Service Ace #2: How to maintain a garage door yourself?

The garage door is one of the most important finishing touches to a house. If you want to enjoy its tightness and proper operation for many years, you should take care of its proper maintenance and care. Check out what you can do yourself before the winter and summer seasons to ensure the comfort of your garage door.

Visual perfection – Cleaning

Any garage door care should begin with a thorough cleaning of the door's components. Starting with the guides, running rollers, hinges through the panels and ending with the seals. Particularly remember the hard-to-reach areas, including the joints of the  segments.  Dirt that builds up between segments can contribute to corrosion. For the initial cleaning of both the  panels, as well as the other components that make up the garage door, compressed air will be ideal.

Of course, we can also use a vacuum cleaner and a wet cloth, but be careful when using them - especially in cleaning  panels - to avoid scratches. When choosing a cleaning liquid, remember not to use preparations containing thinners or solvents. These substances can cause permanent irreversible effects that will be visible on the garage doors panels.  Use products recommended by the manufacturer, or alternatively, plastic washing liquids or car shampoos without wax. Use a soft sponge or delicate cloth for cleaning.

No heat loss - care of gaskets

Proper insulation of a garage door heavily depends on the seals. Adverse weather conditions, as well as temperature changes, can have a major impact on the rubber parts. Damage caused by them, such as denting and cracking of the gasket, helps cold air to enter the building. Regular washing and protection of gaskets with a good product with silicone will make them flexible and keep their qualities for a long time. When doing so, remember to take care of each gasket - all around the perimeter of the garage door.

Silent, smooth operation - Proper lubrication

The next step in the process of garage door maintenance, is to lubricate the moving parts of the door (hinges, bearings, springs and locks). However, this should be done only in the designated areas. The lubricant must be properly adapted - it is best that it is indicated by the manufacturer. Lubricants for gates have different properties, they are resistant to temperature differences and prevent corrosion - ordinary grease must not be used to maintain the moving parts of the gate. Remove excess grease with paper towels. In order to make sure that the grease has reached every place we expect, it is necessary to perform several cycles of opening and closing the garage doors. Note - under no circumstances should grease be applied to the rollers and tracks - we clean them gently from dust and dirt only by the previously mentioned methods.

Correct operation – Automation

When performing cyclic maintenance on the garage door, it is also necessary to check the drive and all automatic components. It is worth remembering, however, that our skills in this area may be limited - the work related to the safety of using the garage doors, such as adjusting the limit switches, setting the power of the drive, adjusting the rollers, checking the springs and adjusting the gate drive, should be left to professionals.

It is recommended that the work carried out by an authorized service be done once a year. However, we can check the drive ourselves - by decoupling it and checking whether it opens without automation, the photocell - the correctness of operation according to their principle, the housing - the correctness of its attachment, obstacle detection - the gate stops and reverses if an obstacle is detected. If any irregularities are detected, contact an authorized service center - unwanted interference with the automation mechanism may result in damage, and thus even loss of warranty.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Łukasz Chamioło - Quality Control Department Manager at PAGEN Sp. z o.o.. Associated with the company for 21 years. Responsible for, among others, product quality and managing the work of the Service Department. Privately, a lover of wild animals.