A garage is a great addition to any home, and when it comes with one of the latest automatic doors it means no getting out to open the door in wet weather! Garage doors do require maintenance, yet it takes little time. As they open and close regularly you’ll find a bit of attention and a few checks now and then will prolong its life.
So, what do you need to do to ensure your garage door does the job every time and lasts as long as it is designed to? The areas you need to take care of are those that are moving parts. Among these, it’s the springs that do the hardest work. The springs take the strain of moving the heavy door time and time again, so let’s look at what you can do to help your springs last their lifetime.
Garage Door Maintenance
The life of a garage door is not measured in time, but in ‘cycles’. Opening and closing the door once is a single cycle. A torsion spring can be expected to last – in normal use such as on a garage door – around 15,000 to 20,000 cycles. Let’s look at that in terms of years.
Say you open and close your garage door twice a day: once to get the car out in the morning to go to work and once when you put it away at night. That’s a total of 10,000 days maximum, or around 27 years. However, an average garage door is unlikely to last as long as that unless it is well maintained. What are the main points you need to concentrate on to keep your door working?
The first essential point is to ensure your garage door is fitted by professionals such as Garage Doors Plus who specialise in this service. This is because it is not a DIY job. A sprung garage door needs to be perfectly balanced and kept so. The weights need to be exactly right, or the door will twist and become damaged. Now let’s talk about how to keep springs in top condition.
Garage Door Spring Maintenance
It is a sad fact that theft from garages is commonplace, and that is even more prevalent where damaged garage doors are concerned. If your door is warped or does not shut properly it is surprisingly simple for an enterprising thief to get it open, causing even more damage. This is just another reason why you need to keep your garage doors maintained.
The springs will benefit from occasional lubrication. The service provider who fitted the door will be able to advise you as to how this should be done or how often or may offer a service contract. Springs should be checked occasionally for signs of damage or wear and tear. If you believe your springs are nearing the end of their life you may not have to buy a new door as a professional will advise if they can be replaced.
Consider your garage door as part of your home security system and treat it with the care you do your other locks, lights and alarm systems, and ensure it has good quality locks as many lesser models come only with a very basic locking system.
We strongly recommend you engage a specialist to check the state of your garage door regularly, especially if you use it regularly and it involves access to the house itself. The outlay for this will be minor and will far outweigh the cost of a new garage door should your old one fall into disrepair.
