Winterizing Your Garage Door

With the cold, the hail, and the snow, winters can be a brutal time for the health of your house, and that includes your garage door. If your door is not properly sealed, cold air will rush in, chilling your entire garage and possibly affecting the warmth of your home. Depending on how cold it gets, this could potentially harm your car or other valuables. A little bit of prep to winterize your garage door now could save you lots of money and time by preventing costly door repairs come spring. Plus, it isn’t too difficult or time-consuming if you follow these simple steps:

Check and Replace Batteries

Cold weather causes the chemical reactions in batteries to proceed slowly, so a battery that works fine in the fall and spring may simply cease working during the winter. That’s why it’s important to check the batteries in your remote opener as well as your garage door keypad if you have one.

Lubricate Metal Parts

All metal parts in your garage door should be regularly lubricated throughout the year, especially the rollers. It is very important to do so, though, during the winter because the cold weather can freeze oil and dirt to the door tracks preventing it from being able to raise and lower. If possible, a specifically produced lubricant for garage doors should be used. As a last resort, WD-40 should generally get the job done as well. All greasers should be avoided, and the lubricant should be used sparingly because you want the wheels to turn, not slide.

Check the Springs

Inspecting the springs is also often times referred to as checking the counterbalance system. First, disconnect the garage door from its opener, then manually open and close the door a few times. If the door sticks or won’t move, it still requires further lubrication and you should revisit the last step. Once you’ve tested the door manually, raise or lower it until it’s halfway open, then let go. If the springs are working correctly, the door should be held in place. If it opens or closes very slowly, that’s OK too. But if your door slams open or shut when you release it, then your counterbalance system is off and you should contact a professional at Oregon City Garage Door to have it checked out and fixed.

Check the Automatic Reversal Mechanism

This is an important safety component, and all new garage doors are required to have them. If you have an extremely old door that did not come equipped with one, we highly recommend that you have one installed. If yours is not working, try cleaning the sensor eye. If the problem persists, that usually means that the two sensor eyes need to be aligned. If that still doesn’t fix it, contact a professional at Oregon City Garage Door to have it quickly and professionally fixed.

Insulate Your Garage Door

Insulating your garage door is probably the biggest key to keeping the cold of winter out of your garage. First, choose the insulation that best fits your type of garage door:

• For flat garage doors without panels, foam board or reflective insulation typically works best. These insulations can also easily be attached with a simple adhesive.
• For wooden frame-and-panel doors, you’re going to want to cut and fit rigid insulation into the recesses between the frames.
• For steel doors, you can really use any type of insulation, but Batt insulation, made out of flexible fiberglass, is typically the easiest to work with.

With whatever insulation you choose, simply follow the instructions for how best to attach it to your garage door. Most insulation can be doubled up upon if you are looking for extra protection from the elements.

If you have questions about whether your garage door is ready for winter or if you would like to schedule service, fill out our online contact form or give us a call at 503-632-3070.