If the doors in your house become damaged, it is vital that you take action to repair any damage. Damage to your doors can allow intruders to gain entry into your home and will allow cold draughts to enter your home which will affect the energy efficiency of the property. Last year, I discovered that the front door of my home was damaged due to wear and tear. I called a door contractor who was able to carry out repairs to the door to get it back into action. I hope you like my blog and that it helps you to deal with any damaged doors.
It's hard to imagine getting out of the car to open the garage door first these days, but in order to ensure this particular creature comfort, routine maintenance needs to be engaged in. If it's been a while since you had a good look at your garage door, what garage door maintenance should you be doing now?
Why You Need to Act
An automatic garage door opening device is a great invention, especially for those who are somewhat infirm, because the door itself is very heavy. Due to its weight, it's crucial to keep an eye on the entire opening mechanism to ensure that it doesn't fail and cause a potential injury. Even if it didn't cause harm to somebody else, any failure could strand you outside or inside the garage when you're in a hurry to get somewhere.
Lubrication
You need to get into the habit of lubricating all the moving parts at least once per quarter, or ideally every month. This includes the bearings, tracks, pulleys, rollers and hinges, and you can use a proprietary releasing agent to clean the surfaces before applying a touch of oil.
In particular, the chain that pulls the heavy door up and over needs close attention, as without lubricant, friction can cause a failure quite readily.
Weatherstripping
You always want to make sure that you keep the elements outside to protect the door and its mechanisms, as well as to keep all those boxes inside dry. Check the weather stripping for any wear and tear, and replace each part as necessary.
Door Functionality
Modern-day garage doors are built with safety in mind, and they are meant to stop and reverse if they encounter any obstruction. However, this does require the door to be in full working condition, so routine maintenance is even more important. To check the functionality of your door, place an object on the floor in the centre of the opening and then activate the switch. When the door itself touches the object, it should immediately stop and go into reverse.
What About the Spring?
Finally, have a look at the condition of the torsion spring which does all the magic work. These are very hardy and designed to last a long time but can suffer through lack of maintenance. Don't be tempted to try and service this item yourself. If it looks like it needs attention, then you should call professionals right away for help.