Garage Door Care You Can Safely Do Yourself

Start with a monthly look and listen

Once a month, watch your door go through a full open and close. Listen for grinding, popping, or scraping, and watch for jerky movement or one side lifting faster than the other. Catching a rough spot early — a worn roller, a loose bracket — is the difference between a quick tune-up and a breakdown. If something looks or sounds off, note it and give us a call.

Keep the moving parts lubricated

Dry metal is the number-one cause of a noisy door. Every few months, wipe down the rollers, hinges, and springs and apply a garage-door-specific lubricant (a silicone or lithium spray — not WD-40, which is a cleaner, not a lubricant). Wipe the tracks clean but don’t grease them; the rollers need to roll, not slide. This five-minute job makes a door noticeably quieter and helps parts last longer.

Test the auto-reverse safety features

Your door has two safety systems worth testing monthly. First, place a solid object (like a roll of paper towels) on the floor in the door’s path and close it — it should touch the object and reverse. Second, with the door open, wave a broom handle through the photo-eye sensors near the floor as it closes; it should stop and reverse. If either test fails, stop using the opener and call us — a door that won’t reverse is a genuine hazard.

Clean the sensors and check the weather seal

The little photo-eye sensors near the bottom of the tracks get bumped, dusty, and cobwebbed. Gently wipe the lenses and make sure both are pointing at each other (most have a steady indicator light when aligned). While you’re down there, check the rubber weather seal along the bottom of the door — if it’s cracked or brittle, it’s letting cold and critters in, and it’s an easy thing for us to replace.

Keep the tracks and area clear

Make sure nothing leans against the tracks and that the path of the door is clear. Tighten any obviously loose bolts on the brackets and hinges with a socket wrench — vibration works them loose over time. A clear, snug system is a reliable one.

Two things to always leave to a professional

• ✓ Springs. Torsion and extension springs are under extreme tension and can cause serious injury. Never try to adjust, wind, or replace them yourself — this is the one repair we insist you call a pro for. See our spring replacement page.
• ✓ Cables. The lift cables are part of that same high-tension system. A cable under load can snap back dangerously. Leave cable repair to a technician.