Simple Maintenance to Prolong the Life of Your Garage Door

A garage door becomes squeaky and loud when it is poorly maintained. The noisy sound from the garage door is a clear sign it was not greased regularly or properly, and unless action is taken it could lead to more serious damage later.

As soon as you notice loud noises coming from your door, you need to call a professional specializing in garage door maintenance in Perth to fix it. But is there anything you can do to stop it from happening again? Prevention is key and you undoubtedly should learn the tips and tricks to help extend the life of your garage door. Fortunately, most issues can be easily prevented with proper lubrication and garage door maintenance easy routines.

Here are our step-by-step tips to prolong the life of your garage door.

Clean Garage Door Tracks are a Must

1. You need to access the moving parts and tracks of the garage door. You can do this by closing the garage door either manually or with the remote opener. 
2. After closing the garage door, you need to cut the power to ensure it is not connected with the power source. Check the circuit box and turn off the control breaker of the garage door, if the garage door’s opener plug is unable to reach or it’s hard-wired.
3. Get a clean, damp cloth and wipe the dust and debris off the tracks. Clean the interior part of both tracks with an automotive brake cleaner to avoid the rollers getting stuck. This part does not need lubrication, however, you want to ensure everything is well-cleaned, to ensure the door can operate properly.
4. Advanced cleaning is important to get the dirt and debris out of the tracks. You need a hose extension for the vacuum cleaner to reach all the dirt and debris from the tracks. This solution will give you a better result as it cleans the parts that are hard to reach.

Choosing the Right Lubricants

1. People commonly use spray WD-40 to lubricate the garage door parts, however, this is much more useful in cleaning the metal parts and protecting from rust, but not lubrication. Opt for a white, lithium-based, greased or a silicone spray as proper choices for lubricating the moving parts of the garage door. Certain garage door greases are also available, and they are specifically made for garage door lubrication. We advise against using oil.
2. Lube and grease for garage doors usually come in the form of an aerosol or spray can, which is suitable for small moving parts and does not attract dirt or dust. Meanwhile, the oil will result in a buildup of dust and dirt and is likely to drip more than the garage door lube.

Regularly Lubricate the Moving Parts

• Bearing Plates and Springs. 

The springs are located at the top of the garage door and bearing plates are the circular parts that move on both sides of the springs. Make sure to get a stepladder to help you reach the springs. Lubricate them if they are making noises by spraying the exterior of the spring and the centre of the bearing plates. Then you should operate the garage door to spread the lubricant evenly. However, if the garage door’s spring is damaged, better to ask for assistance with garage door maintenance before continuing to lubrication process.

• Hinges. 

Open the door and lubricate the steel part of the hinges by lifting the garage door manually, then spray one by one the areas where the hinge meets the track’s bend. Remember to avoid spraying the plastic parts since they do not need lubrication. One or two sprays per hinge will help smoothen the opening and closing of the garage door.

• Rollers. 

Make sure to lubricate the rollers – the circular moving parts on the garage door that are connected to each hinge. Lubricate the small ball bearings inside the rollers thoroughly by using a spray connected to a small hose and avoid spraying the nylon parts. Then wipe any excess lubricant that is dripping.

• Locks. 

Lubricate the lock by pointing the spray into the keyhole and spray once. Then move to the top part of the door to lubricate the armbar. This will make your job easier every time you lock the garage door as the lubricant will prevent rust formation for a long time.

After every moving part is lubricated properly, operate the garage door several times to spread the grease evenly. If you still hear noisy sounds coming from the garage door, recheck once more if there is a moving part that was missed. If the noises still occur continuously, consider contacting professional garage door maintenance for a more substantial repair.