Even Rudolph’s red-nose won’t help if Santa’s garage door won’t open

We all know about Santa’s sleigh – how it’s pulled by eight magic reindeer (and another with a shiny bright nose). But where does Santa keep his sleigh when he isn’t circumventing the globe distributing toys for good little girls and boys?

The simple answer is, ‘In the garage.’ 

Of course, Santa’s garage is at the North Pole. This makes it a very unique garage, indeed. Not only is it likely to be the only garage in the neighborhood, but it also needs to be a garage made of sturdy stuff. It’s unlikely that Santa would settle for 2X4 wall studs. With the kind of winds they experience up at the pole, 2X10 is probably a much better idea.

The roof needs to withstand the weight of A LOT of snow. In fact, it’s likely that the wood studs of his garage are backed up by heavy I-beams. But what about the garage door?

Santa’s garage door better open

Santa’s garage door doesn’t get as much of a workout as your garage door. His garage door only goes up and down twice each year: once when he goes out to deliver toys and once when the job is done and he comes home. But your garage door doesn’t face the kind of climatic punishment his garage door sees.

In the summer, the North Pole experiences a balmy 32-degrees Fahrenheit. But, in the winter, the annual mean temperature at the Pole is minus-40-degrees Fahrenheit. Lubrication is essential to keep moisture from frosting up and locking the hinges of Santa’s garage door in place.

Maintenance to ensure that the garage door opener operates at its peak performance is equally crucial. The springs, the rollers, the rails, the gears: everything has to work properly to avoid that tragic event on Dec. 24 where Santa’s garage door won’t open.

No doubt, Santa doesn’t neglect the maintenance of his garage door. He understands the crucial role his garage door plays in ensuring that children around the world will find toys under the Christmas tree Christmas morning.

Do Twin Lakes homeowners know about garage door maintenance?

Most of us know how important it is to maintain our cars. We know that, if we don’t, you’re liable to find us on the side of the road somewhere waiting for a tow truck. We know about maintaining the furnace and air conditioners in our homes lest we find ourselves too hot or too cold. We maintain our roofs so that moisture doesn’t get in and eat away at the sub-roof while spreading water damage below. But do Twin Lakes homeowners know about garage door maintenance?

Mechanical devices require maintenance. Most of the time, they’re made of materials that can rust, stretch, crack and break. They have parts that often rub together. They have motors that shown the strain of their efforts over time. All of these factors apply to the garage door and garage door opener in your Twin Lakes garage.

And yet, garage doors and garage door openers are among the most neglected mechanical devices in our lives. Considering that we use them almost daily, this doesn’t make a lot of sense.

When you use your garage door it usually means that the garage door opener is required to lift the garage door so you can get out and bring it back down after you return. That means that, in most days, your garage door makes a minimum of four trips up and down. If you came and went each day for a year, your garage door will go up, and come back down, 1,460 times.

That’s quite a workout for the garage door opener and the mechanical parts of your garage door. It’s a testament to the quality construction and design of most garage doors and garage door openers. But, eventually, even the best garage doors and garage door openers are going to breakdown.

The likelihood that your garage door or garage door opener will breakdown generally depends on how well you maintain these neglected mechanical devices. But there’s more to it than simply when they will breakdown; it’s also a question of performance in the meantime.

In other words, even if your garage door hasn’t broken yet, it probably isn’t going up as quickly and efficiently as it did before. Over time, the process of raising and lowering your garage door will also get quieter. In the meantime, you’re also putting increased stress on parts of the garage door and garage door opener.

All that extra strain required to raise and lower the garage door will cause the motor of the garage door opener to work harder and heat up more in the process.

Garage door maintenance is not something you have to do twice a week. In fact, once a year is probably good enough. It’s an extremely cost-effective way to extend the life and performance of the garage door and garage door opener in your Twin Lakes garage.