4 Tips to Tuneup Your Garage Door this Spring – Part 2

In Part 1 of 4 Tips to Tuneup Your Garage Door this Spring, we talked about the importance of keeping your garage door and door opener operating smoothly and safely, and we looked how to inspect both for problems.

Here are three more tips to keep your garage door operating at peak efficiency this summer.

1. Check that The Door’s Safety Systems are Working

Your garage door is probably equipped with two safety systems. One stops the door and reverses it if the door strikes anything while it is closing. The other, the safety sensors, stops and reverses the door if anything interrupts the signal between the photo eyes located on either side of the door frame.

To check the garage door’s safety sensors, get an empty cardboard box that you do not need. Put the box on the driveway just outside the open garage door. Stand on the side of the box away from the door with a stick or something to push the box. Start the door closing and push the box between the photo eyes. When you do, the door should stop in its path and reverse.

To check the system that reverses if the door strikes anything while closing, with the door open, place a short 2 x 4 piece of wood on the garage floor where the door touches the floor when it’s closed. Stand away from the path of the door. Use the remote control for the garage door opener to close the door. The door should stop and reverse when it hits the 2 x 4.

2. Inspect the Door’s Seals

Your garage door has weather seals between each panel, along the bottom of the door and around the outside frame of the door. They should all be in place and undamaged to keep your garage well-insulated.

3. Lubricate the Door

Like an oil and lube for your car, this will keep your door running like a well-oiled (lubricated!) machine.

For metal on metal moving parts, like the hinges (never the surface of the rollers in the roller tracks) use a petroleum-based lubricant.

For weather seals and stripping between the door panels and all around the door, use a silicone-based lubricant.

Good luck with your garage door tuneup! If you spot anything that doesn’t seem right, or you need any other help or garage door services, call us at 905-665-8668.