Of all the parts of your home, the garage door is likely used far more frequently than most others. It’s got a lot of working parts on its own, some heavy, some light. Any of these parts will wear down over the course of time. Each component in your garage door serves a crucial role in the overall operation. If any of these parts fail to perform at its utmost capability, then others will start following suit. If you want to work towards preventing garage door repairs that cost you money, time, and stress, then you should do what you can.

Keep reading to learn simple garage door preventative maintenance tips you can do all by yourself.

1) Clear The Tracks:

This one is quick and straightforward. Just check both sides of your garage tracks to make sure there isn’t any debris. Also keep an eye out for other parts that might be interfering with the operation, now or later. It’s easy for random pieces of stuff to get stuck on the tracks, but scraping or wiping them away is just as easy and can save you a world of trouble.

2) Keep The Exterior Looking Like New:

Granted, you already instinctively want to come home to a nice-looking residence, yard, garage door, and all. However, if you have a garage door made from wood, you should check it out for old, chipped paint and even water damage. Should it need a new coat, it’s time to scrape and sand off the older paint before giving it a new layer. If your garage door is steel, then sand off any rusty spots before wiping it all down with the same mild and all-purpose cleaner you use on your car.

3) Test Your Auto-Reverse Safety Mechanism:

Your garage door has an auto-reverse safety feature. It has two different working mechanisms. One is the photocell, and the other is mechanical. Test both of them.

In order to test the mechanical one, just lay down a piece of wood onto the ground that’s in the track path of your door. As the door starts coming down, see if it reverses direction when it makes contact with the wood.

Testing the photocell mechanism means pressing the button that closes your garage door. Once the door starts lowering, just stick your foot into the sensory beams. The photocells are working right when the garage door stops and starts moving back up.

If your garage fails either test, then it’s time you get a new garage door opener.

4) Lube Up Anything That Moves:

This task might just be the most crucial thing you do, and yet in many garages, it’s also the most neglected. Your garage door has many working parts. Many or most of these parts are made up of metal. They rub against each other, and as most folks know, metal moving against metal doesn’t always go well. You’ll add many years to the life cycle to your current garage if you commit to oiling and greasing the door.

It only takes you a quarter of an hour to do, which is a lot less time that it would take you to earn the money you spend on replacing the garage. The overhead springs should get a light spray coat of lubricant, and you can apply white lithium grease to the screw or chain of the garage door opener. You’ll simultaneously reduce rust and increase efficiency.

When you apply these preventative maintenance tasks to your larger to-do list at home, you can handle more of the work on our own with less reliance on expensive repairs or costly professionals. Just know that as you do some of these tips and tasks, you might find deeper issues that still need professional attention, but when you call around to find one, congratulate yourself on discovering the issue before it got worse or broke something down on a morning you just didn’t need anything to happen.