Florida homeowners deal with many unique weather conditions that can put excessive strain on their garage door system. Tampa, Miami, Orlando, and Fort Myers homeowners deal with garage door damage from extreme heat, constant humidity, salty coastal air, and hurricane-season storms. Regular garage door maintenance is one of the best ways to prevent door malfunctions that require repair, extend the lifespan of your door, and ensure your safety.
Proper garage door maintenance includes checking the springs and cables, lubricating all moving parts, cleaning the weather seals, testing the safety sensors, and more. Staying proactive about garage door maintenance will ensure reliability, safety, and peace of mind. Your maintenance should include tasks you perform as a homeowner, as well as professional maintenance service with our team.
Check for Rust and Corrosion
Florida’s humid, salty air makes the metal parts of your garage door much more likely to rust and corrode. Homeowners should regularly check their garage doors for rust, peeling paint, bubbling finishes, or any signs of hardware corrosion.
When you catch this rust early on, we can prevent it from spreading and damaging larger sections of your door. Pay close attention to metal hinges, brackets, tracks, and bottom panels. These parts often come in contact with moisture and tend to corrode first.
Inspect Weather Stripping and Bottom Seals
Weather stripping plays a crucial role in protecting your garage door from humidity, pests, water intrusion, and the outdoor heat. Many Florida storms can push large amounts of rainwater directly toward your garage door, especially during hurricane season if you live in places like Cape Coral or Fort Lauderdale.
It’s a good idea to inspect the bottom rubber seal and your side weather stripping. You want to see if any areas have damage. If there are any gaps around your garage door, then your weather stripping is ineffective. It’s best to have one of our garage door professionals replace worn seals to improve your garage’s energy efficiency and reduce moisture problems.
Clean the Garage Door Tracks
Florida’s sandy conditions, frequent storms, and high pollen levels make it easy for debris to build up inside your garage door tracks. Dirty tracks can prevent the smooth operation of your door and place additional strain on your opener system. As a homeowner, it’s a good idea to periodically check your tracks and clean them if you notice any dirt, sand, leaves, cobwebs, or dust buildup. You can clean them with a dry cloth or a soft brush to help your garage door move more smoothly and quietly.
Test the Garage Door Safety Sensors
All modern garage door systems have photo-eye sensors that prevent the door from closing if someone is underneath it. It’s a good idea to test these sensors for the safety of your family and guests. Open your garage door all the way and then place a disposable object underneath it. Attempt to close the garage door, checking that it automatically reverses its direction before damaging the item. If it doesn’t reverse, the sensors may be dirty or experiencing issues with alignment. Items blocking the sensors can also prevent them from working properly.
Schedule Professional Garage Door Inspections
Basic visual checks and cleaning help keep your garage door in good shape, but they’re not a substitute for professional maintenance. Florida’s weather conditions can accelerate wear on the internal garage door components that you may not easily notice. Our professional technicians will inspect all the different components of your door.
These include things like rollers, bearings, lift cables, extension springs, opener systems, and so forth. Garage door springs and cables are under extremely high tension and only trained garage door specialists should service them.
Apart from inspecting your door, our professionals will also lubricate your door, tighten any loose hardware, and adjust your track alignment and door balance accordingly. This is necessary to ensure your door works properly and to maintain your warranty coverage.
Schedule Garage Door Maintenance Today
Keeping up with routine garage door maintenance is one of the best ways to avoid experiencing major problems. Homeowner maintenance and professional maintenance are essential to extend the lifespan of your door so that you can get more for your money. We recommend that professional garage door inspection and maintenance are completed annually. Contact D & D Garage Doors to schedule residential garage door maintenance in Florida today.
