Garage Door Maintenance + $25 Visa Gift Card Giveaway

Once our garage door was installed, I am pretty sure we never looked at it again. The International Door Association (IDA) sent me a gift card with another to giveaway in hopes to get the word out about Garage Door Maintenance. The IDA conducted a survey to find out how consumers were maintaining their garage doors. I am one of the 54 percent that have never had a garage door and/or garage door opener safety check performed by a professional garage door/dealer installer. It never even crossed our mind!

If you’re like me and don’t know where to start on garage door maintenance, the IDA has a list of tasks homeowners can do to test the safety of their doors. A few tips include –

Monthly visual inspection. Stand inside the garage with the garage door closed. Look over the garage door springs, cables, rollers, pulleys and mounting hardware, such as hinges, for signs of wear or damage. Look for cable wear or fraying. Is the mounting hardware becoming loose? If something doesn’t look quite right – or doesn’t sound quite right – it could be the symptom of a more serious issue. Have the garage door system inspected by a trained service technician.

Monthly door balance test. If your door is equipped with an automatic opener system: close the door and disconnect the automatic opener. Once you are able to lift the door manually: Lift the door. It should lift smoothly with little resistance and should remain fully open. If it is difficult to open or does not remain open, the door may be out of balance and should be serviced by a trained service technician.

Semi-annual lubrication. Apply a small amount of spray lubricant to the door’s hinges, rollers and tracks.

Visit garagedoorcare.com to learn more about garage door maintenance and other results from the survey.