Garage Door Repairs And Maintenance. What To Look For...
Homeowners typically use their garage doors every single day and like everything in everyday use, garage doors and garage door frames will wear pretty quickly. Garage doors and garage door frames require general maintenance roughly every 6 months. It is worth regularly checking over all the small moving parts of your garage door, small problems repaired as they crop up saves on big and expensive garage door replacements later on. What should a homeowner look for when checking over his or her garage door for maintenance issues?
Thankfully, most garage door and repair issues are obvious to even the most unobservant person. Are there loose or missing screws? If the door is not hanging square, it can scrape along the ground or can be difficult or impossible to lock. Check that nothing is jammed at the garage door top, bottom or sides. A garage door off track, on a bent track or with a broken cable will stick and be difficult to close smoothly. If this is the case with your door, often you will need to close each bottom corner of the garage door separately. As its name suggests, if the emergency release is broken, this should be fixed immediately. If the rubber garage door threshold seal is warped or split, water will be able to enter your garage under the door which has the potential to cause further damage and indeed the contents of your garage. A broken panel in your garage door will gradually warp the shape of the door and also the garage door track. If your door material is wood, it is also advisable to check for rot or areas of flaking paint which will indicate that water has breached this protective coating.
Of course, there is no point in possessing a perfectly conditioned garage door if ones frame has been overlooked. When checking the condition of his or her frame, the homeowner should specifically look for cracks in the frame itself and gaps between the frame and the garage door. Damage to frames will never go away over time and cracks in the framework will allow wind and rain to enter and potentially damage your home or garage.
Once the homeowner has established the repair and maintenance required to return his or her garage door and garage door frame to tip top condition, they must decide whether to undertake these garage door repairs themselves or to alternatively call in contractors with garage door repair experience. As many maintenance repairs can be a simple process, even an inexperienced DIYer will be able to do them. Loose screws for example should be tightened or replaced before they can cause more serious problems. A little oil regularly applied will keep your garage door running smoothly in its track. If paint is peeling from your wooden door, sand all loose paint from the afflicted portion and use a wood treatment before repainting.
Anyone with basic carpentry skills, basic carpentry tools and a few helpful friends can frame a garage door and repair a frame, easy to follow examples of such are available on many home improvement websites. However, if carpentry isn't for you, then call in a qualified carpenter, they are able to repair your existing garage door frame or remove your door to replace your frame entirely. Typically, once the garage door frame has been replaced the garage door will require only minor adjustments.
More experienced DIY-ers may be equipped to deal with extensive repairs, but for the rest of us, professional contractors are readily available to undertake both the repair, maintenance or servicing of our garage doors and also the repair of our garage door frames. If your door frame is in good condition or has been previously repaired by a carpenter, but your actual door does not fit and seal squarely, contractors are able to re-hang or if necessary completely replace your garage door. Replacements for broken garage door panels, bent tracks, snapped cables, inoperable emergency release levers and warped or split rubber garage door threshold seals are available from garage door manufacturers. As a quality garage door these days will come with a full warranty, always check with your dealer before conducting repairs yourself to check if the door or parts are still under warranty.
Whether you do it yourself or find your local garage door repair man in the yellow pages or online, a little money spent repairing and maintaining a garage door now will save a lot more money replacing a garage door later!
About the Author
Sara Leadbetter is a Business Advisor specialising in Internet Marketing working with numerous Garage Door Dealers across Australia and New Zealand. This article is based on Garage Door Repairs from http://www.prestigegaragedoors.com.au in Melbourne, Australia. Contact Prestige for more information on their Garage Door Repairs.
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