August: Late summer is a great time to investigate weatherseals and have them replaced. A door with a higher R-value is pointless without good perimeter seals to keep colder air out in the fall and winter.

     For the handy person new side and top seals can be purchased at a home improvement center. However most bottom seals will need to be purchased from a door supplier. They are simply not available at most home improvement stores.

September: Customers always ask me, "How often should I lube my door?"

Twice a year will keep most doors in good order.

What kind of lube should I use?

Something that is oil based, like wd40 or 3&1 oil. Grease is not good because it can gum up in colder weather and dirt and sand sticks in the tracks and causes problems for rollers

Where should I lube my door?

Lube roller bearings, hinges, and springs. Yes springs need to be lubed, just light drizzle or spray lube on top of the spring and let gravity do the rest. Do not over do the lube or you will end up with puddles on the floor.

October:

Take a couple of minutes to check the hinge screws and bolts on your door. If you have a wood door you will most likely find loose or missing screws or nuts if you have never done this before. This occurs because wood doors are more likely to expand and contract with the weather causing them to loosen overtime.

Steel doors do not always have this problem because most manufactors use screws with locking heads. Still may be a good idea to check once a year to help maintain good performance.

The most common size wrench you will need to complete this task is a 7/16" wrench or socket. If your door is much older you may need an open ended wrench for square nuts. Most replacement bolts, nuts, and lags can be found at most hardware stores.

November:

     Good time to check the sensitivity on all electric operator. Some might be asking what is this?

     Well residential operators have what is called a sensitivity adjustment. This is also called a force adjustment on some brands of operators. According to most manufactures a test consists of a roll of paper towels on the floor under the door. then close the door on the paper towels. The idea is that the door will contact the towels then reverse to the open position.

     If your door reverses, everything is okay, and no adjustments needed. However if your door crushes the roll of towels and does not reverse, time to get out a small straight screw driver.

     Nearly all brands have small plastic screws in the back of the operator that will be labeled force or sensitivity with arrows indicating the direction to turn for less adjustment.

December:

It is cold outside so we will give a quick check on your door. We want to look specifically at the cables.

What are we looking for?

1. Frayes and brakage.

2. Whiskers or individual strands that are poking out of cable.

If you find frayed or broken cables contact us, they need to be replaced. If you only find whiskers, than no need to panic yet, but a good idea to budget the repair. Ideally your cables are smooth and free of any frays.

New cables on most residential doors cost $18 and $80 in labor.

 If you use your fingers to check the cable wear gloves, you will only make this mistake once............

January:

Lately have been getting calls about operators not closing the door and having to hold in the button?????? That means your photo eyes are not lined up.

Two causes to this problem are as follows.

1. broken wire at photo eye or operator

2. photo eye bracket has been bumped and now eyes on either end are not lining up.

when this happens you should be able to see indicator lights on your photo eyes blinking. These problems are easy to fix and a little investigation will save you a service call.

Febuary:

Those doors that are powered by an automatic opener need to be periodically checked for spring balance. What does this mean and how do you do it?

Easy, detach the door from the operator by pulling on the emergency release cord of the operator. Then just operate the door by hand. If the door moves freely and smoothly with little effort (like picking up 10lbs) then your spring tension is okay. If the door is heavy on the floor or hard to pull down once open, then something may be wrong. If this is the case I encourage you to call for an appointment so that this problem can be fixed.

Springs are considered a stored energy source and can potentially harm you if you try to make adjustments with out proper knowledge.

March:

Can I paint my metal door? I get this question frequently. The answer is yes. If your door is newly installed or been installed for a few years you will need to clean the door first. Soap and water will do the trick. I have been told by manufactures that this is all that is required, however I recommend just a lite scotch brite pad to the surface will insure that the surface is clean then soap and water.

Type of paint that works the best, an acrylic latex, with a couple of coats. 

Wood doors are easily paintable, however the more prep work you do will improve the results.

One disclaimer: Since we live in the Northern hemisphere, South facing doors should be a lighter color if possible. Darker colors tend to expand the doors in the middle which can cause some unnecessary rubbing on the header. Good luck with your project.

April:

Time to lube your door again. Use an oil based lubricant, such as WD40, 3in1 oil, etc. Three places to concentrate:

1. Rollers, especially if your door is old and has steel rollers. Nylon rollers are good to spray with lube, but do not over do it.

2. Hinges, spray at all locations including hinges in the middle of the door.

3. Spring, yes a well lubed spring can cut down on noise, help keep spring from binding, and increases the life of a spring.

May:

Time for Spring Cleaning? Well do not forget your garage door. Yes, that is right, a garage door that has been not used much can collect a lot of spider webs.

Actually this is not a maintanence tip as much as just a reminder. Over the years, I have seen lots of garage doors that were in a serious need of a cleaning.  

June:

June is a great time to do that painting project you were thinking of. If you need pointers on how to paint your garage door, refer to March in the Archives menu. March

July:

Electrically operated doors that have transmitters (clicker) or keyless entry systems will need the batteries replaced at some point.

If you notice that your range or distance gets smaller and smaller, time to check the batteries. With this you may notice that any light that the transmitter has may get weaker as well.

If you would like to be proactive, walk outside your door, most likely into your street and check how well your current range is. If necessary, replace the battery to gain more range.

Most batteries are 9 volts or a small round 12 volt battery found in most stores. Good luck.

How we estimate a door installation cost?

We have been asked how we come up with a number to install a door, so here is your answer.

1. Cost of materials plus shipping

2. Cost of labor and equipment

3. Add together 1 and 2, then multiply with markup.

 Example:

Door cost   + Labor  x  markup = Cost

$500 + $250 * 1.15 = $862.50