When spring arrives, it’s a good idea to make sure the winter weather hasn’t taken its toll on your garage door. Preparing your garage door for spring ensures that it’ll work properly for the next several months so you won’t have to face any unexpected problems.
Here are some different ways you can prep your garage door for the spring season.
Check Your Garage Door Equipment for Wear and Tear
Look out for these problems with your garage door:
- Frayed cables: Cables need to be intact to keep the garage door in the tracks. Frayed cables should be replaced right away to maintain a safe operating environment for your door.
- Rusty metal parts: If your tracks, screws, rollers, bolts, springs or hinges are rusty, contact Consolidated Garage Doors for repairs
- Cracked or damaged panels: Panels need to be replaced right away to ensure safety with the operation of your garage door
- Loose bolts or screws in the track brackets: Tight bolts and screws keep the track in place, so your garage door operates better.
- Worn weatherstripping: Check the weatherstrip along with the perimeter of your garage door. An intact weatherstrip is a seal around the entire door to prevent elements from getting into your garage.
- Bent tracks: Any bent or damaged tracks should be repaired or replaced immediately.
*If you are experiencing any of these issues with your garage door, contact Consolidated Garage Doors for professional services and repairs
Run Safety Tests
Before performing any of these tests, please check your owner’s manual or your manufacturer’s website for a copy of the owner’s manual.
Test the safety features of your garage door to make sure they’re working correctly, including:
- Auto-reverse: The auto-reverse function makes the garage door operate in reverse if it hits something, which keeps people, cars, bikes and other objects safe. Make sure your garage door auto reverses by waving an object in the path of the photo-eye sensors
- Emergency release: The emergency release cord disconnects the trolley from the opener carriage, so you can manually open and close the garage door. We recommend going to your owner’s manual to see how to properly connect and disconnect
*If you are experiencing any of these issues with the operation of your garage door, contact Consolidated Garage Doors for professional services and repairs
Prepare for Power Outages
The springtime is known for severe weather that can cause power outages. Make sure your garage door will remain operational by using the manual release lever to disengage (*see owner’s manual) the opener from the garage. You can also rely on backup batteries of your DC opener if you have them.
Do a Garage Spring Cleaning
Since your garage door opens to the outdoors, it’s constantly exposed to harsh elements, particularly in the wintertime. Your garage can fill with dirt, grime and dust, which can affect the components of your garage door. Clean your garage door inside and out to remove these contaminants and improve its appearance.
A thorough garage spring cleaning includes:
- Cleaning the outside of the garage door: Rinse the grime off your garage door with a hose. Then, wash the door with water, dish soap and a soft brush or rag, starting at the top and working your way down. Finish with another rinse to wash the soap suds off.
- Cleaning the inside of the garage door: Dust off the sections of your door, clear away cobwebs and sweep the floor. Use hot soapy water to get the floor clean, and use a hose with low pressure on tough stains.
Remember to avoid cleaning moving parts with water because it could cause the parts to rust or get damaged.
Prep Your Garage Door for Spring With Consolidated Garage Doors
While you can do some maintenance on your own, an experienced professional should perform the more complicated services. If you have any concerns about your garage door, call a professional. They can do some basic maintenance and identify and repair problems with the garage door or its mechanisms. Using Consolidated Garage Doors to prep your garage door for spring prevents future emergency problems and saves money.
Consolidated Garage Doors has been SOLID since 1976®, helping local homeowners with their garage door maintenance, repairs, and replacements. Our garage door services cover all your spring preparation needs, including:
- Strut repair.
- Panel repair.
- Cable repair.
- Garage door window inserts.
- Hinge repair.
- Roller replacement.
- Spring repair.
Consolidated Garage Doors provides SOLID SERVICE, SOLID SALES and SOLID PRODUCTS for St. Charles, Geneva, Batavia and the surrounding areas. Request service for your garage door online or contact us for more information.