4 DIY Garage Door Maintenance Tips

It is important to have a garage door repair company perform routine maintenance on your garage door. Fixing your door yourself is often a bad idea, and potentially a serious safety hazard. However, there are some maintenance tasks you can do to keep the garage door repairmen at bay, at least for a little while. Here we will cover 4 things that every homeowner can learn to keep their garage door functioning properly for as long as possible. 

The rollers on your garage door can wear down and accumulate lots of debris over time. When this happens, they become sticky and obtrusive to a smoothly opening garage door. To keep your door opening and closing without incident or delay, it is advisable to clean the tracks once every 2 to 3 months. Steps like this take little time and are easy to do, paying dividends in the long run.

To properly clean the tracks:

1. Open your garage door completely to access the vertical parts of the door track.
2. Use a dampened cloth with soap and water to wipe the interior of the lower part of the track. If the debris is difficult to remove, you can spray cleaner directly on the track. Allow it to sit for several minutes and the wipe the area with a cloth.
3. Close your garage door fully. This will allow you access to the upper part of the track.
4. Perform the same technique on the upper part of the track.

After you complete the cleaning process make sure to lubricate the tracks. We recommend using a silicone or lithium-based lubricant. Well-lubricated tracks keep the rollers functioning at optimum capacity and prevent the door from getting stuck when opening and closing.

You can add several years to your garage door’s lifespan when you regularly lubricate the door parts. It is worth taking the time to do this as it prevents the door from deteriorating due to corrosion development. When left alone for too long, these issues can crop up quickly, and before you know it, cause a major issue that can be simply avoided with just a little extra care and attention.

After you have cleaned the door tracks with a lint-free cloth, apply lubricant (lithium or silicone based) to the interior of the garage door tracks and around the rollers. Also make sure to get any moving joints on the surface of the door. Once finished, make sure to wipe up any remaining lubricant as the moisture can attract dust and debris which can clog the joints and slow the movement of the door.

One of the most crucial components of your garage door is the auto-reverse safety mechanism, so it is important that this be tested once per month. This feature is what causes the door to reverse its direction and automatically open whenever it senses an object in its path. This function can save a person’s life, but only if it is working properly of course.

To perform this test:

1. Open the garage door completely.
2. Place a piece of wood or another solid object on the floor in the path of the closing door. (Make sure it doesn’t interrupt the photo-eye sensor’s beam or it will refuse to open.)
3. Activate the garage door to close.
4. When the door touches the object in its path it should reverse upward in no more than 2 seconds. If it does not, it is time to contact a garage door specialist.

The photo-eye sensors are a critical component of your door’s auto-reverse feature, so it is also essential that this be tested once per month.

To perform the photo-eye sensors test:

1. Open the garage door fully. 
2. Place a large object in the path of the closing door.  
3. Activate the garage door using the automatic opener.
4. The door should refuse to close immediately. If it does not contact a garage door repair specialist.

We hope you find these tips helpful. It is always wise to take precautions and care for your appliances as this both saves you money and the trouble of needing to reserve time for repairs. But we know eventually everyone needs some assistance. Don’t hesitate to call us or submit a request for help on our website. We have been aiding the Los Angeles County for 20 years and have encountered every conceivable garage door issue. We will send an expert technician out to your house asap to conduct a multi-point inspection and potentially even fix your door that very day.