By Joel Wensley
On a busy day your garage door may open and close 20 times, so routine maintenance is a must to keep it in good working order. Today we’ll see if we can breathe some life into this old, creaking monster.
Clean the exterior of the door periodically with a mild detergent and brush, and if there’s exposed wood, be sure to paint it to keep it from water damage and rotting.
Clean the weather stripping around the frame and bottom edge with vinyl cleaner and lubricate it once every other month with a silicone-based product to keep the stripping flexible.
Use a level to check that the tracks are straight up and down, and if they’re not simply loosen the lag bolts that hold the track to the wall. Adjust the track until plumb and retighten the bolts.
Inspect the rollers and replace any that are worn or broken. Most rollers are easily removed by simply loosening the bolts that hold the hinge in place. Remove the damaged roller and the replacement roller can easily be inserted.
With everything aligned and tightened, lubricate the moving parts with lubricant meant for garage doors. Apply the oil to the tracks with a rag, paying attention to the curves. Then apply oil to the springs and wipe off the excess.
There we are… and the final test…yeahhh buddy. Perform these routine maintenance steps and your garage door will open and close easier and sound a whole lot better.
Joel Wensley is a licensed mechanical contractor in the state of Michigan, a WJBK-TV Fox2 Detroit news contributor and president of Mechanical Heating & Cooling in Dearborn Heights.