How to Maintain Your Home's Garage Door
A high-quality garage door should last for many years, if not even decades, before it needs any type of repair work or outright replacement. However, maintaining that garage door properly can easily extend the life of its hardware, and ensure it stays quiet as it operates. Note a few simple tips you'll want to consider for maintaining your home's garage door and for keeping it in good working order for as long as you own your home.
Weather-stripping
Many garage doors will come with weather-stripping around the edges, and along the bottom of the door, to ensure a tight seal when the door is closed. This cuts down on cold and heat getting into the garage, and also cushions the door as it opens and closes, so there is less risk of damage to the door and to the doorframe itself. This weather-stripping wears off over the years and should be replaced as needed; inspect it annually or even a few times during the year, and scrape away any old foam that is torn or thin, replacing it with new foam.
Check its level
If a garage door's chains, track, or other such pieces get slightly damaged in any way, the door may start to hang a bit crooked. If not corrected, this can mean undue weight and pressure on one side of the door or the other, so that the chains and other pieces are more likely to wear out or break.
You can use a carpenter's level along the side of the door to check if they're crooked; for a tilt door, open it slightly and then use the carpenter's level on the top of the door to see if it's hanging crooked. Tighten the chains or use the level to check the angle of the tracks, and adjust those as needed, to keep the door straight and even.
Lubrication
Giving a garage door tracks and the metal parts overhead a quick spray of lubricant can keep those pieces moving as they should, but be careful about using too much lubricant. If the rollers of the door or the chain and other such parts are overly lubricated, they could allow the door to open too quickly, which might be dangerous. The chains and springs might also not have enough traction or grip to actually open the door properly, and this might put added stress on those parts. Add some lubricant every year or as often as recommended by the door's manufacturer, but don't add too much, so that the garage door stays properly maintained over time.
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