It is great to have a smoothly operating overhead door which makes the garage super convenient to use. However, even the best units can experience operation difficulties in the cold months of the year. The good news is that these can be prevented or dealt with timely and without any hassle. Use some practical advice on how to provide proper garage door maintenance and protection when the temperature gets low.
Taking All Required Measures
It is essential for you to clean the garage door panels and parts before the beginning of the winter season. In this way, you ensure that moisture will not be held on the surfaces of the system by dirt accumulations. It is equally important for the panels to be repainted if this has not been done earlier during the year. Generally, this type of maintenance is annual and must never be missed. The paint will protect the panels from moisture which can cause steel to rust and wood to decay.
The application of lubricant to the moving metal garage door parts is a task which you have to perform regularly in order to ensure the smooth operation of the system during the cold months of the year. The lubricant helps to prevent freezing and further issues such as stuck door and chipping. Make sure that you lubricate the drive of the opener if it is made from metal.
Another way to protect the hardware and more specifically the tracks is to clean the garage floor properly as often as possible. This is necessary because of the road salts which are brought inside with the car tires. These salts contain chemicals which can easily get to the bottom of the tracks and damage the galvanized steel which they are made from.
In conclusion, know that even the best maintained system may get stuck to the floor due to freezing. In such cases, you must use a heat gun, hair dryer or another appliance which produced warm air to melt the ice. The use of any sharp object for breaking the ice may cause serious damage not only to the bottom seal, but also to the panels which it is attached to.