Garage door maintenance
A garage door is the heaviest moving object in most houses, and it generally gets no attention until it stops working. An hour twice a year prevents most of the faults that end in a call-out.
The part to leave alone
Read this before anything else. The springs that counterbalance the door are under enormous tension, whether they run above the opening or along the tracks at the sides. They store enough energy to cause serious injury and they are not a home repair. If a spring is broken, stretched, or if the door suddenly feels far heavier than it did, stop and get it done properly.
Everything below is safe routine work.
Check the balance
Disconnect the motor using its release cord, then lift the door by hand to about waist height and let go. A balanced door stays roughly where it is. If it drops or flies up, the counterbalance is out of adjustment, which puts the motor under strain every cycle. That is a job for someone with the right tools.
Tracks, rollers and hinges
Brush the tracks out and wipe them clean. Tracks want to be clean, not greasy: oil in a track collects grit and makes the problem worse. Check the fixings holding the tracks to the wall, as the vibration of daily use works them loose over years.
Lubricate the moving parts instead: rollers, hinges and the pivot points. A silicone or lithium spray made for garage doors is right, and a light application is enough.
Test the safety features
If the door has a photocell across the opening, break the beam with an object while the door is closing. It should stop and reverse. If it has auto-reverse on contact, lay a timber block flat on the floor in the door's path and let it close onto it: it should reverse on touching it.
A door that fails either test needs sorting before it is used again, particularly in a house with children or pets.
Weather seal and fixings
The rubber strip along the bottom keeps out water and draughts and perishes over time. Replacing it is straightforward and makes a noticeable difference to a damp garage.
Go round the visible nuts and bolts with a spanner and nip up anything loose, without overtightening.