Even if your garage door is already insulated and has seals or weather-stripping around its edges, it’s important to double-check your garage door when winter arrives. Insulation degrades over time, and garage door seals and weather-stripping lose their ability to keep out cold air and moisture.

Inspect the Garage Door Springs:

• Disable your garage door opener before performing this task; you do this by pulling on the emergency cord.
• Then open the garage door manually.
• If you found this easy to do with one hand, then the springs are in great working order. If it was difficult to open, you will want to determine the cause.
• Do not try to fix this yourself as it can cause serious injury; Call us for all installations, repairs, and adjustments to your garage door torsion springs.

Take A Look At the Weather Stripping:

You want to make sure that the weather-stripping on the outside of your garage door frame is adequately functioning. Garage door seals and weather-stripping can be used to close those gaps in order to insulate your garage more effectively.

If you notice any damage or stripping itself has hardened because of heat exposure, you will want to replace it. The cracks will allow wind, cold air, snow, ice and rain to seep into the garage, where they can wreak havoc.

Metal Parts Need To Be Lubricated:

You will want to give each of the metal parts of your door proper lubrication prior to winter’s arrival. This includes the springs, track, and rollers.

• To begin, take a dry cloth and remove any old lubricant from past applications, as well as any dust that might be present. A lubricant that is oil-based, such as 10W-30 motor oil, is recommended.
• Apply the lubricant sparingly, and wipe away any of the excesses with a cloth.
• Avoid using products like WD-40. Those products are degreasers and not lubricants, so they would not work well on your garage door. Stay away from using grease, particularly on the tracks.

Winter has to be the worst season for a garage door to get stuck open or your automatic opener decided to quit right before a rainstorm. Count on Over the Top Garage Door Service for a complete garage door tune-up service this winter, and ensure your home is ready for the cold months ahead. The 14 point inspection and door adjustment can save you time, money and frustration before the cold weather comes.

Our Recent Garage Door Installation in Albuquerque’s North East Heights

The cool winter climate takes a toll on the operation of garage doors. Many homeowners experience more garage door problems in winter than in any other season. As winter approaches, there is the need to tune-up your garage door so that it remains in perfect conditions during the cold winter months.

Tips to help you prepare your garage door for winter

Insulate Your Garage Door:

Insulating your garage door is one of the essential winter tune-up tasks in preparing your garage door for the cold climate. The garage door is most likely the largest door in your home and it contributes significantly to the indoor temperature. An insulated garage door is very efficient during winter. It reduces your heating bill and maintains a warm temperature inside your home. Proper insulation also ensures the temperature remains stable in the garage.

Keep the Garage Door Well Lubricated:

Cool winter weather dries out the lubrication on rollers and hinges and this is the cause of most of the common garage door opening and closing problems and noisy operation experienced by homeowners during winter. Applying a metal lubricant to the rollers, hinges, tracks, springs, garage door trips, and other moving parts every two or three months will ensure the garage door operates without problems during the winter months. You should also apply a Silicone-based lubricant to the weather stripping to keep the door functioning properly.

Inspect & Replace the Rollers:

The rollers, whether steel or nylon, need to be inspected twice a year and replaced every seven years or so, and even more if you use your garage door many times a day. Worn chipped or cracked rollers should be replaced as soon as possible. You do this by removing and reinstalling any roller brackets that are not directly attached to the cable system.

Replace the Weather Stripping:

If the rubber weather seal strip on the bottom of your door is brittle or cracked, replace it right away to keep the elements out of your house. There are many different styles of bottom rubber, depending on the manufacturer of the door. Call your local garage door professional to find the right type of rubber for your door.

Simple Tips Summer Garage Door Prep & Maintenance

The garage door is like many things in the home, you ignore until something goes wrong. How many times do you open the garage door a day? Yet, one day the garage will not open or close, come off the tracks and crash onto the hood of your car or family member. Like dusting and vacuuming, preserve your door with annual maintenance.

Cleaning:

Cleaning is an important part of summer garage door prep. It is easy for dust and debris to sneak into your garage over time. Get rid of winter dirt before summer comes. Also, bring the summer toys and equipment out and move winter and seasonal items back to storage.

In addition to cleaning your interior garage door, you should clean your garage door. Use water and mild dishwashing detergent to clean the surface of steel and aluminum garage doors. As you clean, be aware of potential garage problems like rust and rotting.

Inspection:

Once your garage door is clean, schedule maintenance or inspection of your garage door or inspect your door yourself. An inspection will provide the security of knowing your garage and garage door are functioning well.

Inspect Rollers:

A door with defunct rollers operates like a car with a flat tire – it’s wobbly, uneven, and annoying. Check your garage door rollers to see if they’re corroded, chipped, or sticking to the sleeve they’re contained in. Sometimes they’ll need to be replaced. At other times, simply lubing them up will remedy the noise stickiness.

Check Springs:

Springs are dangerous; both when they break and when DIY maintenance is involved. Check both springs to look for signs of wear, fragility, or rust. Just lubing them up can repair some issues. Springs will wear out, but proper maintenance lengthens their use.

Check the Track:

The track is the road to your garage door. Making sure it’s intact is an important part of garage door maintenance. Make sure there’s no debris impeding the path of the rollers and that the track isn’t cracking or defective in some way.

Inspect Bolts, Hinges, Cables:

The bolts, hinges, and cables of your garage door should also be checked for any impending defects. A bolt simply breaking off is rare, but it happens. Cables can lose tension and hinges can come unscrewed, so give it all a well-detailed glance.

If you want to save money on garage door repair services, annual maintenance is the best way to avoid unexpected garage door problems. Upon inspecting your garage door, our professional garage door technicians can determine if your door needs repairs,  a complete replacement, or just need new parts.

Common Garage Door Repairs

It won’t Open or Close:

Sensor obstruction is one of the most common causes of garage door issues. Door sensors, or photo eyes, which are usually found at the base of your door’s track, can be prone to faulty wiring, misaligned sensors and more.

Before you call a professional, be sure to double-check that nothing is in the way of the sensors or blocking the door. Sometimes if a box or item is in the way of the sensors, your door will not open. However, if your door is clear of obstructions and still won’t open, be sure to call a garage door repair expert.

Slow Response Time:

Observe how long it takes for your door to respond to your commands. Typically, it must begin to open or close within a second or two after you pressed the opener. It must then open or close smoothly without any delay. If you observe any delay in the operation, it might indicate that something is wrong with your door or the opener.

It Makes a Loud Noise:

A noisy garage door is the result of loose hardware, worn rollers, or the garage door opener itself. There are simple fixes but to avoid the last minute urgent need of a garage door repair expert, it is better to keep your ears open to the noise coming from the garage door that seems unusual to you.

The door is off the Tracks:

If your door is visibly off its tracks, it can cause your door to malfunction and become stuck. This tends to happen to old garage doors or doors that have sustained damage over the years. There is not much that you can do from home to alleviate this situation, as it may require specific parts and other necessary equipment.

Uneven Garage Door Sections:

Garage doors have a tendency to sag over time if they are not properly maintained. When the door is closed, you’ll see large gaps under the ends of the door.

It is advisable to check and test the balance of your garage door at least once a month. This involves disconnecting the opener from the door and manually operating it. When you bring the door at about midway and leave it there, it must not continue to rise or fall. If it does, there must be something wrong with the tension spring or other parts of your door.