Maintenance Measures for Automatic Garage Doors
Automatic garage doors are one of the most overworked mechanisms in the home. Unfortunately, not many homeowners take measures to ensure that these doors stay in proper working condition. As such, when problems crop up, they seem to have appeared out of nowhere. The truth of the matter though is that a minor problem that could have been easily fixed may have gone undetected and become exacerbated over time. This is why it is important for homeowners to carry out regular visual inspections to ensure that their automatic garage doors are working at optimal functionality. Here are some of the maintenance measures that you could take for your automatic garage doors.
Regularly inspect the condition of the sensors
Automatic garage doors have sensors installed at either side of the doors. These sensors work toward detecting the presence of any items that could be under the garage doors, hence preventing unnecessary injuries by the doors coming down by accident. In the event that the sensors are not clean, they will not be able to communicate with each other using their laser beam. This makes your garage doors unsafe. The good news is that a regular wipe down with a soft cloth will keep your sensors free from dirt. Additionally, regularly test their efficiency by placing items below the garage doors to ensure that they will not roll all the way down. Another reason that your sensors my not be working effectively is if their photo eyes have gone askew. If this is the case, it is best to have professional garage door technicians realign them so as not to risk damaging them further.
Inspect the balance of your automatic garage doors
Garage doors, both automatic and mechanical, are heavy. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the weight of the doors is distributed evenly on the frame. If the doors are not properly balanced, then it will have trouble opening and closing properly. Additionally, imbalanced automatic garage doors are at a higher risk of acquiring damages since the imbalance will pose a risk to the doors' safety and reversal features. This will mean paying more in repairs for your garage doors, which could have been avoided if they were balanced correctly. If you can visually discern that the doors do no look properly aligned, it is best to call in the garage door technicians so that they can balance the doors for you.
