Regular maintenance is the best way to ensure that your garage door stays in optimal condition. After all, your garage door is an essential part of your home – and is arguably one of the areas that will get used the most. We rely on opening and closing these multiple times in a day across all seasons, so performing preventive and regular checks is crucial.
You don’t necessarily need to hire a technician for the basics unless you don’t feel confident about doing the job yourself. Even if you need a technician, you can expect their services to be quite affordable. Remember, unless you are dealing with extreme damage a repair service provider will never set you back several thousand dollars.
Now, whether or not you feel confident about performing maintenance checks yourself, here are the essential tasks that you, or your technician, should take the time to do.
1) Listen and watch closely
Observing your door carefully will help you identify any issues. One way to do this is to stand inside the garage with the door closed and check for signs of wear and tear in your door’s springs, cables, hardware, hinges and other nearby components.
Otherwise, just make note of any changes you notice as you try to use your door. How smoothly is it opening? Is it making any grinding or scraping noises, or is silently doing its job? Does the door look tilted, or out of balance?
If you notice an issue, get in touch with a repair technician so they can inspect and give you a full diagnosis of the problem.
2) Cleaning and grooming
You need to look after every bit of your garage door. Wood doors will need to be checked for water damage, while steel doors may have rust spots that need to be primed. Peeling paint, sanding, warps and cleaning are other quick DIY checks to do along the way.
Lubrication only takes 10 minutes, but it makes a deal of a difference. Keeping your garage door’s hinges, rollers and tracks oiled up accordingly will lengthen your door’s overall durability. You just need to go to your East Cobb garage door specialist to purchase a spray lubricant for the door and white lithium grease for your opener’s chains or screws.
Cleaning and tightening loose screws is very important as well. Dirt and grime can cause interference with your door’s photo eye sensors, while the hardware can loosen up over time due to extensive use. Again, two things that won’t take very long to do but are well and truly worth it.
3) Inspecting and testing
There are different parts of the garage door that you need to test and check on a regular basis. Here’s how we would recommend you approach things.
First, check if your door is out of balance. The best way to do this is to close it, disconnect the automatic opener, and lift it manually to about halfway up. If the door is difficult to lift up and open, or it fails to stay in place, then your door is out of balance. Out of balance doors usually mean a broken spring or faulty components, and should be left to the care of qualified professionals.
Your reverse mechanism should be the second thing you test. There are two systems at play here: the photocell and mechanical features. Both these mechanisms will make the door reverse if there’s anything in its path. To test the mechanical component, put a brick or piece of wood by the door – if everything is working correctly, it will reverse as soon as it touches the object. As for the photocell, it’s as simple as waving your leg in the door’s path – the sensors should prompt the door to reverse. If your door doesn’t reverse or you have an opener that lacks this protective mechanism (door openers manufactured from 1993 onwards are required by law to have these), you’ll need to talk to a garage door technician.
Lastly, check the condition of your rollers and cables. We don’t recommend that you try to fix cables yourself, but you can look for broken strands and damage by the bottom of the roller bracket. As for rollers, make sure to check for chips and cracks. Damaged rollers should be replaced immediately, but don’t do this yourself if they are directly attached to the cable system.
Need a repair technician? Here’s what you need to do
Find a professional business in your area that you know you can trust. The best way to do this is to ask around for referrals – positive feedback and experience usually prompts people to spread the word about a garage door repair service provider. If you’re using the internet to find a nearby business, make sure to check their physical address exists and call them to be certain they are legitimate. Never hire a business that asks for full payment upfront, is defensive about providing you with simple credentials like a full company name (scammers will answer the phone using a generic term – be wary of this), and try to be present on the day of repairs in case things go awry.
If you are in East Cobb, GA, talk to our technicians. Pro East Cobb Garage Repair is a local operation, dedicated helping all customers keep everything in check. Whether you need someone to inspect things or you know you need to repair or replace a faulty component, we will do everything we can to ensure you get the right solutions. Give us a call, tell us what you need and we can even make time for a free consultation if needed. We will also provide you with a full written price quote for our suggestions upfront and at no additional cost.
Regardless of where you live, though, we hope this blog post has guided you in how to take good care of your garage door. Remember to maintain these regularly so that they continue to provide the convenience, protection and full peace of mind that they are supposed to.
Aricle source here: Key Things to Know About Garage Door Maintenance
