Many homeowners use the garage door as a primary entrance, so reliability matters, especially in winter. Preparing your door for cold weather in New Albany, IN keeps it running safely and efficiently.
Why It’s Important to Prepare Your Garage Door for Winter
Preparing your garage door for winter protects against mechanical failure. Cold temperatures make metal and moving parts brittle and stiff. This leads to damage and potential safety issues.
The metal in torsion springs becomes brittle when the temperature drops, which makes them more likely to snap or fail. A broken spring can cause the door to become dangerously heavy and hard to lift.
Standard lubricants can freeze or thicken when it gets cold out. This causes the rollers and other components to move sluggishly or get stuck. As a result, the strain on your garage door increases, which can lead to motor failure.
Cold weather also causes metal to contract. Nuts, bolts, and other hardware may loosen. This causes your door to operate with more noise or even come off the tracks.
During the winter months, moisture between the panels of a sectional garage door can freeze. This effectively glues the panels together and prevents the door from opening.
Preparing Your Garage Door for Winter
A fall maintenance appointment is the perfect time to have a professional help you prepare your garage door for winter. In addition to typical maintenance tasks, an expert will take precautionary measures to ensure your door’s safety and functionality.
Lubricate Moving Parts
Lubricating moving parts is an essential part of a garage door tune-up, especially as winter approaches. Using a silicone-based spray or white lithium grease provides the best results for cold weather. It’s important to lubricate hinges, rollers, springs, and other moving components of the door and opener, which is why this will be done during your service call. This reduces friction and wear, eliminates noise, and helps extend the system’s lifespan. An expert will not use thick or heavy grease, as it can collect dust and make the door sticky. They will also avoid using WD-40, will not lubricate the tracks, will use white lithium on the opener rail (chain only), and will not lubricate the belt drives.
Replace Weatherstripping & Seal Gaps
Cold air, snow, and moisture can enter your garage through gaps in the weather seals. These gaps are due to weatherstripping that becomes brittle or cracks over time. A failing seal will lead to higher heating bills. If necessary, an expert will install new weatherstripping to seal any gaps where the door meets the doorframe. This prevents cold drafts and moisture from entering. They will also use caulk to seal any other cracks or holes in the door or frame that could let cold air in. A threshold seal at the bottom of the door can create a tight seal and prevent water and snow from getting inside.
Add Door & Garage Insulation
You can also consider having someone install a garage door insulation kit. This rigid foam board on the inside of your garage door panels creates a warmer interior space.
Check for Proper Balance
An unbalanced garage door puts additional strain on the opener. This can lead to a premature failure. A garage door professional will test your door for balance and adjust the tension accordingly. This task can be dangerous, so you should always leave it to the experts.
Clean and Clear the Tracks
Dirt and debris can accumulate in the tracks of your garage door and create blockages. Obstructed garage door tracks are bad because they can cause the door to become misaligned or derail. This leads to potential damage to the rollers, tracks, and opener. It also creates a safety hazard due to the risk of the door failing unexpectedly. Obstructions can force rollers to grind and catch. This increases friction and strain on the system. As a result, the door’s components degrade faster. Experts understand that it’s necessary to wipe the tracks clean with a damp cloth and check for signs of bending or misalignment each fall, so they will do this during your service call.
Test and Clean the Safety Sensors
Your garage door’s photo-eye sensors prevent the door from closing on obstructions. This includes small children and pets. These sensors are more susceptible to malfunctioning during the winter months. Since these sensors are an important safety feature, experts want to make sure they’re operating properly before winter begins. During the service call, the expert will use a soft, damp cloth to wipe dirt, dust, and moisture from them on either side of the door. They will test the system by placing an empty box in the door’s path. Once they press the close button, the door should stop and reverse when it reaches the box. If not, they will collaborate with you to make necessary repairs.
Preventative Measures for Winter
Keep ice away from your garage door. If ice forms at the base of the door, don’t kick the panel. Use a de-icer, apply gentle heat (hair dryer on low), or pour warm — not boiling — water along the seal, and then wipe dry. This prevents the door from freezing to the ground and damaging the opener.
After snow or sleet, clear it away from the outside of the door. This helps prevent moisture and ice buildup.
The Benefits of Preparing Your Garage Door for Winter
Preparing your garage door for winter offers significant benefits. Regular maintenance and proper insulation work together to create a more effective and reliable barrier against the cold.
Increased Energy Efficiency
An unsealed garage door is a major source of heat loss. In attached garages, this makes it more difficult for your HVAC system to maintain consistent temperatures in your home. By sealing gaps, you prevent cold air from seeping into your garage and adjacent living areas.
Vehicle and Property Protection
Keeping your garage warmer and drier helps your car start more easily in the morning. It also prevents the damaging effects of freezing temperatures on fluids and tire pressure.
Many common garage items, such as tools, paint, and chemicals, are sensitive to extreme cold. A prepared garage door ensures a stable storage environment for these things.
Improved Safety and Security
A garage door that doesn’t close properly because of ice or frozen parts is a security risk. Winter maintenance ensures all parts are working correctly. As a result, the garage door will close securely and lock as it should.
Cold weather drives insects and rodents indoors looking for warmth. By sealing cracks and replacing worn weatherstripping, you’ll effectively block entry points for these pests.
Schedule Maintenance Now
When you schedule maintenance with us, we can get your door ready for winter. We’ll also catch minor issues before they become expensive problems. We’re locally owned and operated with over 52 years of experience helping New Albany residents with their garage door needs. This includes tune-ups, repairs, installations, and emergency garage door service.
We offer our services at competitive prices and provide financing on approved credit. When you reach out to us for help, you get expert advice, quality workmanship, and a satisfaction guarantee. We’re an authorized LiftMaster and Safe-Way Garage Door authorized dealer, but we work on all brands and types.
Call Lewis Door Service today to schedule your garage door maintenance service.
