4 Preventative Maintenance Tips to Keep Your Garage Door Functioning Smoothly
A garage door is an essential part of your home you shouldn't overlook. You might be used to simply pressing a button and letting the door open or close without much hassle. But like any other piece of equipment, your garage door requires regular maintenance to function correctly. Repairing a faulty garage door can be expensive, but conducting proper maintenance can prevent you from spending more money on such repairs.
This post discusses four preventative maintenance practices to keep your garage door functioning without frequent breakdowns. Read on to learn more.
Inspect It for Potential Problems
Most homeowners are used to the way their garage doors work. However, your garage door might start functioning in unusual ways. It's therefore imperative to pay attention to any anomalies, including squeaking sounds, slow opening or closing, scrapes and signs of strain. If you notice such problems, your garage door is likely experiencing issues that might lead to costly repairs later.
Assess the Door's Balance
An imbalanced garage door is a potential risk. Lack of balance in the door means it must work harder when opening or closing. Consequently, this results in premature failure. To check for proper balance, you must first disconnect the opener using the release handle.
A balanced garage door will maintain its position when opened halfway without pulling down or going back up. However, an imbalanced door will either ride up or fall. That means it has lost its spring tension, which requires immediate readjustment.
Lubricate All Moving Parts
One problem faced by garage doors that leads to faster deterioration is friction. Therefore, consider lubricating any moving parts of the garage door to prevent wear and tear. That's an essential preventative measure, especially after the cold winter season, since lower temperatures can affect the lubricants in the moving parts of your garage door.
Inspect the Auto-Reverse Mechanism
Finally, your garage door's auto-reverse mechanism helps avert potential injuries. Thus, it's crucial to inspect it and ensure its proper function. Begin by placing a piece of wood beneath it. Its auto-reverse feature will allow it to automatically reverse when it comes in contact with the piece of wood.
Contemporary garage doors come with a second auto-reverse feature as well. This feature automatically detects people or pets underneath the door. When you are inspecting this feature, put the door in active mode and place your feet beneath it for a couple of seconds. The second reverse feature will automatically activate the door's auto-reverse function.
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