Routine Garage Door Maintenance
While we pride ourselves in our maintenance services for overhead and garage doors, there are some basic things you can do on a regular basis to ensure your doors works properly during its life. We’ve outlined a basic maintenance routine that can save you money from a costly, unplanned breakdown.
We do not recommend any maintenance or adjustments be made to your springs, tensioners, or alignment unless you have professional training. Springs, especially, can cause lethal injuries if mishandled. Always call a professional like Jackson & James Overhead Door Service for any maintenance revolving around your door mechanics.
What You Will Need:
- Light machine oil
- Microfiber cloth
- Clean steel wool
- Fine grain sand paper
- Graphite powder
- 60-90 minutes
6 Steps to Great Garage Door Operation
- Examine & Clean Tracks – Use the microfiber cloth to meticulously wipe off any dirt, oil or other gunk on the tracks. Cleaning your tracks is the #1 way to prevent door jams and jumps.
- Lubricate the Tracks – Using the light machine oil or graphite powder, re-lubricate the tracks. After lubricating the track open and close the door several times to properly distribute the lubrication.
- Inspect Hinges – visually inspect the door hinges between the panels. Look for rust, dirt and proper lubrication. Once inspected and cleaned of any dirt, if no rust is present, use your machine oil to gently lubricate the hinges. If rust is present you should call a professional to discuss possible remedies and solutions. Rusty hinges place unwanted stress on other door components as it opens and closes.
- Inspect Roller Wheels – Look for proper alignment, and uneven wear. If the wheels are not aligned we suggest calling a professional to avoid a costly mistake. Lubricate the wheels lightly.
- Examine Door Locks – It is important to note that under no circumstances should oil or grease be used in or around the lock mechanism or key channel – instead, lubricate the lock mechanism with graphite powder, using compressed air bursts to coach the graphite deeper into the mechanism. If the lock has come un-aligned, call a professional to help with re-aligning your entire overhead door system.
- Inspect door’s edge, weather stripping, paint condition and driveway for damage.
Following these simple guidelines will give you the best chance at a trouble free garage door. In case major problems do arise from neglect or an accident, we’d love to help you out. Call us and book your next service with Jackson & James Overhead Door Service.
Signs of Trouble to Watch For:
In the process of maintaining your garage door we want you watch for serious signs of trouble and danger. If you notice any of the following we recommend calling a professional to prevent an injury to yourself or others.
- Excessive rust on tracks, hinges or rollers
- Misaligned rollers & tracks
- Gaps at the bottom of your door when closed
- Bent or rubbing panels
- Bent springs, tensioners or tracks
- Missing bolts from spots where there should be bolt
