How To Properly Maintain Your Garage Door

Our garage doors are the first thing people see when they pull up for a house party or just to visit. While a dusty garage door is certainly noticeable, one that is off kilter is even more disparaging for those picky guests. Even worse, off kilter garage doors may actually be a sign that your garage door springs, tracks, or rollers are not operating as they should be.

Everything within your house was inspected before moving in and the sinks, toilets, and washing machine have been regularly serviced since. Chances are you’ve never had your garage door mechanism serviced for the whole period of time you spent in your current living space.

So how do you even begin to maintain a garage door?

To begin to really understand why you need to keep up the maintenance on your garage doors, the first thing we need to think about is how exactly they work. Think of the garage door as a large sheet of metal whose weight is supported by two springs. These springs are used to give an equivalent amount of “spring force” to the weight of the garage door and if they fail, your door will also cease to function correctly. In addition to the garage door springs, the actual movement that the door goes through relies on a track and roller system. As the door slides up, the rollers run along the track and any obstructions along the track can cause moderate to severe issues with operation.

Now that we know a bit more about how garage doors are built, let’s take a look at how to maintain each and every part of this rather simple mechanism.

Maintaining the garage door itself

The garage door, like any other part of the house, can be kept in great shape by simply spraying water across its broad side and letting it dry. There is no harm in doing this but there are some things to consider before trying it out.

Before you begin to clean those years of grime off the front, step into the garage itself with the door down and see if any light is filtering in from outside. If you see noticeable gaps with light pouring in, chances are your garage door is off kilter and will need to be adjusted before you can begin to really start regular maintenance. To adjust this requires an expert’s touch as the nearly 200 lb door can fall if there are more issues beyond what you can visibly see.

If your garage seal is nice and firm however, spray way! Keeping the front clean will stop any excess gunk from building on the sides and eventually entering the track.

Maintaining the garage door track and rollers

The track and rollers are a little easier to maintain. After visually making sure that your rollers and track are aligned correctly, you can begin cleaning these using a broom or Swiffer to take out any spider webs or insect nests that you may have noticed.

Surprisingly, hornets tend to like to make a home right at the top if given the chance so be careful before beginning this process if you notice any unfamiliar hives.

Once you’ve cleaned out the gunk and any obstructions, spray a light layer of silicon based lubricant onto the surface. Avoid any liquid based lubricants as this will actually end up causing more issues in the end and not accomplish what you are trying to do. Once you’ve done that, give the door a test to make sure it slides up and down smoothly and move on to the next step.

Maintaining the garage door springs

Garage door springs are a different issue. If you just looked up at your springs and saw two pieces, then that is not normal. Seeing the springs in a condition other than one solid coiled piece over the cable connected to the door are a clear sign that your springs not only need to be serviced but completely replaced.

If you are uncertain of exactly what to look for, on either side of the garage door near the top of the garage, are two large, usually bronze colored, springs. As mentioned earlier, these are the devices that actually support the door. If they fail, your door fails, and you won’t be getting your car out easily the next day.

When checking these springs, if they look looser than they should be, are snapped in half, or even look significantly separated from the door mechanism, then speak with an expert immediately. While it is possible for you to attempt to service this yourself, speaking with a professional service will ensure you don’t make things worse. There are plenty of horror stories about Sun Lakes citizens trying a DIY project with their door and actually increasing the repair costs almost tenfold because they didn’t understand exactly how technical the process is.

By hiring a professional, you take out a big element of human error and don’t have to worry about supporting a 100lb spring and 200lb door at the same time.

Why should I regularly maintain my door in the first place?

That’s the big question and really, it comes down to how much you’re willing to invest into your home. While the general consensus of housework is “if it’s not broken, why fix it?”, taking a proactive approach to regular servicing both in and out of the house can lower the price of expensive replacement repairs that will occur when they finally do break.

Most houses bought with a garage door last built in the 80s, 90s, or even early 2000s that never had their garage door serviced or maintained have an immediate risk of breaking down within the first 100 cycles of use. Back to our example of the house party, don’t be that person who can’t shut his garage door because you waited too long; speak with an expert today and schedule monthly, quarterly ,or even yearly maintenance of your garage doors so you can have peace of mind.