by Marcia Gallik
Each day you and your family are bound to open the garage door several times. This is why it is important to have a proper routine maintenance for the door to function in the years to come. Here are a few things you need to know to be able to fix and maintain your garage door:
Check your rollers for any damage. If you spot anything, you can buy new rollers from garage door dealers, or at the local DYI home centers.
Should I get married? Should I be good?
Astound the girl next door with my velvet suit and faustus hood?
—Gregory Corso (b. 1930)
Wash your door regularly with some mild detergent using a stiff brush. When you see the paint cracking, repaint it asap.
Make sure that the door tracks are aligned properly. Check with a level and if they are not aligned, loosen but don't remove the screws or bolts that hold the tracks to the wall. Simply adjust the track. Now recheck alignment with the level. When you are happy that the track is straight, tighten up the screws or bolts.
Check also the mounting brackets that hold the tracks to the walls. In case they came a bit loose, tighten the screws or bolts. Close the door and now check from the inside of the garage whether there are any flat spots or dents in the tracks. You can pound these out with a rubber mallet or hammer and a block of wood. Don't use metal hammers as they can cause further damages to your door. If your tracks are seriously damaged, better to replace them by a professional garage door installer.
Check the springs and adjust the tension on swing-up door by simply moving the spring hook to the next door hole. If you have a roll-up door with a single torsion spring at the door center is quite difficult to fix on your own. You need to enlist the services of a professional garage repairman in this case.
We were young, we were merry, we were very very wise,
And the door stood open at our feast,
When there passed us a woman with the West in her eyes,
And a man with his back to the East.
—Mary Elizabeth Coleridge (1861–1907)
By following these tips you should be able to keep your garage door maintained for many years to come. Read more about garage doors and overhead garage storage systems at http://www.overheadgaragestorage.org