11 Garage Door Maintenance Tips So You Will Never Be Late Again!

House , Tips and Troubleshooting   Brett Rowley  | 10 March 2022

Allow me to set the scene for you: 

It’s a brisk winter’s morning. Silver mist starts crawling off the soft, boggy quagmires in your garden and through a cracked window, filling your bedroom with the smells of fresh-dew and frost. You pull the covers further up your neck. Not even the birds have gotten out of their beds yet. 

Warm and wanting to be undisturbed, you groggily hit the snooze button because you’re far too comfortable in your bed. Then you hit it again, and then again… and again. 

Before you know it you’re running late to work! You’ve frantically gotten ready to go, and with your toast still hanging from your mouth like a dog’s tongue you try to open your garage… But it will not open.

Now you’ve gone from a bit late to really, really late and it’s all because you can’t even get your car out of your garage.

All of this can be avoided if you follow and stick to a simple maintenance regiment that will prevent your garage from breaking down. By using these 11 garage door maintenance tips, you will make sure you never, ever get put in these sticky situations again! 

 

A Quick Word On What Maintenance Actually Is

Is maintenance replacing every moving part of the garage every 4 weeks so it never breaks down? Absolutely not! That would not only be ridiculously time consuming, but also very expensive. 

Maintenance, more than anything, is about conducting regular inspections of your product and only replacing things when they noticeably need to be. Servicing the problem before the door breaks will save you time and money. 

So, these 11 tips are more or less the things you should look out for in your inspections, and when you should start replacing them. 

 

Tip 1: Stop And Listen To What Your Garage Has To Say

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking that because you don’t know what you’re doing, trying to inspect your garage is pointless. I know you’re much more intuitive than that!

A simple thing you can do is to listen to your garage while it’s running. Listen for any peculiar noises or crunching parts. If you can hear something, have a look to see if you can diagnose the problem. You never know, you might be able to fix it yourself. 

Otherwise, if you can’t fix it yourself or you’re not comfortable with doing it yourself, call a professional for garage door servicing in Perth to come and fix the problem. 

 

Tip 2: Perfectly Balanced, As All Things Should Be

Is your garage door balanced? What is garage door balance? Don’t worry, we won’t dive into the why and how a garage door is balanced, that might overwhelm you. But you still need to check it. 

To check if your garage door is balanced, disconnect the opener and manually move the door to about halfway. 

  • If the door stays in place, it is balanced
  • If it moves on its own, it is unbalanced and you should fix it 

Balancing a garage door is out of depth for most people. So if you need your garage door balanced, you should call a professional. 

 

Tip 3: Don’t Let Your Remote Die On You

It might seem self-explanatory, but if you let your remote door opener run out of juice it’s going to be a lot harder to get into your garage. 

This problem will be especially true if you’re slightly shorter or elderly and you can’t pull the manual quick release to get your garage open. 

Make sure you replace your batteries often. Check with your garage door provider or your company for roller door repair in Perth, they should be able to tell you how often you need to replace your batteries. 

 

Tip 4: Keep The Weather Seal In Good-Nick 

What’s a weather seal? Unfortunately it isn’t an aquatic mammal reading today’s forecast with a little umbrella and a hat, but instead is the rubber foot at the bottom of your garage door. 

It’s important to keep this in good condition because it’s responsible for keeping rain, wind, and dust out of your garage. This is especially important if you have collectable cars or live by the ocean where salt can get in and rust your things. 

You can replace your weather seal here. 

 

Tip 5: Don’t Let The Mechanism Dry Up

If you don’t keep the moving parts of your garage lubricated it will be: 

  • As loud as a snoring giant 
  • Likely to break, crunch and warp

The lubrication allows the garage to move freely with less stress. Without it, your garage will work twice as hard and wear out as quickly. It shouldn’t be a problem for you to keep your garage lubricated yourself, but if in doubt ask a professional. 

 

Tip 6: What Do Your Cables And Springs Look Like? 

Take a quick look at the cables and springs of your garage door, particularly if it’s an electric sectional garage door. What do they look like? If they’re looking frayed and underfed, call out a professional to take a look, they might need to be replaced. 

 

Tip 7: Is Your Garage Safe? 

You should test the auto-reverse feature of your garage door from time to time. Put something under your garage and see if it comes back up with little load. If it does not you will want to adjust the downforce. 

Alternatively, if your garage regularly springs back up for no reason, the down force could be too light. Call out a garage door specialist to adjust this. 

 

Tip 8: Rust And Corrosion Isn’t Good 

Your doors will rust over time. It is inevitable. You need to do your best to try and stay on top of the rust, clean it, and remove it. Take these steps: 

  1. Find the rust
  2. Sand over the top of it and remove the surface layer
  3. Prime the spot 
  4. Paint the area

 

Tip 9: Keep The Door Clean 

Let’s look at the example of your car. If you leave it to be indefinitely dirty and never clean it, it definitely won’t last as long. You need to apply the same logic to your garage door. 

Give your garage a regular clean with lightly soapy water, making sure you get in between all of the tracks. 

 

Tip 10: Keep Debris Away From Your Garage Door 

Having debris in and around your garage door will add to the clutter and generally make your garage less hygienic. The more stuff that is in there the harder it will become to clean. 

Regularly sweep in and around your garage to keep the debris away. 

 

Tip 11: FINAL TIP!

Going back to the car example, you get your car serviced regularly, and you should also get your garage serviced regularly. Your garage is a working machine that needs just as much care as your car. Doing so will prevent it from breaking. 

 

Where To Get Your Garage Door Serviced? 

Gryphon Garage Doors is one of the best garage door companies in Perth, and have been helping Australians protect their homes and commercial spaces in stylish ways for over 25 years. Why is this important? Well it means we’ve come across countless different jobs, and have had to overcome each one. So no matter your situation, you gotta get a Gryphon. We have:

  • Finger proof safety 
  • Quietest motors on the market 
  • Trained professionals 
  • Customised products
  • Warranty up to 7 years!
  • After sales service

Your garage broke down and you need it to open ASAP? Not a problem! Give us a call and we will try our best to get to you today and open your space! But before you do, try these troubleshooting techniques. 

Brett Rowley

Brett is a garage door expert who also runs Gryphon Garage Doors. He strives for great customer service, excellent product knowledge and constant innovation.