We always stress the importance of preventative maintenance on our garage door installation blog—and for good reason. Taking care of this hardworking machine ensures it serves your family well into the future, that aspects like your garage door opener and garage door tracks stay looking and functioning at their best.
When it comes to this sort of care, though, springtime brings with it its fair share of challenges. Winter, as we’ve also covered, is a tough time to be a garage door. From enduring harsh temperatures to dealing with high humidity, there’s a lot that it has to go through during the colder months, and thus a whole lot of maintenance is left to do in the spring.
Below, Door Power, your Norwood provider of garage door repair and more, discusses a few key items that you should pay attention to this spring as you go about your standard list of seasonal to-dos.
Give Your Garage Door a Once-Over
Just like you hopefully do with the rest of your home’s exterior—your roof, siding, etcetera—your garage door installation deserves a careful look-over once the ground begins to thaw. Even if things aren’t obviously broken, this seasonal inspection can catch small problems now before they become big fat garage door repair bills down the road.
What’s awesome about this sort of inspection: any homeowner can do it! While we advise calling a pro for repairs, learning to tell if something is wrong is easily accessible and risk-free. Check out a few areas that deserve your attention below—as well as common indications that it’s time to call a garage door company.
Take a Look at Your Garage Door Tracks
These two sturdy metal apparatuses on either side of your garage door—or on the top and bottom in some models—make sure that your garage door follows the same path each time. Check out our in-depth blog on the topic to get to know them in detail! For now, though, know that they endure a lot of friction day-to-day, and that it’s common in the spring to need some lubrication.
Signs that your garage door tracks fall into that category include, primarily, noisiness. However, that can also be a symptom of a different, far larger problem, so it’s helpful to have a garage door company out to look stuff over if lubrication doesn’t cure it.
Assess Your Cables and Springs
Garage door cables and springs work together to lift your garage door and lower it on command. As you can imagine, they too do a lot of the work when it comes to the whole door’s day-to-day operations. Plus, since they’re made of metal, wintertime can be extra tough on them!
Your cables will show signs of wear in the form of fraying, looseness, or a jerky garage door. Your garage door springs might be failing if they don’t fully open the garage door, or if it lurches shut.
Work Out Problems With Your Weatherstripping
These are the long, straight pieces of stuff that line the bottom and sides of your garage door. Their sole job is to keep out wind, water, and snow, so, as you can imagine, they play an important role when it comes to working against winter, and they very well may need attention in the spring. Signs of decay are obvious and include drafts and prominent cracking.
It’s important to note that they also work to keep your garage cool in the summer, so it’s a smart idea to make sure they’re ready for the season ahead of time—now, in other words.
Wash Your Garage Door’s Exterior
Like your first car wash of the spring, cleaning your garage door after a long winter can be an immensely satisfying task. And yep—we’ve got a garage door company blog on how to get that done properly, too! Our friends at Clopay (one of our favorite garage door brands which we install) also provide brand-specific advice.
One thing that cannot be repeated enough: don’t go for your pressure washer. If accidentally misused, it can prove seriously damaging to your garage door’s exterior. Plus, you generally don’t need that kind of strength to get the job done right.
Schedule Your Garage Door’s Annual Checkup
Home Inspection Insider recommends that garage doors be serviced at a minimum of once a year, and we couldn’t agree more. Professional attention ensures that you don’t experience service interruptions, for one, and it also can save you money in the long run by helping you avoid extra repairs. Even if your inspection doesn’t turn up anything, if you haven’t recently had a garage door company out for professional service, now’s the perfect time!
Door Power: Speedy Garage Door Repair and More
We’d be proud to be your partners in proper garage door care. Reach our Norwood office today at 952-467-3199.