Anyone who has invested in a set of overhead garage doors for their Salt Lake County home knows that learning a few garage door maintenance tips is the key to the door’s long life and safe usage. A veteran garage owner likely has their routine down to a science, but if you’re the new owner of a garage, it might be more than a little unclear how best to maintain your overhead garage door.
Luckily, the most critical aspects of the routine can be done quickly and can add years onto your door. Here are some of the steps you should take:
Do a Systems Check
It’s hard to fix a problem, no matter how large or small, if you don’t find it, and that holds true for your garage door.
To find out where issues are arising, observe your door opening a few times and note any problems you see, including the following:
- Odd Movements: Any jerkiness is a sign of trouble.
- Strange Sounds: A well-maintained door is pretty quiet, so any sound could be a problem in the making.
- Loose Hardware: Any rattling can be an indication that you have to tighten a few bolts.
You should also look for signs of damage to your door. In particular, you should pay attention to the rollers on your door, the track they run in, and the weather stripping at the bottom edge of your door.
Finally, you should also pay attention to the way the door operates with regard to its balance and auto-reversal feature. If your door can’t stay halfway down on its own, that could indicate a problem with the spring tension. A lack of spring tension, or if the door fails to reverse automatically when something’s underneath it, could create serious problems down the line and should be corrected as soon as possible.
Repair, Paint, and Lubricate
Once you’ve done a close examination of all the different pieces of your garage door and identified areas for maintenance, you should take the time to fix what you can. Issues like damaged rollers or creaking chains are pretty easy to correct, either by installing a fresh set of door rollers or spraying a little lubricant on the chain. Weatherstripping is another thing you should be able to replace with a quick trip to your hardware store.
Make Notes of Bigger Issues
Although there are issues you can fix on your garage door, there are others that are best left to professionals.
The biggest issue you are likely to see that requires a professional’s help to correct is imbalances in the system’s spring tension. The spring mechanism can be dangerous if tinkered with, and therefore requires an expert hand to make sure it operates safely and correctly.
However, there might be other garage door damage that requires the help of a quality garage door repair company operating in the Murray area. It’s essential to keep a list of these so you can be sure that you can find a contractor with the right experience to suit your needs.
If you’re new to garage maintenance and want to learn more about garage door maintenance tips, contact Affordable Garage Door Repair today!
