Maintaining a home isn’t easy. It’s a big piece of property with a lot of different aspects that experience wear and tear differently. For example, your carpet needs cleaning and maintenance much more frequently than your garage door, but your garage door isn’t immune from aging. Rather, just like everything else, it can fail one day. However, there are steps you can take to extend the lifespan of your garage door. Some are bigger and more time-intensive than others, but they’ll all help you keep your door working for years to come!
Perform Regular Inspections
One of the first things you can do to extend the lifespan of your garage door is conduct regular inspections. It’s hard to fix your garage door and keep it working when you don’t regularly check out the different components to see how they’re faring. Ultimately, the best kind of maintenance is preventative maintenance. Waiting until something breaks is too late and will only hurt your garage door in the long run. The following are some of the different components to keep an eye out for:
- Garage door cables
- Springs
- Weather stripping
- Sensors
- Screws
By regularly inspecting these parts, you can notice when something is out of the ordinary and needs extra care to prevent problems from getting out of control.
Use Your Door Sparingly
One method for extending the lifespan of your garage door may not be the most conventional one, but it does work: don’t use the door as much. This is a great method to preserve the lifespan of anything you own, but we understand it’s not the most practical option. Of course, you have to use your garage doors, but there are ways to use them less.
For example, if you have a car in your garage that you drive to work, you will open the door at least twice that day—once when you leave and once when you get back. This regular use is fine, but opening it any time you want to go outside or having another family car in and out can do a number on the mechanics. Therefore, if you travel a lot in one day, consider leaving your car in your driveway.
In fact, depending on why you keep your cars in the garage, you could move all of them to the driveway to use the garage door less. However, there are many valid reasons for storing your cars in the garage, such as cleanliness, safety, and general protection from the weather.
Wash Your Garage Door Panels
Washing and cleaning your garage door is another way to extend the lifespan of your door. Garage doors are vulnerable to the elements, and without regular cleaning, they can corrode. This corrosion is not good for aesthetics and will hurt the door’s integrity. Because of this, washing your door regularly is so important. It will help to keep it looking good and staying functional throughout the years.
You should use an all-purpose cleaner to clean your garage door panels properly. This cleaner helps remove dirt and other grime that has built up, but it will also help prevent corrosion. You can also mix some mild detergent and water to clean your door. However, be sure to avoid abrasive cleaning products or applicators, as these will cause damage. Instead, use zero-grit cleaners and a soft cloth or sponge. After cleaning, rinse with clean water and let dry.
Lubricate Everything
Lubrication is important when you have gears, springs, and cables all working together. Without effective lubrication, these different components can corrode, grind against each other, and potentially even snap. It’s one of the most common ways a garage door can break, so it’s not something you want to encounter.
Routine lubrication is important to maintaining a garage door system because it will keep this corrosion and tension at bay. Also, when you open and close your garage door, these components go to work, and the lubrication helps them perform their jobs. Time and use wear this lubrication down, so checking on it regularly and routinely adding additional lubrication is important. Use a top-quality lubricant to keep your parts in the best shape and avoid premature wear.
Be on the Lookout
Another tip for extending the lifespan of your garage door is to stay observant and be on the lookout for anything strange and unusual. Sometimes, different parts of your home don’t work as they should and make weird sounds. The same is also true for your garage door.
Garage doors should stay somewhat quiet when they’re in use. Some mild noise is okay, but loud scraping and scratching noises are major signs of something wrong. These issues could be with the cables, pulleys, or springs, and if left alone, these elements will inevitably break. Therefore, listen for these noises so you can fix any issues as soon as possible.
Do Repairs Early and Often
Jumping off the last point, when you know something is wrong, don’t let it persist. Take the initiative and fix it as soon as you can. Leaving problems to fester will only put additional strain on your garage door and can significantly decrease its lifespan. Some repairs are simple fixes, such as lubricating or cleaning out the tracks, but other repairs may require more help.
Seek Professional Help
Speaking of more help, getting professional help when you need it is one of the best ways to significantly extend the lifespan of your garage door. You can take care of some of the smaller repairs, but it’s important to hire professionals when you’re unsure what you’re doing. You could end up worsening the issue and prematurely aging your garage door. Instead of letting that happen, contact the professionals. They can fix what’s wrong and potentially pinpoint other problems with your garage door that need immediate fixing.
Extending the lifespan of your garage door is easy once you learn about the different components and how they all interact with each other. If you ever do encounter a serious problem with your garage door, Steel City Garage Doors is here to help! We specialize in garage door repair in Pittsburgh, so we can help keep your doors functional and looking good. You can contact us any day of the week at any time for more information!
