With the leaves coming down and the temperatures dropping, it’s only a matter of time before we find ourselves in the thick of winter. You take precautions to ready the fireplace, get the kids bundled up, and check the car battery, but what about your garage door?
As a piece of mechanical equipment that you and your family rely on every day, garage doors deserve their own set of winterizing rules. After all, the last thing you want to encounter during your busy morning routine is a garage door that’s frozen shut.
Luckily, Precision Door knows some garage maintenance tips you can put into play now that will save you time and money when winter hits. Check them out below.
1. Replace Old Batteries
Cold temps can wreak havoc on just about any battery-powered device. If it’s been a while since you changed the batteries in your garage door remotes, autumn is the ideal time to test them and replace as needed.
2. Check Seals and Weather Stripping
The corners, bottom, and sides of your garage door are most prone to letting in cold air and its icy accompaniments. They also can cause a climb in your home heating bill over the winter when left unattended.
If your door already has seals in place, check their condition, ensuring that the seals are tight to the door and wall (or floor) and that there are no signs of cracking or weathering.
3. Check the Drive Track
The drive track ensures that the garage door safely and efficiently travels from closed to open and vice versa. However, after repetitive use, the track can become damaged or obstructed.
Before the winter storm season, do your due diligence to make sure that the track is clear and that the door is running along the rails as it should.
4. Lubricate Parts
As intricate systems of metal moving parts, garage doors need lubrication to work smoothly. Look to your garage door system’s owner’s manual for detailed lubrication information and, if you can, have a certified garage door technician help you with any necessary winterizing.
5. Don’t Let Your Garage Door Hibernate
When everybody’s home on winter vacation and the weather outside is frightful, it’s easier to stay inside and bundle up. But simply continuing to use your garage door as you normally would throughout the winter is going to help its parts stay responsive and ready for action.
When a lot of snow comes down, make sure that you unbury your garage door to keep things from freezing up!
Get Your Door Winter Weather Ready
In the winter, dealing with the weather can be a mitten-full. Put these maintenance tips in play now and you can have less to worry about and more to enjoy over the winter.
Ready to begin ticking off these maintenance items but not sure what to watch out for? Read our Homeowner’s Guide to Garage Door Repairs to get a better understanding of how your garage door works and how to ID the most common operation issues.