Is your Racine garage door opener sick or tired?

You can’t expect your Racine garage door opener to raise and lower your garage door with such frequency without it getting a bit worn out by the process. If you go in and out of your garage only once each day of the year, that’s 365 times that the garage door opener will open the door and an equal number of times that it will close the garage door.

Chances are, however, that, while there may be days when you don’t use the garage door, those days are infrequent. Instead, if you’re like most of your Racine neighbors, you probably use the garage door more often than once a day.

Think about it this way; you usually use the garage door five or six days of the week, leaving and returning from work. That means that you use the garage door twice on those days. If you work 250 days out of the year, assuming you have weekends off, you’ll still bring the garage door up and down 500 times.

What about weekends? How often do you go to the store, raising and lowering the garage door to get the car out of the garage? And then you raise and lower the garage door when you return. How about all the times you cut the grass or snow blow the driveway? How about when you garden or rake the leaves? How about all the times you take the recyclables out to the curb? And then there are all those incidental occasions when you have reason to use the garage door opener.

It’s not hard to imagine that your garage door opener will go up and down 1,000 times each year or more. Over a five-year period, that’s 5,000 times. A single-car garage door weighs about 125 pounds. If it’s insulated, the weight can be closer to 150 pounds.

Most folks in Racine have two-and-a-half-sized garages with double-wide doors (16-feet). If made of steel, those doors can weigh about 200 pounds without the insulation. With insulation, they’re often closer to 225 or more pounds.

Garage door openers commonly have ½-horsepower motors. Fortunately, the garage door comes with heavy-duty springs that help to carry much of the load. But we’re still expecting a lot from that garage door opener. They do an admirable job but, over time, it’s inevitable that they grow a little tired. They can get sick, too.

Garage door opener parts can break. Adjustments can slide out of adjustment.

The point is that, if your Racine garage door is getting a little long in the tooth, you may want to have it checked out by a qualified garage door technician. They can identify anything ailing your garage door opener and they can give a boost of energy to many tired garage door openers.

Spring is time for Antioch garage door maintenance

Spring has finally come to Antioch and residents are making the most of the opportunity; they’re out in the garden, they’re cleaning the house, they’re cleaning the garage. Speaking of cleaning your Antioch garage, this is also a good time for a little garage door maintenance.

Garage door maintenance is one of the most overlooked processes among homeowners. Generally, they don’t think much about the garage door until something goes wrong – until the door is crooked, is stuck or won’t open at all. They don’t seem to notice that, overtime, the garage door operates slower and slower while making more and more noise in the process.

Garage door maintenance is the remedy for most of what ails a troubled garage door. Lubrication, in the right places, will keep the garage door opening and closing smoothly, efficiently and quietly. Without lubrication, rust invades the hinges and other parts of the garage door system. It wears at those parts of the garage. In the process, it also makes the garage door opener work harder.

A garage door technician knows all the spots where lubrication is required and what kind of lubrication goes where. They know how the garage door is supposed to operate and will notice if the door isn’t working at its peak performance. They’ll recognize signs of wear and damage.

A garage door technician will ensure that the rollers are gliding smoothly up and down in the tracks where they belong. They’ll know when something is bent or broken. They’ll check the garage door opener and controls to see that they’re in proper working order.

Some homeowners are tempted to perform maintenance on their own garage doors. That’s okay as long as there is nothing seriously wrong; it’s important to remember that the garage door is heavier than it looks and there is enough tension on the springs to seriously injure someone, or worse, if they try to fix the garage door themselves.

The most important thing is that the pros won’t miss spots that require lubrication and they have the experience and expertise to see issues before they become problems. A garage door technician will keep the garage door working at its best while you can focus on the gardening and cleaning of your Antioch home. 

Is it time to replace your Zion garage door?

If you take care of the garage door on your Zion garage, performing proper maintenance about once each year, that garage door should last you a good long time. If not, you may find yourself needing a new garage door sooner than you expected, and certainly sooner than you wanted.

Even if you do take care of your garage door, there may be a time when you need, or want, to install a new garage door. If you simply decide it’s time for a change, ‘when’ to install a new garage door is a subjective question. But, if the garage door is past its prime and its condition dictates that you need a new garage door on your Zion garage, the time to do so is more objective. There are particular issues that would indicate it’s time for a new garage door.

So, when do you really need to replace the garage door and how can you tell? Here are several issues to consider:

• Operation: This is the most obvious question. How does your garage door operate, which you can break down into several other categories, such as:
• Speed: Is the garage door going up and down at the same rate of speed as it did when it was new? This may be difficult to notice overtime as the door is likely to slow down a little at a time. But, if you check the speed and try to remember how the door worked when new you’ll probably be able to determine if the speed has changed.
• Noise: Is the garage door considerably louder than it used to be. Once again, the noise has probably increased incrementally but you should be able to tell the difference if you try.
• Safety: Is the garage door in a condition where someone could be injured, or worse? Is it so likely to come off the rails that it might fall on the car and cause damage? Look to see that it is closing all the way, that the rollers are staying in the rails and that the springs are not broken.
• Security: Is the garage door closing properly to the degree that it is not easily breeched. One of the primary functions of the garage door is to keep the unwanted out. The unwanted includes animals that might be looking for a home as well as people who are looking for something to steal.
• Appearance: This is more of a subjective question again. If the garage door looks like heck it’s not very appealing in general. If you’re thinking about selling your Zion home, the appearance of the garage door is even more important and can play a major factor in the ability to find a buyer and how much they’re willing to pay.
• Technology: If your garage door is old enough you may not have the latest technology at your fingertips, such as a garage door you can operate with your smart phone, even when you’re not home.

Before you decide your garage door is due for replacement, you may want a garage door technician to look at the old garage door and see if it’s worth salvaging. With proper maintenance, once again, you can extend the life of your garage door.

Otherwise, it’s a matter of cost versus benefits, including the benefit of a new garage door on your Zion garage.

A quality garage door technician allows you to not worry about your garage door

From your garage door opener simply not working, to that noise that reminds you entirely too much of nails on a chalkboard when it opens, to broken weather sealant or rust formations along the tracks we’ve all encountered some kind of irritation or inconvenience when dealing with what seems to be such an insignificant aspect of our homes.

In other words, not many of us put much thought into our garage doors, how they work, how they’re made or on keeping them in working conditions, although many of us notice the rust forming underneath our vehicle the rust forming along our garage door tracks due to lack of lubrication is far from our minds. Although rust can add a warm, almost homely appeal when used in decor, when present it affects the efficiency of your garage door.

Any good technician knows this and will have thoroughly lubricated your garage door tracks upon installation. That being said, not all technicians are aware that all metal materials on your garage door need such attention, including but not limited to the spring located above the door, this means that even if you have plastic rollers there is still a need for lubrication. Lubrication is necessary to keep your garage door operable over time, but it is only one of the things you need to take into consideration when thinking about keeping up with garage door maintenance.

Here are just a few examples of what can go wrong when your door is not properly maintained:

• Squeaky, grinding noises when opening
• Door doesn’t seal when closed or close all the way
• Broken weather sealant
• Garage door openers simply not connecting or working
• Unaligned Tracks
• Broken springs
• Broken cables

And lastly, most common, but not least …

• Rust

Quality garage door technicians take the hassle of getting your car home safely and securely into your garage easier and far less stressful. They will provide quick and efficient service that keeps your garage door in good condition while extending its life.

Are you using your garage to its full potential?

Your garage is full of potential. Right off the bat it has the potential as a warm and protected place to park your car. This is generally considered the primary role of a garage. Of course, a garage also has the potential as a storage area.

Unfortunately, as a storage area, garages often get out of hand. Rather than neatly, optimized storage, ‘stuff’ runs amok in many garages. Garages will have so much ‘stuff’ haphazardly dumped across the floor that there often isn’t any room left for the car.

Garages are often the haven for lawn and snow-removal equipment. Once again, this can challenge the car for space in the garage.

There are two, or three, solutions for a garage that has turned into a magnet for ‘stuff’ until the garage is overflowing. One solution is to create an orderly system of storing ‘stuff’ in the garage. This usually includes solid and well-thought-out shelving. Another solution is to build a shed.

A shed is a great place to keep the lawn and snow-removal equipment, as well as gardening and other equipment. But some people have such a problem with random ‘stuff’ that the ‘stuff’ in the garage soon finds its way into the shed, too. Next thing they know, the shed is bulging with ‘stuff’ too.

The final solution is to simply accept the ‘stuff’ as victorious over the car in its battle for use of space in the garage.

Assuming someone doesn’t want to surrender the garage to the ‘stuff,’ they may want to explore the potential of the garage further. Once the ‘stuff’ is cleared away into orderly storage, they can turn the garage into a ‘man-cave’ or a ‘she-shed.’ Here, the options are almost endless.

If they want to use the garage in these capacities year round, they’ll probably want to heat and cool the garage. They can connect heating/cooling vents to the garage, assuming the heating/cooling system has the capacity for the garage (they should check with an HVAC contractor first). However, if the car or other gasoline-fired engines will run in the garage, or they’ll use the garage for painting or other processes where fumes are present, they probably don’t want a return vent that will carry the odors and gasses through the house.

If heating/cooling the garage, and even if they don’t, they may want to drywall the garage. If doing so, they should consider insulating the walls prior to applying the drywall. Once the drywall is installed and finished, it’s time to decorate.

Paint and/or paneling can be applied to the walls and ceiling. You can even paint the floor with special heavy-duty latex- or oil-based paints. Another option is specialized tile that can be applied to the garage floor.

From this point, the options are too many to list here. It’s really up to someone’s imagination.

Leave that crooked garage door to the professionals

Garage doors aren’t supposed to be crooked. It’s a bad sign when they are. But it’s a greater concern when the garage door is crooked in the up position than when closed.

If the door is crooked, there’s a good chance the door hit something causing the problem. Maybe a basketball was sitting in the door’s path when it came down. Something stopped one side of the door and, in the process, caused slack in the cable. With slack, the cable jumped over the cable drum.

A broken spring can also cause the garage door to go all crooked on you. You don’t want to trifle with a garage door spring. It’s a powerful spring that can cause serious injury, even death, if it gets away from you. Obviously, if there’s a problem with the

garage spring, you want to call in a professional.

When the cable comes off the cable drum you also want to call in a professional. It’s easier if the door is crooked down low but you still want a professional to fix the problem. That way it will be done right and safely.

If the door is crooked in its lowered position, a professional can probably get the cable back over the drum without too much trouble. But if the door is crooked in the open position, the professional will have to take the garage door apart, piece by piece.

If you try to fix a cable that has jumped over the cable drum while the door is in the open position, you’re liable to drop the door. It could fall on you. It could also fall on your car. In either case, when it falls, beyond the damage it could do to you or the car, it will probably do damage to itself.

The lesson is that, if your garage door is crooked, up or down, call a professional. They’ll fix it right and no one will get hurt in the process.

How often should you maintain your Lake Bluff garage door? How often do you use it?

When you consider the question, ‘How often should I maintain my Lake Bluff garage door?’ the answer is to ask another question: ‘How often do you use it?’ This is logical. The more often you use something mechanical the more wear and tear it will have. This principle applies to garage doors, too.

So, if you use your Lake Bluff garage door twice a day, that’s a pretty heavy amount of use and more frequent maintenance is critical. Of course, it’s possible that you use your garage door even more often than that. The frequency of performing maintenance should increase proportionately.

On the other hand, you may not use your garage door even twice a day. Maybe you don’t park your car in the garage and only use the door a couple times each week. Yes, you can get away with less frequent garage door maintenance. But, don’t make the mistake of thinking this means you shouldn’t maintain it. The question is simply about frequency.

Garage door maintenance – for that matter, garage door opener maintenance – is one of the most overlooked procedures when it comes to mechanical equipment around the house. Few people would allow the car to go three, four or more years without an oil change – the most basic form of automotive maintenance.

Some people have never performed maintenance on their Lake Bluff garage doors. As a general rule, having your garage door maintained once each year is the standard that garage door technicians and installers recommend. But, as mentioned above, if you use it heavily, you may want to increase the frequency of maintenance.

Maintenance includes lubricating the hinges, rails, rollers and other moving parts that come into contact with other parts. It also includes checking the adjustments so that the door is stopping all the way down, going all the way up and stopping if something, or someone, is in the way while the garage door is in operation. Maintenance will check all the springs, pulleys, chains, wiring and other parts of the door and the opener.

Without proper maintenance, your garage door may not break immediately, but you can expect it to slow down, make more noise and stand a greater risk of failure if it’s not maintained often enough. The garage door, and parts of the garage door, won’t last as long if you don’t maintain them.