Regularly maintaining your garage door is a quick and easy way to keep your door performing its best and adding to your home’s curb appeal!Fixing Up Your Garage Door on a Budget? Here are our 4 Tips to Save You Money
Even if you use your garage for more than just parking your car, keeping the door in good working order is important. Fortunately, maintenance and repairs are easy to do yourself, and can be done in a few hours. A fresh coat of paint, some small repairs, and a proper inspection is all it takes to get a fairly well-maintained garage door back in good condition.
If possible, try to clean your garage door once a month or every other month depending on how often you use it and how dirty it gets.
1. Clean Your Garage Door
It’s important to clean your garage door on a regular basis. You should do this to prevent rust and keep the parts in good working order. If possible, try to clean it once a month or every other month depending on how often you use it and how dirty it gets.
Wash your garage door
Spray your garage door with water, then wash the door with warm water mixed with a mild dish detergent. Use a sponge to gently wipe the door, then spray the door with a strong jet of water from a hose one more time. If the garage door is stained with mold or mildew, use oxygen bleach to remove the stain. Oxygen bleach is better than chlorine bleach for these purposes because it is safer for plants.
Clean your garage door tracks
This is one of the most important things you can do because a clean garage door track is what keeps your garage door running smoothly without any problems. There is no specific way of doing this, but something as simple as using a vacuum cleaner or broom with soft bristles to clear out dirt and grime is a quick and easy way to make sure your garage door tracks are in top shape.
Repainting your garage door every five or so years is a good way that you can keep your home looking its best.
2. Refresh Your Garage Door with a New Coat of Paint
Apply a fresh coat of paint to your door if the old one is looking faded, chipped, or damaged. Repainting your garage door every five or so years is a good way that you can keep your home looking its best. When you’re choosing a paint color for your garage door, don’t feel like you have to choose the same color you selected previously. Choosing the right color is one way to give your house a fresh new look. When choosing a color, consider the following:
- Neutral colors tend to appeal to home buyers if you’re hoping to sell your home soon.
- You can minimize the visual impact of your garage by painting your door the same color as your house.
- Bright, bold colors will draw attention to your door, which may be a positive thing if you’re trying to draw attention away from other things.
When painting over existing paint, make sure that you remove all traces of previous coats by sanding any peeling paint and scraping old decals or stickers with a razor blade scraper or utility knife. Once everything has been cleaned off, prime and sand any bare material areas before applying the new paint in thin layers with a brush or roller. Make sure that each coat dries completely before applying another one.
One of the most important things you can do for your garage is to test the safety features.
3. Inspect and Test Your Garage Door
One of the most important things you can do for your garage is to test the safety features. This means testing that your garage door closes when it should, and that it doesn’t close when you don’t want it to. Whether it’s closing automatically at a set time or opening manually with a remote control, these safety features are essential to maker sure your garage door runs smoothly and safely.
How to safely test a garage door
Lay a 2×4 piece of wood in the path of the garage door, then close the door on the wood. When it touches the wood, it should reverse course. Close the door and wave a broom handle in the path of the closing door. The door should reverse course.
Lubricating your garage door can help prevent squeaking and noises caused by friction between moving parts such as the roller racks, hinges, and springs.
4. Make Small Repairs
If the door does not reverse course when an obstacle gets in the door’s way as described above, use a clean microfiber cloth to wipe away any dirt and grime from the door’s photoelectric eyes, located near the base of the open door, on either side.
How to grease a garage door
One of the easiest ways to maintain your garage door is to regularly lubricate the moving parts. Lubricating your garage door can help prevent squeaking and noises caused by friction between moving parts such as the roller racks, hinges, and springs. To do this, make sure you’ve cleaned off any debris or dirt with a damp cloth so it doesn’t get trapped inside and cause problems later on. Then, using a mild lubricant such as WD-40, spray or pour some onto a rag or paper towel and wipe down each part where there’s metal-on-metal contact.
Fixing Your Garage Door on a Budget? Work with a Pro
If your garage door is genuinely broken, then you’ll need help from a professional to get the door repaired. Talk to your repair professional to let them know you need to fix your garage door on a budget, to ensure the work performed stays within your price range. Contact Overhead Door Company of Oklahoma City to make an appointment to fix your garage door on a budget.
