If you’re like most homeowners or business owners, you may not know exactly what takes place when you call an overhead door professional to come and “service” your residential garage door(s) or commercial overhead door(s). It can be similar to knowing the details of when we take our vehicles into the shop to be “serviced”.
The Door People at Overhead Door Company want their customers to be informed of what takes place during their general service/maintenance calls. They recommend general service/maintenance on your garage once a year. Oftentimes homeowners don’t think about this until they actually have a problem with their garage door. What we have found is that there are many things we can evaluate and do on an annual basis that can help problems from occurring in the future. We also think it’s important for you to know what is being done when you pay for general service and maintenance to your garage door!
Here’s a list of what a garage/overhead door professional should be accomplishing during a preventive maintenance visit to your home:
- 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.
- Safety reversal test. Make sure your garage door reverses its direction if it closes and something is in the way of its path.
- Adjust Spring Tension if needed.
- 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.
- Adjust the lock/lock rod. If you have a garage door that you open and close manually with a handle on the outside, your lock and lock rod may need to be adjusted.
- Lubricate moving parts. Keeping the moving parts of your garage door properly lubricated is essential in preventing problems and abnormal wear. They should be lubricating rollers and hinges, but not the actual track that your door runs up and down on.
- Brush weather strip/seal. If you look around the perimeter of your garage door, you’ll probably notice 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 Iowa and Minnesota, 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. We are here to help.
- 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.
- Make sure your wall button is working. This is self-explanatory, but we know how important it is to make sure your wall button works! Nothing is more frustrating than needing to rely on it and finding out it doesn’t run your garage door up or down. Plus other family members, like your children who may not have or use a garage door remote, tend to rely on the wall button to get in and out of the garage on a regular basis.
- Make sure your wireless keypad is working. A lot of homeowners rely on their wireless keypad for access to their garage. It’s important to make sure this garage door accessory works for the same reasons we mentioned above regarding your wall button! It’s all about convenience while keeping safety and security in mind.
- Perform a transmitter check. In other words, make sure your garage door remotes work!
- Check the limit switch. The garage door technician should operate your door up and down and make sure it’s opening and closing all the way. If it stops short of opening all the way, or even opens up too far, the limit switch needs adjustment.
All of these items are important for the smooth operation and lifetime of your garage door and operator. They need to be evaluated on a regular basis. Overhead Door Company believes it’s important to know what a garage door technician checks and finds during a general service call. The homeowner or business owner should know what they are investing in by scheduling that call, and also should know what the results are.
If you’d like to schedule preventive service for your garage door, click the location links below to contact your local Overhead Door today!
