The warm and sunny summer season is here again. It’s time for barbecues, pool parties, surfing, kayaking and other fun weather-dependent activities.
While enjoying the glad tidings summer brings, you should remember to tackle chores like maintenance of your garage door.
Your garage door is arguably the largest door in your home, and whilst they have a useful life of about 15 to 20 years, that doesn’t mean that your time is wasted should you look to maintain it.
Periodic maintenance is needed for the proper functioning and strengthening of the lifespan of your garage door.
Failure to maintain your garage door increases accident risks and lowers your home’s curb appeal (the attractiveness of your home when viewed from the street).
That’s why we’ve put together these 8 easy maintenance tips anyone can use to keep their garage door in good shape during summer and beyond.
These maintenance tips, when implemented, can save you from calling for a garage door repair service anytime soon, increase your home’s curb appeal, and protect your family from accidents.
8 Maintenance Tips To Keep Your Garage Door In Good Shape This Summer
Inspect Your Garage Door’s Hardware
The first maintenance tip is physical inspection of your garage door’s hardware for rust, damage, or wear and tear.
Look over the visible parts and scan for issues like;
- Missing bolts
- Loosed or frayed cables
- Broken or rusty springs
- Chipped or cracked rollers
- Loosed hinges
- Misaligned tracks
- Malfunctioning systems
- Unusual noise while opening and closing
If you notice any of these issues, take action towards getting them fixed.
While you can fix loosened bolts or missing bolts by tightening or replacing them as a DIY project-other issues like broken springs, broken cables, misaligned tracks are best fixed by experts. This is because these parts of the door require certain precautions while working on them to avoid accidents.
Make sure your garage door’s hardware is in perfect condition so you’re guaranteed safe and seamless usage, and if you have a metal garage door with rust, sand the rust and apply a primer, and paint after.
Clean Your Garage Door
The look of your garage door impacts the curb appeal of your home to a large extent.
You can enhance the appearance of your garage door by washing both sides to clear off accumulated dirt, grease, and grime.
The summer heat will dry it off in a jiffy leaving you with a squeaky clean garage door that boosts your home’s curb appeal.
You don’t need any special liquid to clean your garage door. All you need is water, mild household detergent, and a soft cloth or sponge to apply. You can then use a hose to rinse down thoroughly and leave it to dry.
You can even add a thin layer of car wax to both sides of the door after drying to minimize future accumulation of dust.
Finally, make sure debris in the tracks and cobwebs in the mounting hardware are removed.
Lubricate Your Garage Door’s Hardware
This is an important maintenance practice if you want to minimize wear and tear.
If you’re getting that annoying screeching sound that attracts the whole neighborhood every time you open or close your garage door-it’s a clear indication the door is overdue for lubrication.
Lubrication offers protection against metal-metal contact to reduce wear and tear.
Lubricate hardware like spring, rollers, pulleys, lock assemblies, and hinges when the door is in a down position.
Silicone spray, hand-applied white lithium grease, or 3-in-1 lubricant fluids are good options.
Don’t use WD40 because they’re water displacers not lubricants. In fact, they act more like cleaners and they remove lubrication leaving just a lacquer-like film that can’t offer any protection against wear and tear.
For example, you can locate the spring overhead and apply a white lithium grease. And you can use silicone spray for the metal parts of the rollers( those little plastic or metal wheels rolling through the track) because it may be challenging reaching the ball bearings. But if you have a nylon roller, don’t lubricate!
If your garage door has a lock mechanism, you can apply silicone spray so you can reach the inside of the mechanisms (like the key slot and lock shafts).
Provide Insulation
You might think insulation comes in handy only during the winter months, but they’re useful in summer too.
Insulation like insulating foams keeps heat that could over time destroy objects out of your garage.
Moreover the heat from the garage can radiate into the living spaces located directly above it causing your HVAC system to work harder, meaning more energy bills. Insulation keeps this heat out and helps maintain indoor air conditioning.
Apply New Paint
If your garage door has lots of scratches or faded colour, you should consider applying a fresh coat of paint on your garage door.
In fact, painting your garage door is one way to give your home’s exterior a facelift. Painting improves your home’s aesthetics and protects your door from exposure to elements.
Ensure you use quality paint, especially weathered-proof paint to add to your garage door’s durability.
Check Your Door’s Safety Mechanism
Garage doors can cause accidents which can be fatal if the safety mechanism is not working correctly.
So you check that safety features are working perfectly. Many garage doors have an auto-reverse feature. You can place an object in the way of the door to ascertain it reverses itself when closed.
If your door continues to close after placing an obstruction, get professionals to check it out for you right away.
Reinforce Your Garage Door Against Elements
Storms follow the summer season which can cause rains, so it’s important you protect your garage against these elements.
Check for holes or gaps that could be a potential passage of water into your garage. And ensure the weather strip seal at the bottom is intact. If it’s not intact, you should replace it because it also keeps out rodents and heat.
Replace Your Garage Door
If your garage door has used its useful life or you discover it demanding frequent repairs to keep it functioning well, you might want to consider replacing your garage door to save you some costs in the long run.
By the way, if you’re looking for professionals to help you with repairs, maintenance, installation, or replacement of your garage doors, make sure to work with a reputable garage door company, such as Chase Garage Doors, leading provider of Garage Doors Walsall.