Do we consider the garage door seriously like the main door of a home? The answer is a big NO. We never give attention to a garage door until the door is no longer to perform the way it should be. We assume that once the garage door is installed; it will never stop working. But we forget one thing, all mechanical items need maintenance to work properly and a garage door is a combination of multiple complex mechanical devices.
So, here we discuss simple garage door maintenance tips that can increase the life of a door and save money as well.
Do you know that a homeowner or family members open & close the door approx. 1400 times in a year? Yes, you are reading right. These cause wear and tear to a door over time. Due to opening and closing the door multiple times in a day, several components can loosen and need to be tightened. So, they can work with the same efficiency for a longer time. What components you should tighten? The brackets, bolts, hinges, fasteners are key components. Tighten them if you notice loosen ones.
How can you know that a garage door’s safety features are working fine? Simple, test it out. If your garage door is manufactured before 1993, the chances are your door has very fewer security features. Upgrade it as soon as possible. The door manufactured after 1993 has plenty of garage door safety features including auto-reverse, safety sensors & manual override. These are designed to provide safety to you and your family members.
Do I need to tell you? keeping them in working mode all the time. No, of course not. It’s time to test out the safety features.
Place an object like a rock or a wooden box on the ground in the path of a door. Now close the door using the opener. If a door gets reversed in position immediately after touching an object. The auto-reverse feature is working fine. If not, time to call the garage door expert to fix the issue as soon as possible.
Generally, they are located 6 inches above from the ground on both sides. They emit beams in a horizontal direction. Now put a solid object in between the sensors; close the garage door. The door should immediately stop closing if the sensors are working fine. If not, without wasting time; call the garage door technician.
In case of a power outage or malfunction in garage door opener; manual override is an only option to open or close the door. There is a red cord hanging from a chain. Take a ladder, pull the cord forcefully to lock it in the right position. Great! You have activated a manual override feature. How to test it? Try to open the door using an opener. If it fails but you can open the door with your bare hands; the manual override is working fine.
Pull the one more time to restore it in an automatic mechanism. After all, you would not like to open the door manually then after.
So these are few basic garage door maintenance tips to improve the lifespan of a garage door. Haven’t you tightened the loosen hardware and tested the security features? Do it now.
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