Maintaining Your Overhead Or Garage Door Throughout The Year
The garage door on your home can be made from several different materials, and there are many different styles out there. The one thing that they all have in common is that they need to easily open and close to allow you to enter and exit the garage. If the door is not working properly, it can make opening the door a real chore, and you may find yourself not using the garage at all. Maintaining the door through the year will keep it functioning and hopefully help avoid a large repair bill for a door that is not working.
Keeping Things Moving
Overhead or garage doors have two tracks along the sides of the door, and the rollers that support the door ride in them. While the wheels or rollers have bearings in them to help keep them turning, a little light oil on the track will also help keep things moving. You don't need to soak the track; just a light coat along the inside will get the job done. The rollers or wheels also need a little shot of lubricant on the bearings once a year of so, just to keep them moving and to reduce friction.
Maintaining the Automatic Door Opener
If your door is equipped with an automatic door opener, a little lubricant on the chain and gears that open and close the door will help keep the chain from sticking. Don't use too much because you don't want it dripping off the chain and onto your car while it is parked in the garage. This really is a case of less is more. You can use a little grease instead of an oil-like lubricant, but too much grease can attract dirt, and the mixture can gum up the track, causing it to stick worse. If you do use grease, again, a light coat will do the job.
Adjusting The Door For Best Performance
If your door needs to be adjusted, there is very little that you can do yourself because the tools and knowledge involved go beyond that of the common DIY'er. The springs that assist the door are under extreme tension and should never be adjusted unless they are done by a garage door technician or installer. Inspect the door for damage, keep it lubed and clean, and if you still have trouble with it working properly, call a door repair company like Brian's Garage Doors LLC. out to take a look at it. With a little bit of attention a couple times a year, your overhead door will last many years and serve its function without fail.
