Your garage door has one main job – to open and close on demand. You also depend on your garage door for other responsibilities – keeping the rain out, keeping bugs out, protecting your car, storing bikes and other tools, allowing greater insulation of your home, and more. Because your garage door is an essential part of your home, it is imperative that you take the time to regularly inspect your garage door to make sure it is in proper working order. Not only with this inspection keep you and your family safe, but it will also help to extend the life of your garage door. The best way to avoid costly garage door repair is by performing regular garage door inspection and maintenance.
The following inspection points should be made every month. Set a reminder on your calendar to set aside the five minutes once a month to inspect your garage. This quick monthly inspection will allow you to see any deterioration or exterior damages, and it will give you a good working knowledge of the condition of your garage door and its parts.
Visual Inspection – Interior and Exterior
- With the garage door closed, look for any cracked or discolored panels in the garage door.
- Check to see if the garage door header is sagging.
- Check the condition of the trim at the garage door jambs.
- Check for any marks on the trim to indicate that the door is rubbing against the caulking.
- Check the concrete to see if there is any indication of standing water or water running under the garage door when it is closed.
- Check the hardware on the garage door tracks. Are there any dents, rollers missing, or signs of stress?
- Check the roller wheels. Are they worn or damaged?
- Look at the ceiling. Check for signs of staining or damage.
Reverse Mechanism Test
- Place a piece of wood, metal, or hard plastic on the floor at the center of the garage door opening.
- Hit the button to close your garage door automatically.
- Watch to make sure that when the door strikes the object that it will automatically reverse itself.
- *** If your garage door’s automatic reverse mechanism test fails, you need to call your garage door service company immediately to protect the safety of your family and friends.
Force Setting Test
- *** This important step should only be made by an adult.
- Stand outside your garage door and use the garage door opener to close the garage door.
- With arms stiff and outstretched, place your hands below the garage door.
- When the garage door approaches, hold the garage door up with your hands.
- Your garage door should stop immediately, and the reverse mechanism should automatically cause the garage door to go up.
- *** If the garage door does not stop and reverse, release the garage door quickly. Contact your garage door maintenance company to let them know that your garage door is transmitting too much force. It needs to be serviced immediately.
Balance Test
- Disconnect the automatic opener mechanism.
- Stand either outside or inside your garage door and raise it manually.
- Check to make sure that you can easily raise and lower your garage door by hand with a smooth action that offers little resistance.
- Check to make sure your garage door stays in place when fully open – make sure it does not fall back down.
- *** If your garage door does not open easily or falls down after being manually raised, it is out of balance. Contact your garage door service company to have your garage door readjusted.
At HABPRO Garage Doors, we want to make sure you and your family are safe. Don’t overlook your garage door maintenance. With our simple garage door maintenance checklist, you can save a ton of money in repairs and contribute to safer, more efficient garage door performance.
Jeanie S.