Your commercial garage door matters more than you think

Do you own a small business that makes use of a garage? Whether you own a construction business or offer a service, your garage likely offers a space for your equipment and tools. These garage doors are typically 12 feet high and 10 feet wide, which is quite different from the residential category garage door. If you use the door as often as one at home, which is around four times each day, you still need to provide regular care.

When it comes to required maintenance for your sectional door, there are some things you can easily do on your own to keep things in working order. However, there are other things that should only be done by a professional.

Do you use your commercial garage door numerous times every day? If so, it’s even more crucial that it opens and closes properly each time you need it to. To ensure that is the case, we are happy to offer a Preventative Maintenance Program that can help.

Once a month, inspect these parts of your garage door

If you take just a few minutes every month to look at a few components of your garage door, you’ll be taking the first steps to keeping your garage in good shape:

• Lift cables: take time to look them over for any fraying and see if any look like they are close to breaking.
• Rollers: look at the rollers and search for any that seem worn to the point where they no longer roll, or which are close to falling out.
• Hinges: check out the hinges and the anchoring point to see if any screws might be close to detaching.
• Horizontal tracks: make sure you are standing behind the door while checking if the rollers flare out, which might mean they are close to coming out of the track.

The next steps are going to depend on whether you have a garage door that is operated manually or with an electric garage door opener. If the former is your case:

• Try to lift the door, paying attention to how much it weighs. Does it seem like it’s 100 lb. (50 kilos) or more? There might be a problem.
• Do you have a chain hoist for your garage door? Does it still seem to weigh more than you expected? This is another sign of an issue.

For those who have an electric garage door opener, try this:

• The first step you want to take is to pull on the emergency release cord. Next, see how easily the door can be lifted while using only a single hand. If it’s easy to lift, you’re good to go. If that isn’t the case, there is likely a major problem with the tracks or the spring system.

Those who noticed an issue should not attempt to correct it on their own. Instead, the best option is to get in touch with a qualified technician from Regional Doors & Hardware. Our experts can determine what is wrong and repair whatever is causing the malfunction.

Tips to keep your garage door in great shape

There is one thing you can do to keep your door in good shape without having to talk to a technician. Lubricating certain parts of your commercial garage door is a simple task that can help.

• How to lubricate metal components
  • Rollers and hinges: for these parts you are going to need a liquid lubricant such as 5W30 motor oil. Any metal part that rubs against or touches another metal part needs to be lubricated to ensure longevity. This will keep the parts in shape longer and protects against any rust.
  • The spring system (counterweight): motor oil can also be used on the spring system. All you need is to take a clean cloth and apply the oil to the top of the springs. Then you can rub the oil around the rest of the spring. This will keep the life of the springs and help prevent noise from the strands in the spring rubbing together.
  • If you don’t have motor oil available, the worst thing you can do is use white grease on metal parts. This is especially recommended against when it comes to the rollers. It may cause them to slide in the tracks rather than rolling.
• How to lubricate PVC parts
  • You’ll probably notice PVC on the bottom of the door, the exterior frame, and in between sections of the door. Lubricating for weatherstripping is different from metal and you should instead use a silicone-based lubricant.
• Maintenance requirements with electric garage door openers
  • The companies that create jackshaft and central electric door openers for commercial businesses prepare them in a way where you will not need to lubricate or maintain the parts in any way on your own.

Need to get in contact with someone who carries lubricant? Regional Doors & Hardware can provide you with both types of lubricants for use with PVC and metal parts specifically made for garage doors.

Tasks to avoid tackling on your own

It is best to avoid replacing or repairing defective garage door parts on your own as it can lead to serious injury. Below are some of the situations that can be very dangerous:

• Attempting to change out a torsion-type lift spring that has broken
• Trying to switch out a frayed or broken lift cable
• Replacing a lift cable that has come off the drum or is not properly wrapped
• Switching out the bracket or hinge found on the bottom of the door
• Attempting to replace a garage door after it comes off its horizontal tracks
• Taking a garage door that has been hit by a car and putting it back into place

You should not attempt to repair the spring system or the various parts relates to the counterweight system if it is no longer working or malfunctioning in some way. Because a severe injury or death can result from these tasks, only a professional garage door technician should do these things.

Ready to learn more about the types of maintenance that should be done on a commercial garage door, you can read this document.