The Door People at Overhead Door Company want to be your resource for quality installation and service when it comes to your overhead door(s). When cold weather sets in, it can take its toll on the performance of your garage door. As a result, here are a few helpful pointers we share with our customers to help you make sure your garage door is ready for winter!
Here’s what The Door People recommend:
- Check your brush weather strip/seal before cold weather sets in
If you look around the perimeter of your garage door, you’ll probably see either weather strips of brush or vinyl that is in place. It prevents the warm air, which you’ve already paid for if you have an attached garage or heated garage, from escaping outside. When you have extreme temperature differences the way we do in Minnesota and Iowa, making sure your weather strip and seal at the bottom of your garage door are in good shape is vital. If you have an insulated garage door, the brush weather strip works in conjunction to enhance the overall performance of your garage door. Brush weather strip is inexpensive, easy to replace and well worth your investment! Overhead Door Company stocks many types and sizes of brush weather strip and vinyl. We can help you determine which kind is the best for your garage door.
- Check the photo eyes
They should be 6” off of the floor, aligned properly and the green/yellow LED’s should be lit. A photo eye obstruction test should be performed to make sure they are functioning properly.
- Do a safety reversal test
Make sure your garage door reverses its direction if it closes and something is in the way of its path. You can test this by placing a towel or a 2×4 board on the ground where the door closes.
- Lubricate moving parts
Keeping the moving parts of your garage door properly lubricated is essential in preventing problems and abnormal wear. Rollers and hinges should be lubricati, but not the actual track that your door runs up and down on.
- Check Cables/Safety Cables/Drums
Look for any fraying or abnormal wear with cables. If your garage door has extension springs, the garage door professional should be making sure the safety cables are properly installed. These safety cables are important because they prevent an extension spring from flying off and causing potential harm and damage if it breaks.
- Check rollers, hinges and track
Make sure they don’t show abnormal wear, rusting, and are free from debris, etc.
- Check condition of operator cable or operator belt
Your garage door operator is the device that is usually attached to your ceiling that runs your garage door up and down. If you have a chain garage door operator, the garage door technician needs to check the condition of the cable it uses. If you have a belt drive operator, the same evaluation needs to take place with the belt that operates it.
With all of this being said, we do recommend annual maintenance on your garage door(s). Often times we don’t hear from homeowners until they have a problem with their garage door. We certainly are here for you when that happens, in fact we offer 24/7 emergency service for both businesses and homeowners for that reason. However, we do recommend being proactive with annual maintenance. It gives a garage door technician the opportunity to find abnormal wear or to address warning signs before a problem occurs.