Your garage door is the largest moving element of your home. Behind your garage door, you park your car, store your bicycle, work on your vehicles and store your belongings. As many homeowners know, a garage door is a big investment. Because of this, it’s important to perform regular maintenance of your garage door. Its something that is integral to your home, opens upwards of 1,000 per year, particularly counterbalanced and heavy it demands attention and regularly scheduled maintenance.
Invest
Its important to invest in a high-quality garage door from the very beginning. This will save you a headache later on down the road. Ask for recommendations from friends and family and if the price sounds too good to be true, it probably is. A great place to start is here at Alpha Doors. After installing and repairing garage doors in Northern Vancouver Island for over 25 years, we know the good quality from the bad.
Monthly Maintenance
Your garage door has over 300 parts working together to open and close every day. To keep each part of your garage door working smoothly throughout the year, there are a few things you can do yourself. It will take you about 15 minutes per month to maintain a garage door that will last. Spend the 15 minutes making sure that everything is functioning properly. First, make sure your garage door is closed and you have disconnected its power source. Vacuum and wipe down dirty tracks with a moist cloth. On the hinges, rollers, bearing plates, springs and locks, spray a lithium-based garage door spray. You can find this product at your local hardware store. Lastly, where the chain runs on the top rail, spray the lubricant. No need to spray the chain itself, as it has its own natural protectant.
Yearly Maintenance
To ensure that your investment is continuing to operate harmoniously, we recommend yearly scheduled maintenance. When Alpha Doors does regular maintenance we inspect the springs, garage door sensors and gears, cables, rollers, any damaged sections and garage door remotes.
“As Needed” Maintenance
If you notice your garage door is making weird sounds, grinding noises or not opening and closing properly, call Alpha Doors. We will come assess the issue and do the required repair. It could be as simple as changing our a battery, or a crucial part may need replacing. Broken springs are the most common problem, and are extremely important to fix immediately as the hold the weight of your garage door. If you hear a humming or grinding, it could be the gears that need replacing. Cables become tired and frayed over the years due to the amount of weight they carry. Replacing them will make certain you have a smooth moving garage door.
Leave it to the Pros
Lastly, don’t try to fix any major issues yourself. Remember, you are protecting your investment. To guarantee repairs are done correctly and efficiently, hiring a professional is important. If something were to get missed or not properly installed, you could risk damaging your garage door, or worse, you could end up hurting yourself.
By scheduling regular maintenance, costly garage door repairs can be avoided and you can have peace of mind that your investment is will last.