Does Your Garage Door Sound Like It Should Be In A Haunted House? – Important Maintenance Tips to Keep Your Garage Door Running Smoothly (and Quietly)

​We are often asked about when and what to do to help keep a garage door running in peak condition and avoid failures and other maintenance issues.  As we are in the midst of the colder months here in Ohio, we’d like to share some important maintenance tips to help keep your garage door running smoothly (and quietly) all winter long.
 
What to Do
 
1.Lubrication
 
The easiest thing to do is lubricate the door, which sounds simple, but many folks do not know what parts to lubricate and with what. 
 
The key areas to lubricate are the springs, the hinges, and the rollers.  A nice light coat of lubricant on these areas periodically 

can help reduce wear and tear while making the door quieter during operation. 
 
Many common lubricants available at box stores, like WD-40, will work for lubricating the garage door.  We prefer to use a professional lubricant designed for garage doors made by Fehr Brothers because it is high potency and does not promote accumulation of dust and dirt in the areas lubricated.  It also works very well in colder temperatures, like we often experience here in Ohio. 
 
Although it is important to lubricate for colder months, it’s also important to lubricate your garage door every few months because it helps prolong the life of all its components. While lubricating your door, it is highly recommended that you inspect all components to ensure that nothing is broken or getting too worn.
 
While lubrication is critical to maintaining your garage door, there are other things to consider when it comes to keeping your garage door running smoothly.
 
2.Other Considerations
 
It is also important to visually inspect your garage door periodically for signs of damage and excessive wear.  Common areas of wear and damage include worn weather seal (at the bottom of the door and around the exterior perimeter), cracked or broken sections (especially on uninsulated doors), fraying cables, cracked or bent hinges, and bent or damaged rollers and track.  Any one of these many symptoms can cause major problems with how the garage door operates.
 
If you notice signs of damage or excessive wear, it is important to have a professional inspect these areas and make recommendations regarding repairs or replacement.
 
Lastly, as we live though the winter months, there is a troublesome culprit that may be overlooked when it comes to garage door problems - salt.  Like many other things, salt can damage and destroy parts of a garage door.  Not surprisingly, this often happens at the bottom of the door where salt is spread to melt snow and ice.  In addition to corrosion of the metal parts of a garage door, the effects of salt can also cause another surprising issue.
 
Many times, people will spread salt near the bottom of a garage door, while clearing the driveway.  If this is done in the evening, the melted ice and snow can cause accumulations of water that can refreeze overnight, freezing the bottom of the garage door to the concrete.  In the morning, when the homeowner tries to open the door, damage can occur to the bottom of the door and even the garage door opener as it tries to pull open a frozen and stuck door. 
 
We’ve also seen this same issue when the garage area is heated (for example, a workshop), and the door sits in melted snow or ice.  When the garage area heat is turned off at night or the temperature is reduced inside overnight, the water then refreezes and can cause the same issue described above when the door is opened in the morning.
 
In summary, you can keep your garage door running smoothly and quietly for years to come by periodically inspecting and lubricating the door.  Also, in the colder months, be cautious of using salt to melt snow and ice around the bottom of your garage door and watch out for heated garages where melted snow or ice might refreeze.  Try a less corrosive ice melting option and do your best to keep excess water from pooling under the garage door overnight in freezing temperatures.  Always check in the morning before hitting the open button to save yourself headaches and a repair bill.
 
We service most makes and models of overhead/garage doors (both residential and commercial), so contact us if you need repairs or just a tune up.  We are here to help!