Let us start with two facts:
- Soon or later, garage doors will cause some kind of a problem.
- You might get hurt if you’ll try to do garage door repair on your own.
With that said, let us move on and say that the good performance of the roll up or overhead door depends on many things.
- Garage door installation – to start with
- The parts you choose
- Whether or not, sudden problems are fixed right away
- Whether or not, problems are fixed right
- The frequency of professional garage door maintenance
What’s worrisome is that garage door opener problems or spring issues might render the door unsafe. And although it’s necessary to make sure your door moves, performs, and operates with safety, it’s really not advisable to fix it alone – for safety reasons. But you can keep an eye on it to know when to call a local tech for repairs or maintenance.
10 easy garage door maintenance tasks
Some of the following tasks are still not recommended if you are totally inexperienced with garage door repairs. But as an overall, what you can do includes:
- Check the garage door cables and their drums to see if they are frayed or
somehow damaged. The cables must be wrapped around the drums and the fasteners must be tightened.
- Run your fingers through the garage door tracks. They should be smooth and free of dents. While you are there, check whether or not they are clean. If there is accumulated debris, it must be removed.
- Spray some lubricants in the tracks (once they are cleaned), pins, springs, opener chain, and all metal moving parts.
- Open and close the door a couple of times keeping your ears open in case there is an unfamiliar noise. Also make sure the door goes all the way up and closes down well. When shut, there should be no gaps at the side parts of the door either.
- You can also test the balance of the overhead garage door. To do that, you must disconnect the opener by pulling the releasing cord. Then you should open the door at chest height and let go. If it falls down or flies up, the door and hence springs need adjustment.
- Another test you can do is with the reverse system. With this, you want to check if the door would reverse in a case of an emergency. To do that, place an object on the floor and press the door to close down. It should reverse. If not, the sensors should be aligned. If the problem is not fixed, you should call a garage door service technician at once.
- Check the garage door rollers. Although they are not damaged easily, they should be free of rust.
- Check the door. Make sure the color is not chipped. If this is a sectional door, make sure the hinges are tightened and free of rust.
- You should also check the condition of the weather seals and replace them if they are worn. The bottom seal gets damaged faster than the top and side seals.
- Don’t forget that all fasteners must be tightened or there will be vibrations and thus a noise when the door moves. And this will cause damage to the parts.
