Top 5 Maintenance Tips For Your Garage Door

More often than not, your garage door is the largest moving part of your home or business. 

It operates all year round and often multiple times a day. 

With this in mind, it’s important to ensure that it is always working as it should be and is in the best condition.

There are a number of things you can do to ensure your garage door is performing to the best of its ability, and the Rollerdor team has outlined these in the following article.

Read on to discover the top five garage door maintenance tips.

Listen To Your Garage Door

One of the best preventative measures you can take when operating a garage door is to listen and observe it when in use. 

Perhaps the most obvious sign of a potential fault is if your door sounds unusual. Typically, this could be if it’s making scraping or grating noises. Doors that are in good working order operate quietly or even silently. 

Plus, if it is jerky or not moving smoothly, this is another sign that you should call for professional support.

Lubricate the Correct Moving Parts

Not all garage doors are the same, keeping your door’s moving parts well-lubricated is a great way to keep it working smoothly, but lubricating the wrong parts can cause problems.  

For up and overs and sectional doors you can lubricate any rollers, springs, pulleys or chains, simply apply a lubricating agent and this will stop it from getting stuck or stiff, something that could result in further issues later on. Whereas roller garage doors are designed to be lubricant free and you should never apply lubrication to the guide runners where the slats run as this will lead to clogging and movement problems.

You can purchase effective garage door lubrication products online or from DIY shops. Simply follow the manufacturer’s instructions and apply to your door twice a year for the best results. 

Test Its Balance

If a garage door is not correctly balanced, your door opener will have to work even harder. In the long term, this could result in serious damage and costly repairs. 

Luckily, there is a quick and easy way to test if the door is properly balanced.

First, pull the release handle to disconnect the opener. Then, manually lift the door about halfway up. If the door is well balanced, the door should remain in position.  If not, it means it is not correctly balanced and there is likely an issue with the springs. 

In the case of roller doors, as the motor can not be detached you should watch the bottom slat as it closes. This should stay level for the whole journey, if it is at an angle then you should stop as the door is not balanced.

In these instances, you should call on the professionals for assistance.

Keep Your Door Clean

It is always best to inspect your door on a regular basis to check for debris, but giving your doors a clean once a month will preserve its life and help to prevent damage. This is especially the case if you are within a five mile radius of the sea. If this is the case for you, then it is advisable to clean your door every couple of weeks as sea air can carry salt deposits which adversley affects metals, leading to rust with steel or oxidisation with aluminium doors.

Check Floor Seals

The rubber seal at the bottom of your garage door is essential for insulation and temperature regulation. Make sure to frequently check that these seals remain in good condition and free of damage. 

If they have become brittle, cracked or otherwise damaged, you will need to get them replaced. 

At Rollerdor, we provide all of our customers with a range of accessories including floor seals.

These checks are great at spotting potential issues and addressing them before they get out of hand, but it’s also worthwhile calling on professional support to maintain your garage doors, too. 

In fact, it’s recommended that your garage door receives an annual inspection and service from a professional garage door company to keep it working at its best, fix any faults and enhance its longevity. 

At Rollerdor, we’re an all-encompassing garage door company and as well as supplying quality products we also offer a leading roller garage door servicing and maintenance offering.

To find out more about what we do, get in touch with the Rollerdor team today.