If you want your garage door to give you decades of excellent performance under any conditions, then you’ll need to follow these four tips:
Monthly Inspection
You’ll need to inspect every part of your garage door, looking for any signs of wear or damage. Garage door springs, cables, pulleys, rollers, and other parts require regular inspection. If you notice something doesn’t look (or sound) right, then it’s possible your garage door has serious problems.
Also, while you’re inspecting your door, make sure to clean everything, as debris can accumulate in the tracks and prevent your door from opening (and closing).
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Test the Garage Door Balance
Keep in mind that, if your garage door isn’t perfectly balanced, your opener needs to work extra hard to open and close the door. Besides, your garage door opener won’t last many years.
To find out if your garage door is properly balanced, you need to disconnect your garage door opener (by pulling the manual release handle) and then move your garage door about halfway up. The door should stay put. If it doesn’t, it means there’s a problem with the springs… and you’ll need to call a professional garage door repair service (never, under any circumstances, try to adjust the springs because they can fly out at bullet-like speed).
Auto-Reverse
Since January 1, 1993, Federal Law requires all garage doors to feature an automatic reverse mechanism, so the garage door doesn’t crush people and pets when it closes. If your door doesn’t have this feature, then you’ll need to replace it right away.
The auto-reverse feature depends on two mechanisms: mechanical & photoelectric “eye” (sensing edge). To test the mechanical safety feature, simply put a solid object in the path of your garage door. When your garage door is closing, it should immediately reverse after it touches the object. To test the photoelectric sensors (located at the each side of your door), you must close your garage door and put your leg in the door’s path for a second. The door has to reverse instantly.
If your door doesn’t reverse right away, then you should call a professional.
Lubrication
Proper lubrication adds several years of excellent performance to your garage door. Moving parts need lubrication twice a year in order to work as intended (except plastic rollers and idler bearings). Never use regular grease, because it’ll make your door impossible to use in cold weather. Instead, use only silicone-based spray or light lithium-based grease.
After applying these 4 easy tips, you can extend your garage door’s life span by several years… and your garage door will work smoothly. However, if you notice any strange sounds or any damage in your garage door moving parts, then you’ll need to call a professional garage door repair service. Trying to repair a garage door by yourself is an extremely risky adventure that could literally kill you… and that’s why you need to depend on the expert assistance of Hudson Valley Overhead Doors & Operators, the premier provider of garage door installation and repair services in the Hudson Valley.
Hudson Valley Overhead Doors and Operators has been providing professional garage door installation and service in the Hudson Valley for more than a decade. A few of the services Hudson Valley provides are LaGrange Garage Doors, Germantown Garage Doors, Hudson Garage Doors, Somers Garage Doors, and Yorktown Heights Garage Doors.
