Tag Archives: Garage Door Maintenance
Don’t Overlook The Garage When Getting Your Home Ready To Sell
There’s a lot of talk about curb appeal being the driving force drawing buyers into your home. It makes sense. If the house looks a mess from the outside, what buyer would want to set foot inside?
Well, maybe your house isn’t quite a mess. You have taken the time to fix-up the landscape, power-washed the house, and even painted the mailbox. But did you overlook what can be the biggest eyesore — the garage? It’s the largest architectural element on the house. So it really, in this day and age, is impossible to dismiss the garage door as an important architectural element.
But the garage door is more than an architectural element. It can be a trigger point for buyers. They’re driving down the street in a tract-home neighborhood and suddenly they spot a custom wooden garage door. It’s striking and different and often gives them reason to stop and take a closer look, maybe even come inside.
If you have a house that has a nice garage door, it sets the stage for the fact that everything else in the house is going to have attention to detail and it really does differentiate homes that are on the same street. With [more]
June is Garage Door Safety Month
The International Door Association and the Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association have designated June as Garage Door Safety Month.
Garage door manufacturers, like First United Door Technologies, and garage door dealers throughout the U.S. and other countries are working to increase awareness of the possible hazards of garage doors and automatic opener systems, and the need for periodic inspection and maintenance to keep them safe.
It’s important that the public is aware of garage door safety and that safety checks should be done to insure it’s in proper working order by using these ten garage door safety and security tips.
1. Make sure garage door opener control button is out of the reach of small children.
2. Do not let children play with garage door remote controls.
3. Consult the owner’s manual and learn how to use the garage door’s emergency release feature.
4. Visually inspect the garage door each month. Look at springs, cables, rollers and pulleys for signs of wear. Do not attempt to remove, adjust or repair these parts or anything attached to them. A trained door repairman must make adjustments to these parts, which are under high tension.
5. Test the garage door opener’s reversing mechanism monthly by placing a 2 x 4 board or a [more]
It’s cold out there: Is your garage door insulated?
An insulated garage door can create a stable, dry, warm atmosphere all year round as well as vastly increasing the security, soundproofing and sealing properties of the garage door opening from dust, vermin, leaves and rain.
It will also help to save you some money on your energy bills. This is why the demand for insulated garage doors is increasing year on year as so many garages are now used for many other purposes other than storing a vehicle.
Insulated garage doors offer various advantages over standard garage doors namely:
1.They allow the garage to be used for other uses – e.g. hobbies, gym, play room, office, damp proof secure storage etc. etc.
2.They keep adjoining rooms and bedrooms above the garage warmer.
3.They offer increased security due to thicker and stronger door construction.
4.Weather stripping prevents leaves and debris blowing into the garage.
5.Weather stripping stops heat loss and prevents cold air getting into the garage.
6.An insulated garage door will help save on your heating bills and help the environment.
7.Reduced condensation.
OMG! Garage Door Noise
No we’re not talking about the kind of noise that local garage band is making, we’re talking about that irritating and annoying noise caused by the opening and closing of your garage door.
So what’s the cause?
For starters, old garage door parts that have gone worn out for ages may be the cause for the annoying garage door noise. These worn out garage door parts may include hinges, garage door rollers or garage door springs. It’s also often caused because of poor care and garage door maintenance. Replacing the worn out parts plus timely garage door maintenance could greatly increase the unlikelihood for hearing the next garage door noise. Conducting regular and periodic garage door maintenance can prevent costly repair expenses and give longevity to your door.
Most of the garage door noises you hear are often cause by the door itself. Consequently, a quality garage door is more likely to be quiet and less annoying.
Different kinds of garage door openers also produce different volumes of noise. With a chain drive garage door opener, you can expect it to be the noisiest of all openers. Screw drive garage doors are better because they produce less noise. Surpassing that of a screw drive [more]
Winterproofing Your Garage
Winterproofing is a cost-effective way to help keep the heat in our homes. It is installed around doors and windows, but is often overlooked in the garage, and this can have a major impact on heat loss in the home, especially during the winter months.
Garage doors should be weatherstripped, especially if the garage is under bedrooms or the main living space. Cold winds blowing in and around garage doors can cause discomfort, especially on the floors, by cooling the hot air furnace ducts running within the floor joists. (Of course, this won’t happen in a heated garage.)
Use garage-door weatherstripping around the perimeter of the door on the wood frame and convex rubber door stripping on the bottom of the door.
After weatherstripping the door, vent the garage, as moisture will need to get out by means of proper ventilation. A simple way is to install eight-by-eight wall vents at the top of a wall, six inches from the plate, and at the bottom of the wall, six inches from the plate. This allows moisture to evaporate and exit through the passive wall vents.
When vehicles are parked in a garage during the winter months with snow and ice melting off, there must [more]
Garage Door Awareness: Safety First
You need to be aware of the possible hazards of garage doors and automatic opener systems, and the need for periodic inspection and maintenance to keep them safe. Give your garage door a safety check to insure it’s in proper working order by using these ten garage door safety and security tips.
1. Make sure garage door opener control button is out of the reach of small children.
2. Do not let children play with garage door remote controls.
3. Consult the owner’s manual and learn how to use the garage door’s emergency release feature.
4. Visually inspect the garage door each month. Look at springs, cables, rollers and pulleys for signs of wear. Do not attempt to remove, adjust or repair these parts or anything attached to them. A trained door repairman must make adjustments to these parts, which are under high tension.
5. Test the garage door openers reversing mechanism monthly by placing a 2 x 4 board or a roll of paper towels in the door’s path. If the door does not reverse after contacting the object, call a qualified garage door professional for repair. If the opener has not been replaced since 1993, seriously consider a new one with auto-reverse as [more]
Maintaining Your Own Garage Door
Don’t you just find it so annoying when you garage door remote doesn’t work?
You arrive home from a long day at work to find that when you press that remote control pad button, instead of opening smoothly, you door stops half open or just doesn’t open at all. Of course, you can call in a technician to fix the problem, but before you pay out for this expense, you can of course try and fix the problem themselves.
First things first, you need to check the power supply to the opener. If this is faulty, then it will immediately answer your question as to why it is failing. If you cannot find any fault here, then your next place to look will be that there is no dirt of obstruction that means that the sensors are not receiving the correct signal to open the garage door. The sensors of course need to be aligned properly so they will recognize the signal to open.
As your garage door is on the outside of your home, it is easy to forget about. It’s one of those things that constantly seem to be on your list of things to do, but never reaches the top [more]
Keep Your Garage Door in Tip-Top Shape
The garage door is one of those items you don’t think about too often. But when a problem arises suddenly, scrambling to get it up and functioning again is no fun. Performing some simple, routine maintenance can do much to prolong the life of your door and to ensure that it keeps doing its job for years to come.
Door Balance – Once every year, check that your garage door is properly balanced. A door that is off balance puts unnecessary pressure on the opener and could cause untimely wear on the door fittings.
With the garage door closed, look up and find the emergency release string that disconnects the door from the opener for manual opening. Pull the string, open the door to waist height. The door should be evenly balanced at this point and should not open or close but remain at his level without assistance.
If the door feels too heavy to lift manually, this is a good sign that the springs need adjusting. This is a job for the professionals, as door springs are under great tension and could cause injury if not properly handled.
Lubrication – Your door’s fittings require good lubrication to prevent rust and to allow smooth [more]
Hiring a Professional Garage Door Repairing Service
Doors are always considered as a significant part of our house and always keep things secure and safe. Likewise, garage doors are no exception. They are essential parts of your property that protect your cars from intruders and thieves. The door of a garage is a big moving object and it is operated by the electric door openers most often. Therefore, proper testing, installation, maintenance and operation of the door and the automatic opener are really necessary to ensure the trouble-free and safe operation. Improperly adjusted garage doors can lead to serious injuries. So choosing the correct garage door repair service helps with the repair needs as well as save the users from any unexpected injuries.
The actual problem starts when the garage door does not work properly. If it is not fixed immediately, the broken garage door makes it very easy for the undesirables and thieves to enter in your home. For this purpose, you need to hire a garage door repair service for fixing the garage door problems as soon as you can. Most people are of the opinion that they are able to perform this job on their own. They might end up doing a lot more harm [more]
Problem Solved: “The garage door won’t close all the way”
Often times when your Garage Door won’t close all the way, your first instinct is to call somebody to fix it. But there are a few things you can check to save yourself some time and money.
The first thing you will want to inspect is the limit switch. The Limit switch regulates how far open and closed the garage door opener moves the garage door. The limit switch can be adjusted with a screw driver.
Here’s some instructions on adjusting the limit switch and further explanations:
The garage door opener has two mechanisms that control the opening and closing of the garage door. One is the safety reverse mechanism that will stop the door operation in the event something obstructs the door. The opener also uses limit switches to determine how far to open and close the garage door.
When the garage door does not open all the way or does not seal to the floor when closed, you can reset the limit switches. Resetting the limit switches is not difficult and requires only one tool.
1. Place a step ladder under the garage door opener motor. Locate the limit switch screws on your unit. Most switches are on the back of the motor [more]