How Winter Affects Your Garage Door and How to Avoid it

The winter period comes with a range of extreme weather. Cold temperatures, heavy rainfall and snow are all hallmarks of the period depending on your location. These conditions have adverse effects on the condition of your garage door and can easily result to a malfunctioning door. This in turn creates a hazardous situation which can cause great harm to you, your family or property.

There are several ways winter can cause your garage door to malfunction including the following:

Door freeze

This is a situation that happens when it rains and the temperatures are cold below freezing point overnight. When this happens the area around the door can freeze shut at the bottom if there is any pooling below it. There are a number of ways you can go about it to free the door. All these depend on your condition and door set up. First you can pull the emergency release cord to allow you to manually open the door. Then move close to the door and see if you can get enough leverage to break the seal. If you cannot the only other way will be to melt the ice surrounding the area and see better ways to prevent ice from pooling around.

Water and humidity damage

The winter season brings with it plenty of humidity and rain water. If the garage door and surrounding frames are made of wood, they will absorb the water and swell. When this happens the clearance space between the door and the frame decreases causing the door to rub up on the frame during opening and closing. At times it may even get stuck in place while operating. This makes it important to ensure the rain gutters are clear and there is no run off water splashing on to the door when it hits the pavement. Ensure the garage door is also shielded from direct exposure to the rain.

Garage openers and door springs

Garage door openers come with parts lubricated with different products. Cold weather affects the consistency of the lubricants mostly making them hard and thick which leads to the parts getting stuck and not moving smoothly. In the case of garage door sensitivity, a thickened lubricant can have the sensor interpreting it as an object hit by the door thus stopping. Winter weather also affects the torsion springs. The cold weather makes metal to stiffen up and become brittle. This leads to excessive pressure on the spring and if it has been used for long it easily snaps or breaks.

Preventing these issues is better than reacting to them when they happen. Before the onset of winter do a thorough maintenance on all parts. Ensure metal parts are not rusty. Moving parts should be well lubricated ideally using silicon based lubricants which are not adversely affected by cold weather. The rollers and springs have to be checked for their condition and any misalignment. This way you get your door prepared for the harsh winter ahead.

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