Do you know how to take good care of your garage door? What about the parts of your garage door all the way down to those critical overhead door springs? If you haven’t already understood their value in opening your garage, you will if you experience trouble with overhead door springs. We here at Kempenfelt Overhead Doors encourage you to have one of our professionals teach you how to inspect your garage door for where the critical mechanical components are that you need to be aware of maintaining. Roughly monthly inspection on critical garage door parts, including your overhead door springs, will help you know what kind of shape your garage door is in before something breaks.
Keep a rough tally of how often you are using your garage. Most parts, like springs, are rated for no more than 20,000 open/close cycles. You can do some quick math to estimate when your springs are likely to wear out based on your regular usage of your garage. While you may be able to prolong the life of your garage by leaving it closed more often (avoiding open/close cycles when you can), it is important not to leave your garage door open to save open/close cycles. Its design is not weather-resistant like some of the other building materials of your home. Humidity, dust and pollen, and corrosive environmental conditions can cause your garage door and its parts to wear out much faster. This exposure is vastly increased when you leave the door open to avoid open/close cycles.
You can also care for your door to eliminate build-up of dirt and dust when you clean the inside and outside on occasion and reapply lubricant to the important moving parts such as springs, hinges, and the rollers along the lift track. Use WD-40 or graphite rather than something temperature-sensitive.