Garage-Door Maintenance Tips: How to Winterize Your Garage Door

The winter season can be particularly harsh on your garage door, especially if the door is not properly maintained. What's worse, you may be unable to obtain professional repairs due to the harsh weather and the holidays, and this means that you may have to endure a broken garage door for days or weeks. Here are some tips on how you can winterize your garage door and avoid jeopardizing your garage security throughout the winter season.

Replace the weather stripping

The weather stripping is a seal that is located at the bottom of the garage door and which keeps rainwater, snow, dirt and debris away from the garage. The weather stripping tends to wear out over time and should be cleaned and replaced when it begins to crack or show signs of wear. Before the onset of winter, it is essential to clean and replace the weather stripping, especially if it was not changed during the year. Also, lubricate it to prevent friction as you operate the door. This will help in keeping your garage floor dry by preventing the entry of snow and rainwater.

Lubricate metal parts

Regardless of the type of material used for the garage door, you are likely to have metal parts such as the hinges, locking mechanism and tracks. The cold temperatures during the winter can cause the metal components to stiffen if they are not lubricated. This can cause significant wear of these parts as you open and close the garage. Lubricate the metal components using a quality garage-door lubricant to ensure smooth operation and prevent friction.

Insulate the door

An uninsulated garage door can lead to significant energy loss during winter if the garage shares a wall with the rest of the home. The cold air from outside will circulate inside the garage and into your home, and this will increase the heating requirements of the home. Insulate both the garage and its door if you want to minimize heat loss from your home during the winter. Consult a professional garage specialist on the best insulation that you can use for the garage and the door.

Check remote control

If your garage door is remotely controlled, you need to ensure that the remote is working correctly to avoid inconveniences. If you have not replaced the batteries in a long time, make sure that there are extra ones that you can use if the current ones dry out. Make sure that you have extra batteries for the external keypad as well.

Follow these tips to ensure that your garage door is ready for the winter season. If you need any repairs or replacement of components, make sure that you consult a garage-door specialist for quality services.