Tune-up your Garage Door

No other part of your home experiences as much wear and tear as your overhead garage door. The average garage door will go up and down more than a thousand times a year.

 

When kept in good working order, it provides convenience and security. But a neglected door can not only become as noisy as a locomotive but also pose a significant safety risk to your family, especially your kids. In this article, we'll show the steps involved in the annual inspection and maintenance of your automatic overhead door for reliable, quiet operation and safety. Many of these tips also apply to overhead garage doors that don't have an automatic opener.

1. Coat the overhead torsion springs or the extension springs mounted above roller tracks with a lubricant/cleaner like WD-40. Don't wipe off the excess. All springs will eventually break because of metal fatigue and/or corrosion, but this annual maintenance will prevent corrosion. NOTE: Replacing springs is a job for a professional. If one spring breaks, both should be replaced.

2. Lubricate the chain or the screw on your opener annually with white lithium grease. Lubrication will make the opener's operation smoother, quieter and extend the life of both chain and opener.

3. The hollow rubber weather seal on the bottom of steel doors is subject to damage from wear. U-shaped seals are sized according to their width as they lie flat. Choose the width that best fits your situation. Use a larger seal if you need to fill a wider gap between the door and the garage floor. The best source for this seal is a garage door dealer.

4. Inspect the rollers for wear and tear. Nylon rollers tend to crack or chip when they deteriorate, so defects should be easy to spot. On steel rollers, the bearings wear and the wheel begins to tilt like the one shown. Buy replacement rollers at a hardware store and install them by removing and reinstalling the roller bracket. Caution: Do not remove the bottom roller bracket. The cable attached to it is under extreme tension.

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