3 Maintenance Steps That Can Help You Circumvent Costly Garage Door Repairs

Residential garage doors are large and feature a lot of integral components, which are sometimes expensive to fix. You can avoid these costly repairs, though, by taking care of your garage door in the following ways. 

Lubricate the Chain System

The chain plays an important role for your garage door: it guides your garage door along the track. Over time, the drive and parts connected to it can become loose. This causes unnecessary vibration, and if not taken care of, these parts will start wearing down at a rapid rate.

You can prevent this wear and tear from occurring, however, by lubricating your chain system with the appropriate solution. For these garage door components, it's best to use white lithium grease. This form of grease comes in a spray can, which enables you to easily spray it over parts like the chain, rollers, and gears. 

Test Your Door's Balance 

There will be times when your garage door gets unbalanced, which causes your garage door to work harder when opening and closing. Failing to address this issue could prove costly later down the road. Testing to see if your garage door is balanced or not is pretty simple, fortunately. 

After unhooking the garage door opener, manually pull down the garage door halfway. If it falls down to your feet, it doesn't have enough tension. Conversely, if it raises back up, there is too much tension. In either case, the tension springs will need to be adjusted by a licensed garage door repair contractor. They'll ensure this adjustment is completed in a safe, effective manner.

Inspect the Tracks Regularly

The two tracks at the top of your garage are what your garage door travels along. When your tracks are damaged, however, your garage door will have a hard time moving and could potentially fall down and break.

Instead of dealing with this expensive repair, you need to inspect the tracks on a regular basis. Keep an eye out for rust, chips, bends, and cracks. If any of these are present, you'll need to contact a garage door repair specialist like you did when testing your door's balance. They'll either come up with a repair solution or replace your garage door tracks completely, depending on how severe the damage is.

Garage door maintenance should be at the top of your priority list as a homeowner. With the right care and attention to integral parts, you can save yourself the trouble of dealing with expensive garage door repairs on a regular basis. For more tips, reach out to a company like Affordable Garage Door Repairs.

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