Maintenance is the most important key to increasing the longevity of your garage door, preventing unexpected breakdowns, and ensuring a high level of safety and security for your Connecticut home, at Connecticut Garage Door Repair recommend a regular inspection of your garage door by a homeowner and a professional door repair service once a year. Here is a comprehensive door maintenance checklist that every homeowner in Connecticut should adhere to for the proper maintenance of their garage door.
Visual Inspection of All Door Components
Your door maintenance checklist should begin with a comprehensive visual inspection of all door components. You should inspect your door springs, cables, rollers, pulleys, and door hardware for signs of damage or wear. You should also inspect your door panels for signs of damage such as dents, cracks, and warping. Additionally, you should also inspect your door weatherstripping and seal for signs of damage such as tears and gaps. Connecticut homeowners should also consider a comprehensive door inspection after the winter season due to the negative effects of road salt and humidity on door components such as springs and door panels.
Applying Lubricate All Door Moving Parts
Lubricating your garage door is important for smooth and quiet operation of the door. You should use a silicone based or lithium based lubricant for your door springs, hinges, rollers, and opener drive mechanism. You should avoid using WD 40 for lubricating your door components because it is a solvent and degreaser and does not provide the lubrication required by your door components. Connecticut homeowners should also consider a low temperature rated lubricant for the winter season because most lubricants thicken and become less effective in low temperatures.
Testing the Door Balance
A well balanced garage door is important for the longevity of your opener and the safe operation of your door. To check if your door is balanced, unplug the opener by using the emergency release cord, and try to lift the door halfway up. A well balanced door will remain stationary. But if it slides back down or shoots up, it means the springs are unbalanced. It is recommended to call a professional to adjust the springs because they can cause serious injury if not handled with care.
Inspecting and Replacing Weatherstripping
Your weatherstripping is the seal around your garage door. It is designed to keep out the cold, rain, snow, and critters. But over time, the weatherstripping can crack, become compressed, and even tear. It is important to inspect the weatherstripping located at the bottom, the sides, and the top. Since Connecticut is located in the Northeast, winters can get extremely cold, that's why it is so important to maintain the weatherstripping to ensure your garage remains warm during the winter.
Tightening All Moving Parts Hardware
Garage doors vibrate a lot every time they open and shut and over time these vibrations can loosen up the system nuts, bolts and brackets, tightening all the mounting brackets, roller brackets and bolts is very crucial and paying attention to the tracks supporting brackets that connect to the walls and the ceiling.
Testing the Safety Features
The modern garage door opener has two very important safety features, the auto reverse feature, and the photo eye sensors. The auto reverse feature can be tested by placing a piece of wood or a brick on the ground in front of the door. The door should reverse automatically upon hitting the object. The photo eye sensors can be tested by closing the door and moving something in front of one of the photo eye sensors. The door should stop and reverse. If one of these safety features is not working correctly, the door should not be used until it is repaired.
Schedule Your Professional Maintenance
As mentioned above, the tests that have been outlined can be done by homeowners. However, a professional maintenance visit from Connecticut Garage Door Repair can delve much deeper into your garage door. Our professional technicians have the tools and expertise to identify potential issues that may not be readily apparent to the naked eye. Not only do we offer affordable maintenance contracts that cover everything on this list, we also offer other services such as spring tension adjustments and opener tune ups.