Winter Problems for Garage Doors

When the weather gets extremely cold, our Raleigh garage doors tend to malfunction a bit. Even if we do all of the maintenance and winterizing needed throughout the year, they still have a chance of sticking at some point. Below, you’ll find a few troubleshooting tips you can do to see what might be causing your doors to stick.

Raleigh Garage Doors | Troubleshooting

1. Close the garage doors. Disconnect the opener. Raise the door manually. Do any spots stick? If so, there might be grease buildup there.
2. Check for broken springs. If you find broken springs, contact a Raleigh garage door repair team immediately. This can be dangerous for many reasons and isn’t something you should try to fix on your own.
3. Does the door raise and lower well by hand? The torque setting might need to be adjusted until the door moves properly again.

If none of the above troubleshooting helped, consider the following tips to help you move further in your efforts to find the reason your Raleigh garage doors are sticking.
Contracted Metal
In the cold weather, metal tends to contract. As a result, the springs and other components seize up. Using lubricant can help the springs, drive, screws, and rollers move well with a less likely chance of them freezing. Use a silicone-based lubricant.
Grease on Tracks
If lubrication gets on the tracks, it can cause the rollers to wear and become misaligned. Clean away any grease in the tracks using an oil solvent such as kerosene.
Hardened Grease
Things tend to freeze in the winter and grease is no exception. If the grease or lubricant on your garage door components freezes do the following:

• Use a small brush to work into cracks and remove old grease. Use a solvent if needed.
• Wipe away solvent, and apply a silicone-based lubricant to the springs, screw drive, shuttle, roller bearings and torsion bar bearings.

Worn, Warped Tracks
The rollers can become worn down or misaligned in the tracks. Also, the tracks can become warped due to extreme temperatures or damage. Contact a Raleigh garage door repair professional for either problem as the fix for this can be a dangerous job to perform alone.
Raleigh Garage Doors | Preventative Maintenance
As we stated above, your garage doors may stick no matter what you do to winterize them. There are a few things you can do as a preventative measure that might keep the doors working properly all winter long:

• Apply a silicone-based lubricant to the springs, screw drive, shuttle, roller bearings and torsion bar bearings.
• Apply a spray solvent to rollers, hinges, roller tracks, hinges, and latches.
• Lubricate the pulleys or the bearings.
• Wipe everything clean. If any rollers or hinges seem stuck, soak them in a solvent, using a stiff brush to clean the cracks. Wipe clean again.

To make sure your Raleigh garage doors are in great shape and ready to shield your garage and home from the harsh weather that winter can bring, contact our Raleigh garage door repair team. We can come out and make sure your garage is properly maintained, free of damage and winterized.