Garage doors are one of the hardest-working parts of your home, opening and closing multiple times daily and enduring constant wear and tear. Yet, they’re often overlooked until something goes wrong. Regular maintenance is the key to keeping your garage door running smoothly, extending its lifespan, and avoiding costly repairs.
At Riker Home Services, we recommend scheduling a garage door maintenance at least once a year. In this guide, you’ll learn how often different parts of your garage door need maintenance, why regular upkeep is important, and how to spot the signs that it’s time for a tune-up. With regular maintenance, your garage door can last 15 to 30 years.
What Maintenance Does a Garage Door Need?
A well-maintained garage door ensures smooth operation and extends the life of its components. Regular maintenance involves inspecting and servicing key components at specific intervals. In this section, we’ll explain what a garage door technician would evaluate during a routine maintenance service.
Inspect the Lift Cables
Start by inspecting the lift cables. Check to ensure they are in good shape and free of any broken strands. Damaged cables can lead to operational issues and should be replaced if needed.
Check the Rollers
The rollers play a crucial role in the door’s movement. These should be inspected twice a year to ensure they’re functioning properly. Typically, rollers need replacement every five to seven years, depending on wear and tear.
Evaluate the Springs
Springs are another key component to inspect. For extension springs, make sure they are not overstretched or showing signs of damage. Damaged springs can compromise the door’s operation and may need adjustment or replacement.
Examine the Tracks
Next, check the tracks to ensure they remain level and free of bends or other damage. Misaligned or damaged tracks can prevent the door from opening and closing smoothly and should be repaired if necessary.
Inspecting Safety Mechanisms
Another essential task is to make sure that all of the various safety mechanisms work correctly. Most garage doors have two separate safety features designed to prevent the door from closing if an object or a person is underneath it. The auto-reverse feature works by detecting touch and will automatically cause the door to open if it senses that the door touches any objects. There are also two photoelectric sensors that use light to detect any objects in the way of the door. The sensors shine a light between each other and automatically cause the door to stop closing if any objects block the light between the sensors.
Testing Door Balance
One other important safety test is to make sure that the door is properly balanced. If the door isn’t balanced, it could come crashing down when it’s open. To test the balance, the door must be disconnected from the opener and manually opened about halfway. A properly balanced door will remain open. If the door slips or comes down, it isn’t balanced, and the springs need to be adjusted.
Tightening and Cleaning Hardware
After inspecting everything and testing the safety mechanisms, the next step is to check all the hardware to ensure the nuts and bolts are tight. Since hardware often loosens over time, it is always best to just try to tighten everything. The two tracks also need to be cleaned since they typically collect debris over time. This can prevent the rollers from gliding and cause the door not to open and close smoothly. Components like the chain, hinges, tracks, and springs must also be lubricated yearly to ensure smooth operation.
Checking Weather Stripping
One of the last steps is to open the door and check the condition of the rubber weather stripping on the bottom of it. This piece is vital for preventing water from getting inside the garage. It is also essential for the overall energy efficiency of your home since it helps to block out heat and cold. Weatherstripping is prone to cracking with age, and it can also start to peel away from the door so that the bottom is no longer properly sealed. If the weather stripping is cracked, not tightly secured, or missing pieces, it must be replaced.
Can You Maintain a Garage Door Yourself?
Some of the more basic maintenance tasks, like cleaning the track, lubricating the chain and rollers, or tightening any loose hardware, are things you should be able to do on your own easily. However, experts always recommend having a professional perform all of the maintenance tasks instead. This is because there are some tasks that you won’t be able to do yourself properly. This includes making sure that the door is correctly balanced and adjusting its tension as needed.
Many garage doors have torsion springs that need to be readjusted annually. This type of spring is under extreme tension and can be extremely dangerous to work on. If you don’t know what you’re doing, the spring could break and seriously injure you. It’s always best to hire a professional. Garage door extension springs aren’t quite as dangerous but could still cause serious injury.
Replacing damaged or worn-out parts like rollers or lift cables will occasionally be necessary when maintaining a garage door. These are also jobs that are better left to professionals to ensure the work is done properly and for safety reasons. That is especially the case with replacing the lift cable since it is also under extreme tension and could seriously injure you.
Signs That Your Garage Door Needs Tune-Up Services
While annual garage door maintenance for your Plano home is important, you should also check the door itself and all of the components every month for any signs of damage. You also want to pay attention whenever you open and close the door. If the door is slugging or opens and closes with a jerky motion instead of moving smoothly, it’s a good idea to have it inspected. This is because a door that doesn’t move smoothly puts lots of additional strain on the opener and makes it work harder. This can cause it to wear out quickly.
You should schedule service if you hear the door shaking as it moves or any other unusual noises. Especially important is to immediately call for an inspection if you hear a loud banging sound when the door closes. This typically indicates that one of the springs has broken. In this situation, you shouldn’t try to use the door until you can get the spring repaired.
Do You Need Garage Door Maintenance? Contact Riker Home Services
If your garage door is due for maintenance, Riker Home Services offers a 16-point tune-up to keep your garage door running safely and efficiently. If the inspection reveals any issues, our team can often perform the a garage door repair for you on the spot.
At Riker Home Services, we take pride in providing exceptional garage door services and building lasting relationships with our customers. Whether it’s a routine maintenance, emergency garage door repairs. We can help if you need to replace your garage door as well. Contact us today to schedule your service and experience why homeowners in Plano trust Riker Home Services for all their garage door needs.
