage Door
We’re all aware of the proactive steps we need to take in order to extend the life of our cars and our other important electricals, and even when we’re going to the gym or eating a healthier diet – you could think that were thinking about extending our own lives too! However, what many people are guilty of, is for not giving much thought into extending the lifespan of their garage doors.
From our experience, many homeowners wait until something goes wrong with their garage doors before actually considering doing something about it. This usually involves major repairs and sometimes even a full replacement if the door is unable to be saved. As you will know, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out the costs will be expensive and moreover, unexpected.
To avoid this from happening, we have put together 4 helpful tips to help you extend the lifespan of your garage door. Not only will this help you save money, time and stress, it will help ensure your family are safe.
- Make sure all garage door springs, rollers and hinges are thoroughly lubricated on a regular basis throughout every season in the year. Although many people will suggest to use a WD-40 spray, we highly recommend that you use a heavy duty silicone spray so that it provides an overall stronger protection and will last even longer. These silicone sprays can be found at pretty much any hardware store.
- Give your garage door a good scrub with good old plain soap, a sponge and fresh water. Dont worry, you don’t need to do this that often, in fact you can even get away with just doing it once a year! Its important not to use a heavy detergent or anything that contains bleach as this can affect the lubrication on your springs and other garage door compartments. Stick to the ordinary dish soap, or even better, you can use an eco-friendly cleanser to avoid anything running into the sewers on your road. Once you’ve given it a good scrub make sure you rinse it thoroughly with water.
- On a regular basis, it’s important to check the balance of your garage door system. In order to do this safely, simply pull the emergency cord to shut down the garage door opener. You will then need to list the garage door from the ground, approximately 2 feet and then step away. If the balance is noticeably okay then the door will not move because of the springs. However, if there is a problem that means the balance needs repairing, the garage door will begin to close by itself. Please be very careful when carrying out this maintenance check because if the balance is out of whack, it may suddenly slam shut!
- Analyse your safety sensors to ensure they are working properly. You can do this by closing the door shut and then by obstructing the beam. If the sensors work correctly, your garage door will immediately stop and begin to reverse once the beam has been obstructed. There is another way to check the reverse system is in fully working order, simply hold out your hands when your garage door is closing and then apply some resistance. If everything runs smoothly, the door will stop by itself and reverse.
If you have any questions please do not hesitate to give us a call!
If you would like a little more information about how to prolong the life if your garage door – and particularly, if you have been experiencing and problems regarding your balancing and safety features of your door – give us a call today!
The experts here at Doormatic will happily perform a thorough inspection of your garage door, and take care of any preventive measures that can be taken to avoid problems further down the line.
Give us a call today – We are here to help!
