Garage Door Maintenance

Your garage door may not need replacing or show any visible need for repairs, yet it is not functioning quite like it should; perhaps it makes noise, or has trouble properly opening/closing and staying half open at mid point, etc. If you are experiencing issues such as these, there are a few things you can attempt on your own.

Keeping your Garage Door Quiet…

A noisy garage door does not necessarily indicate that it is losing proper functioning and breaking down, it may just require a few follow up maintenance procedures to have it running noise-free again.

Tighten Problem Areas to Stop Vibrations

With usage over time, vibrations may begin to occur as the garage doors lift to open or close, which are the source of the racket you hear. This causation is because screws/bolts holding the garage door panels are becoming looser. Some places you should take a look at are:

  • The roller: Check if brackets require tightening. Should they be loose, tighten them with a ratchet or an open-end-wrench.
  • The ratchets: Those connect the garage door panels, and may also require some tightening up.

Lubricate Regularly

Rust and need for lubrication are also options to consider for the cause of a noisy operating garage door. It is a good idea to lubricate several specific areas of your garage door’s moving parts every 4 to 6 months.

Before attempting to lubricate, refer back to your garage door manual to locate the areas in need of lubrication. Remember to carefully wipe off remaining grease before applying lubricant. When you are finished, insure that you clean off any excess grease or lubricant to prevent any spill or drip on any unsuitable surfaces.

Please Note: Do not use WD40, normal machine grease, or grease weight heavier than 10W. Lubricants such as these can attract dirt and dust particles leading to the garage door malfunctioning. Instead you may use one of the following:

  • Lubriplate (White grease)
  • Garage door lubricant (GDL)
  • Any light weight oil (less than 10W)

Potential areas that may require Lubrication:

  • The bearings: Where the torsion spring's tube goes through the end fixture
  • Steel rollers (avoid lubricating poly rollers)
  • The springs (when the doors are lowered)
  • Roller stems
  • All pivoting areas of any garage door hinges

Garage Door opener areas to Lubricate:

  • Front idler sprocket near the springs
  • Top of the machine's rear sprocket area
  • Screw drive or chain drive (these may need white operator grease. If unsure, ask the manufacturer first)

Maintaining you garage door by Lubrication will not only silence the noise acquired when opening/closed, but it will also increase the life usage of your door, and its opener.

Tension Testing and Adjustments

Does your garage door come down too hard when closing? Does it stay not stay on the half way point on its own? If so, this may mean that the tension need some adjusting. Maintaining the tension is a serious matter, which if left unchecked, can cause fatal accidents and injuries. Below are two ways you can assess the right tension of your garage door:

1. To test the functioning of the door, place a brick under it. Allow for the door to close, the door should immediately reverse and go back up as it approaches the brick at the bottom. If it does not immediately come up, then you have a problem with the tension on the door opener, in addition to it being a safety hazard. To fix the adjustment, look for two switches on the garage door opener. Clockwise switch increases the amount of force, and the counterclockwise switch reduces the force.
2. Should there still be a tension problem after attempting #1, then try the next procedure, which is to firstly pull the red disconnect switch. By doing so, you will be disengaging the opener from the garage door. Now you are able to check the garage door tension manually by lifting it. The correct tension will allow you to lift the door and by the halfway point it should be able to stay in that position. If it does not, this will indicate that the tension is not tight enough. To check where an adjustment is needed, close the garage door and observe. If the tension spring is on the long arm above the garage door, you may need to check and adjust the screws on the pulleys. You will have to open the door completely to lift the tension off the springs. Now, before doing anything else, clamp a block into the roller to prevent the door from suddenly coming down, for safety precautions. Release the tension the cable drum screws then rotate and tighten the tension spring. This will increase the tension. Insure this is done to both sides, and keeping in mind to incrementally only tighten by ½ a turn or a full turn at a time. At each adjustment, the screws should also be tightened. Finally, you can now check to see if the door will hold its position when it is half way up. When it does, then you’ve got yourself the correct tension. If it does not hold its position, you will need to repeat this procedure until you've got the right/correct tension needed.

Common Reasons for Garage Door Failure and their DIY Solutions

If you would like to check for solutions yourself, before giving us a call, refer to the following list of common issues:

Should your garage door not be working, giving you trouble opening up, closing down, or staying opened at the mid-way point:
1. Check the remote batteries, and test by replacing the batteries.
2. Visually, look for the garage door’s safety sensors. These are generally located closer to the ground, and at both sides of the door. One side emits a shade of a green beam light, while the other side emits a shade of a red beam light. Check to insure that nothing is in the way of the “eyes”, and that they are positioned correctly and properly aligned. Should there be out of alignment, you may need to tighten the ratchets holding them. Clear away anything that could possibly block the “eyes”.
3. The circuit breaker could be tripped. To check for that, you need to look for the power feed to your garage door or garage door opener.
4. Take a look at the setting “up limit” switch is at on your garage door opener. Check the other limit switches on you garage door opener. These control the force at which the door comes up and down with.
5. Screws must be tight on the hardware that connects the garage door to the opener, check to insure that they are. These tend to become lose with the frequent use of the door. Therefore, they should be checked continually over time.
Slide the micro switch located on the rail up or down according to what is needed to have it positioned right. To know that you’ve positioned it right or that it is already positioned right, the doors should open and close properly and normally.