Why Your Regular Home Maintenance Schedule Should Include Opening The Garage Door
If you tend to leave your garage door closed all the time -- not unusual if you use your garage as a workspace and don't want people to be able to see in, for security reasons -- you may think that you don't have to worry about the state of the garage door or opener. However, you should be. Leaving the door in one position for a very long time -- as in months or years -- can be harmful. Your regular home maintenance should include the simple act of opening and closing the door on a regular basis to ensure that nothing's gone wrong.
Rusted and Frozen Springs
The most obvious issue is that the door springs can deteriorate without you knowing. If you regularly open the door, you can see the springs in action and listen for any sounds that might indicate the springs need to be attended to. Leaving the springs alone for a very long time means they can become covered with dust, and they can possibly develop rust and become brittle, which is dangerous.
Short Circuits
If you have an automatic opener, you might be tempted to unplug it since you're not using it. But that can also be an issue as it can develop wiring problems (if pests get near it) and short circuit should you try to use the opener again after it's been lying dormant for such a long time. If the opener has backup batteries that were never removed, these could have leaked in the meantime.
Weatherstripping Degradation
Granted, if the door isn't opening and closing all the time, you're not going to have to worry about the weatherstripping around the door being compressed and released to the point that it wears down. But you may have to deal with mildew, and if the weatherstripping material is rather cheap, the non-adhesive side can gradually adhere to the door just because they've been pressed together for so long. Opening the door lets you inspect the weatherstripping and take action against mildew if need be.
If you have not opened the garage door in a while, contact a garage door repair company and have them take a look at everything to ensure the door won't malfunction badly should you try to open it. Once the door is in great shape, set a schedule for opening it just to see how everything is doing. For more information, see http://raynordoor.com/.
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