With the winter months quickly descending on us, we thought we’d share our top 5 tips on maintaining your garage doors so that you don’t get caught out in the inclement weather!
We know that garage door winter maintenance is probably not at the top of your ‘to do’ list, but as they say ‘a stitch in time saves nine’ and by paying a little attention to your garage doors now, will save you heaps of inconvenience in the future.
So, here’s our top 5 tips on garage door winter maintenance:
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Regular cleaning of your garage doors
It’s pretty obvious really, but you’d be surprised how many people have new, super duper garage doors installed and then never even give them a second look!
By cleaning down your garage doors, you’ll soon see any marks, scuffs, dents or mechanical hiccups that can be easily rectified. Perhaps the paint is peeling in some areas, or you’ve noticed some rust spots coming through. By dealing with them in a timely fashion, you can stop them becoming a major eye sore as well as negating the pain and effort required to paint the whole door!
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Lubrication!
Just imagine the scenario – it’s blowing a gale, the temperature’s below freezing and your garage door is stuck halfway up. It’s just given up the ghost and try as you might, you can neither push it up or pull it down! No-one wants to be in that scenario (unless you’re a masochist, obviously!)
But with a little bit of diligence and a can of WD40, you can make sure that your garage door mechanics won’t let you down. Just spray a little lubrication on the metal work and you’ll soon have garage doors that don’t creak and effortlessly glide open and shut at your whim!
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Check the weather seal
The weather seal is fitted between the top of the garage door and the door frame to prevent draughts and to conserve heat within the garage itself. It’s worth checking that these are in good order, with no cracking or splitting. Check that they aren’t letting valuable heat escape through any gaps that may have appeared. It’s worth replacing them if this is the case.
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Check the garage door balance
The balance of the garage doors is important for many reasons. The balance is dependent on the springs that support the door and keep it in place with minimal up and downward movement. If the door feels heavy on opening, then the springs are too loose. Or if the garage door tries to open again after you’ve closed it, then the springs are too strong.
The balance of the doors affects the door opener handle. If the doors are unbalanced, then the opener will have to work harder to lift the extra load it wasn’t built to do. This, in turn can lead to damage of the main handle, snapped cables and broken springs.
Just a simple check of the garage door balance can save you a lot of hassle in the long run!
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Check your batteries!
If you have a garage door system that runs with a remote control, then it’s always a good idea to check the batteries in the control. Simple, but it’s quite often an overlooked part of general maintenance. Nobody wants to get home in the freezing cold and gale force wind to find that they have to manually lift their garage door. That’d be sure to put anyone in a bad mood!
So there you have it, our top 5 tips on garage door winter maintenance. We are Hipwoods Garage Doors – our team serves clients in Worcestershire, Gloucestershire, Wiltshire and Herefordshire. If you need some help or advice, take a look at our website www.hipwoodsgaragedoors.com or give us a call on 01452 539 455 – we’d be happy to help!