In 30 minutes, Add YEARS of Life to Your Garage Door!

At Advanced Garage Doors, we want to help keep your garage door running so well that it might just outlive you. In order to keep your door running at its prime, we suggest a few easy-peasy maintenance items you can keep on an eye on. 

Why Maintain my Door?

Your average garage door will go up and down one-thousand times per year; that’s some hard yakka. Taking care of your door will reduce wear and tear, keep it quiet, and ensure its longevity will make the Queen jealous. Not only that, but let’s face it, repairing a garage door can get pricey. Preventative measures such as inspecting wear and tear, keeping the right parts lubricated, and keeping your door spick and span can increase the lifespan of all those moving parts.

Over time dust, debris and rust can start to build up on your door if you don’t keep a careful eye on it. This can cause parts to need to be replaced all too soon, or cause spontaneous system failure (and an excuse to be late to work that day).

If you live in an area close to salt water like we do here on the Gold Coast, this becomes all the more important. Salty air and water increases the rate of wear and tear, and the closer you live to the sea the more regularly you should be checking and cleaning your garage.

What Sort of Maintenace Should I Do?

First and foremost, keep your door clean. We suggest giving the main door a wipe down with warm soapy water (standard cleaning detergent does the job), and give it a rinse off with the hose. When doing this, take care to avoid the moving parts of the garage, as we don’t want to cause any rust. If you have a wooden door it’s going to require a little bit more love and an occasional refinishing to keep her looking her best. Check your wooden door doesn’t have any warping or water damage. Check your steel door for rust spots that might need a little sanding, priming, and painting.

On the rest of your door (mostly the moving parts) we recommend first using automotive cleaning spray. This type of spray isn’t going to cause rust, unlike water. After that, we want to give our moving parts a good ol’ bit of lubricant. Your lube is multi-purpose; it will keep everything sliding silky smoothly, and it will create a protective layer to stop rust. We recommend using a non-silicone based lubricant like THIS ONE, but make sure you avoid the garage tracks. Lubricant is super important for the springs and bearings, but if you get it in the tracks you could cause the door to slip out of place or change it’s balance, and rather than caring for your door you might end up doing some damage. 

If you see any red parts or any parts with a safety tag, leave it to the professionals. These parts are under high tension, and can be dangerous if used or moved improperly. 

Regular safety checks are also very important. Make sure you know what the up to date safety features are, and that yours are working well. There are two main mechanisms used by different garage doors for auto-stopping or auto-reverse. One is a photocell sensor, which will stop or reverse your garage door’s movement if you swing an item through it briefly. The other is a mechanical sensor, which will stop or reverse if it makes contact with an item. We suggest using a bit of wood and giving it a test.

After you’ve checked the sensors, inspect the screws and bolts. Are they tight? Does your emergency switch work? Do these checks regularly to ensure everything is functioning as it should.

If parts are failing or in need of changing and you fancy yourself a bit of a DIY master, you can replace some of these yourself. Other parts, such as a torsion spring, should only be changed by a qualified professional. If you’re unsure about whether it’s a job for you or the pros feel free to give us a call and we would be happy to help you. 

So Keep Her Squeaky Clean!

With just 30 minutes a year you can add years of seamless operation to your garage door. If you’ve got a love affair with DIY, keep your door clean, watch for wear and tear, and keep your safety features up to date to keep your garage door happy as a pig in mud. And if DIY sounds more like torture than an afternoon well spent, give us a call. At Advanced Garage Doors our motto is no problem is too big, or too small. 

No matter what your needs are, we’ve got you covered.

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