Tips to extend the life of your garage door

Life extension is often thought of when humans are involved, but did you know that making a few, easy adjustments can greatly extend the life of your garage door? It’s true. Many think that since garage doors are so sturdy, heavy and solid, that they are indestructible but all it takes is an accidental car backing up too far or a damaged spring to make your garage door look odd and act weaker, or become completely nonfunctioning altogether. Here at Garage Door Repair Applewood, we’ve put together some useful, easy to do tips that can help extend the life cycle of your Applewood, CO garage door, and its parts.

Garage Doors Have Life Cycles?

Well, yes. All things have life cycles; they don’t have to be actually alive in order to keep functioning or looking good; your garage door included. The average garage door here in the States will last for roughly 30 years with average use. If your garage door uses torsion springs, those should last for about 20,000 cycles and if your garage door works with extension springs you can cut that figure in half. A spring cycle is equal to one garage door opening and one closing. As for your garage door opener, it should last an average of 10 to 20 years depending on usage and model. Please note; these figures are just rough estimates. Your garage door and its parts may experience different results. Keep reading to see how to best to add some life and time into your home’s garage door.

Try a little kindness...

No, we are not getting mushy on you; we mean kindness towards your garage door, as in the form of light maintenance. A complete lack of any maintenance eventually makes your garage door look shoddy and perform at a lower level. Let’s say you are driving down a residential street, admiring the neighborhood, its houses and landscaping. You suddenly see something a bit out of place. One of the houses has a damaged garage door panel. That’s not all; some of the paint is chipping and one side of the garage door hangs with a noticeable tilt to one side. While this doesn’t look revolting, it does seem out of place and gives the impression that the home is not well maintained by its residents. Not only does poor garage door maintenance give a bad first impression, it can actually lower your property values if allowed to continue. If you were to attempt to sell your poorly maintained house, you would get lower offers due to the anticipation of needing to devote funds to fix-up.

But, my garage door is made of metal!

Our Applewood garage door technicians often hear this retort. Garage doors are made of tough stuff; metal, wood, wood composites and fiberglass. They withstand heat in summer, cold in winter as well as rain, snow, wind and constant use; only something very strong could withstand all that! This is only partially true. Your indoor appliances are also made of metal and they need periodic maintenance, too. They don’t have to put up with wind, rain and snow, yet we clean the lint trap on our dryers and use over cleaner once in a while. Think of your garage door as another household appliance and provide minimal maintenance to it once in a while.

What you can do!

You might consider insulation. Here in Colorado, we experienced cold winters and hot summers so if your garage door faces south, some insulation would minimize the heat that can become trapped inside your garage. Trapped heat puts wear and tear not only on your garage door itself, but also on your opener, springs and other parts.

Try cleaning your garage door; inside and out, once in a while. It doesn’t have to be anything fancy; just a gentle detergent and water. Simple always works best; just treat your garage door like your other appliances and periodic cleaning will do wonders for it. This prevents buildup of mud, dirt, cobwebs, paint, leaves, bird droppings, etc. Remember; your garage is one of the most noticeable parts of your house as seen from the street or sidewalk; might as well look your best at all times!

Sensor cleaning is another good thing. Your sensor signals are vital to dependable garage door operation and if these signals are blocked by spider webs, dirt, twigs and leaves, it can prevent your garage door from working safely or at all. Besides, you don’t want spiders (especially black widows) entering your home via your garage door. Simply wipe your photo electric safety eyes every so often to keep the lenses clean and debris free. Use a dry cloth and be extra careful not to scratch your lenses. Think of them like camera lenses and treat them with care.

Last, but certainly no least; apply lubrication to your garage door. Concentrate on your rollers, springs and hinges. No need to get fancy; just use light spray lubricant and do this every few months for maximum benefit. Don’t overdo with the lube though; too much lubricant will not help and will make your garage door look messy.

Final tips

See? That wasn’t a lot to do, maintenance wise. None of the above tips take a lot of time or are difficult or expensive to implement. You can also get into the habit of making rounds like doctor does in a hospital. Every so often, give your garage door the “once-over” and look for any obvious signs of repair or replacement need. Look out for any frayed wires, missing parts, loose hinges or missing bolts. You don’t have to get “crazy” doing this; just casually “eye ball” your garage door both front and back for anything broken, damaged, missing or in need of attention. Don’t hesitate to call your favorite local garage door repair shop to handle any adjustments, repairs or replacements that you don’t feel comfortable doing yourself. Lastly, enjoy your garage door; it’s a vital and appreciated part of your property!