Garage door maintenance & upkeep involves just a little time & being on the lookout for potential problems to keep them from becoming big ones. A properly installed garage door will need little maintenance & should give you few problems in it’s lifetime.
Basic Lubrication
- I recommend using regular WD-40 on the springs once a year. A coat of light oil not only makes it look better but a rusty spring will have less life. This is a often overlooked part of garage door maintenance & upkeep.
- Lubricating rollers usually isn’t necessary. Those without ball bearings can’t be lubricated & most with ball bearings are sealed. A non-sealed ball bearing roller (most are sealed) may be lubed every 5-10 years if they look dry but these rollers will usually outlast a door. WD-40 isn’t the best choice for this, if it is even possible. Use a lithium spray.
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If your garage door opener has a one piece rail & it’s dry use a light grease like LiftMaster Rail Grease. Without making things to complicated you can grab something off the shelf like a light grease such as Vaseline.
- Multi-piece square opener rails like those sold in Lowe’s or Home Depot need no lubrication.
- Chain on chain drive openers & screw drives really needs no maintenance.
- After 10 years or so I will sometimes spray a light coat of WD-40 on the door track.
- Never use grease on door tracks. It only attracts dirt & looks very messy.
- For squeaky hinges occasionally spray silicone or garage door lube (which is mostly silicone) on the hinges. WD-40 leaves a oily residue that attracts dirt.
Garage Door Rollers
I’ve heard it said a few times that the light duty plastic rollers (without ball bearings) typical on most doors today may last 5-10 years. The truth is they rarely fail under normal conditions. In years past the cheaper light duty metal rollers with ball bearings (like in the picture) on older doors commonly go bad. Nylon 10 ball rollers are the best.
Look for excessive wear or play with the rollers…IF THE ROLLER AT THE VERY BOTTOM OF THE DOOR COMES OFF, THE PANEL WILL COME OFF THE TRACK POSSIBLE INJURING SOMEONE OR CAUSING PROPERTY DAMAGE. The bottom roller usually will be under the most stress & will wear the most.
Prevent Small Problems From Becoming Large Ones!
This is the most important part of garage door maintenance & upkeep. Stay aware of any problems & take care of them when they are still small problems.
- Do a visual inspection with the door closed. Does the door & track have equal spacing from the top to the bottom? Is the track parallel with each other all the way up & down? Do the same with it open & see if the track up top & door are parallel.
- Does the door travel up & down easily without binding? If not the track may need realignment.
- Look & feel the rollers. Are they worn & do they wobble? The bottom roller is the most prone to wear.
- Look for frayed cables.
- VERY IMPORTANT. For doors with the spring on a torsion tube (see picture left). With the door all the way up, is there slack in the cable? If so it may come off the drum & then your door will be a best be stuck or possibly, a major disaster. Call us & we can put a little more tension on the spring.
- Do you have any kinked or bent panels? Does the panel bind when it turns at the top of the Door? A reinforcing strut seen in the picture will fix this. Take care of this early before any more damage happens.
In my opinion it is a waste of money for the consumer to purchase a regular garage door maintenance plan for a residential home. If a garage door contractor tries to sell you this don’t do business with them.
In summary garage door maintenance is just a little lubrication & taking care of small problems before they become large ones.
We are happy to answer any & all questions. Even those regarding you fixing your door your self! I service Nashville, Antioch, Brentwood, Clarksville, Dickson & all middle TN.