Garage doors are becoming the new front door. It is because they are widely used and are becoming the best access point to the house.
An American Housing Survey showed that 80 percent of homeowners in the US, and 75 percent of new construction houses of 5 years old or less, have a garage. Also, 45 percent of American homeowners with garages say they use the garage door to enter their homes.
However, garage doors may not be given much thought in comparison with other household systems. How’d you ensure that your garage door’s in excellent shape? Let’s give you some ideas.
Cleaning
Garage doors need to be cleaned regularly. A gentle wash with water and a mild liquid soap does all the magic to keep the interior and exterior surfaces of your garage doors dirt-free. After washing, you can apply wax to protect the door’s finish.
Adopting a good culture of keeping your tools in the right places and wiping off the dust from safety eyes contributes to a clean and efficient door. Clean as often as possible to have your garage door in top shape.
If you detect any surface rust, contact the Ideal Garage Doors for inspections and repairs.
Inspections
Checks are necessary to have your garage door in top shape. They don’t aim to find fault but at preventing defects and the costs incurred in fixing them.
Regularly inspect all areas of your garage door. It would be best if you examined your rollers, cables, nuts, and bolts. Also, look at the presence of anything impeding the motion of your doors, or obscuring its sensors. Uncluttered lines should be quickly identified and cluttered.
Taking regular stock and records also helps during inspections and even when professionals must do significant maintenance work. That way, all minor maintenance work done in the past can be seen to give a better indication for better maintenance.
Lubrication
Machines love to be lubricated. So, regularize your greasing activity, and look out for the differences in the lubricants required for metal and rubber parts, respectively.
Your rollers, bearings, hinges, and other moving parts need lubrication to keep the opening and closing motion of your garage door in sound check. However, not all the details of your garage door need lubrication. Therefore, it’s essential to wipe off any excess grease to prevent it from accumulating dirt.
Testing
Testing your garage door helps you to know its health, especially after maintenance activity. In addition, the safety feature on modern garages allows an immediate reversal if the door encounters an obstacle while closing.
To test this, you can obscure the photo eye sensors of your garage door and observe the door’s automatic response by reversal. Or, you can place a plank of wood in the way while it’s closing. You would notice that it would respond with a reverse motion.
You should also check your remote control’s battery strength and proximity efficiency regularly.
Weather Stripping
Weather strips line the sides and bottom jambs of your garage door. It protects your door against cold, water, and dust entry. For a top-shaped garage door, the weather stripping at all door panels, especially at the bottom, should be checked.
Over time, weather stripping can develop a tear, can dry out, or fall out. In that case, you should consider replacing it. We advise that you check the condition of your garage door’s weather stripping at least twice a year.
Final Words
In this article, we’ve shown you that keeping your garage door in top shape isn’t so difficult. The ideas we’ve discussed above: Cleaning, Inspections, Lubrication, Testing, and Weather Stripping, are important to keep these doors working. So, pay attention to them, and you’ll achieve just that.