3 Things You Should Do to Prepare Your Garage Door for Winter
Posted on: 19 October 2018
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Cold weather is just around the corner, which means it is time to prepare your home and garage before it arrives. There are several preventative maintenance tasks that you should perform to ensure your garage is ready for the colder temperatures. Here are three of them.
Clean Things Up
Before the weather gets too bad and it's freezing outside, you will want to start cleaning up the exterior of the garage. If you have a power washer, you can use it, but if not, your regular garden hose will work. Then, you will need a mild detergent to help eliminate any dust, dirt, and grime that have built up on the door since your last cleaning. While you are it, go ahead and wash down the garage floors to remove any fluids, dirt, and stains.
Lubricate All Moving Parts
Lubrication is key to a properly working garage door during all times of the year. However, the worst time of year to deal with a malfunctioning door is wintertime. Therefore, take the time to lubricate all moving parts of the door, paying special attention to the tracks, rollers, and torsion springs. Make sure to use a silicone-based lubricant to avoid any unnecessary gunk buildup and problems with the parts.
Insulate the Door and Garage
Insulation is essential to keeping your garage warm, or at least warmer, during the winter months. If there are any exposed pipes in your garage, these will need to be covered with some type of foam insulation. On the garage door, check the condition of the weather stripping. If it is cracked, broken, or otherwise damaged, it will need to be replaced. Otherwise, it will be unable to act as a seal to keep the moisture and cold winds out. If your garage door is insulated, check to ensure that the insulation is still in good shape. If your garage door has no insulation or if the insulation is not in good shape, add or replace the insulation to help keep the garage warm.
As the cold weather approaches, you need to clean up the exterior and interior of your garage and garage door, lubricate any and all moving parts of your garage door, and insulate your garage door (or replace existing insulation, if necessary). If you need help with any of these tasks or find a problem with your garage door as you are performing these preventative maintenance tasks, contact a garage door professional like those at Guaranteed Door Service