The Garage Door Will Not Close in Cold Weather

Is your garage door not closing in the cold weather? Garage doors can be spiteful. Cold weather can particularly affect your garage door since it is outside. In cold weather conditions, your garage door opener may strain to open the door, which could create greater energy costs to you or cause the door or opener to break.

Reasons why your garage door is not closing:

• Check for your garage door sensors – Your garage door sensors are positioned just six inches off the ground on both sides of the opening; transmit a signal between the two ‘eyes’. If somehow this signal is broken by any sort of hindrance such as cold weather, etc., then it will not close.
• Improper lubrication – Cold weather harms the metal parts of your garage doors, which results in the door becoming struck when it is being raised or lowered. Therefore, you should apply a good quality lubricant on the track, rollers, hinges, and moving parts such as springs, to aid in the proper and smooth functioning of the garage doors.
• Hardened grease – Grease makes opening or closing of the garage doors easy, on the contrary, cold weather hinders this process. The low temperatures cause the grease to solidify, which results in improper opening or closing of the door.
• Broken garage door springs – Breaks and cracks can be witnessed in metals during winters. This leads to the door parts such as springs, etc. to become rigid, and hence, they can break.

• Misaligned tracks – In freezing temperatures, metals tend to contract. When this happens, the alignment of the door and track can become segregated or misaligned. If the garage door goes off-track, then the door system will not function efficiently.

It is quite tough enough to deal with the garage door that won’t close in cold weather. It leads to all kinds of freezing breezes and cold weather entering your house. Often by the time your door has reached the point where it is not opening or closing, it’s too late to do anything but to replace the broken parts.

Preventative measure for your garage door:

There are numerous ways by which you can prevent the door from not opening due to winter issues:

• You can apply a spray solvent to rollers, hinges, and track.
• Lubricating the pulleys and/or bearings also helps in protecting the door from the chilly weather.
• Wipe everything to clean. If any rollers or hinges seem struck, soak them in a solvent, then use a stiff brush to clean the cracks. Wipe to clean again.
• You can also apply a silicone-based lubricant to the door parts such as springs, screw drive, shuttle, roller bearings, and torsion bar bearings.
• Timely and properly lubricating aids a lot in preventing the opening and closing issue. The best time to call for maintenance is right before the cold season begins.

Ways for winter-proofing your garage doors.

Your garage door is constructed to withstand a lot of resistance, especially with cold weather. It is up to you to make sure your garage door is kept in the best possible conditions so it can continue to protect your garage and your house for as long as possible before it needs to be replaced. So, look at the ways for winter-proofing your garage doors.

• Keep everything tight – One of the most essential things to protect the door of your garage is to make assure that everything on it should be kept tight.
• Examine the cables – The garage door uses high-tension steel cables to lift and lower it. You should keep a check on these cables before the advent of winters. If there is any sign of wear, then make sure that they will be repaired as soon as possible because the cold winter can make the cables brittle and may lead to further damage. But, never attempt to repair or replace them by yourself. It can cause severe or fatal injuries.
• Lubrication of all the moving parts – Lubrication of the moving parts can aid in their strength as it provides them a layer of protection against the elements. A spray lubricant is made specifically for the garage doors.

• Check and replace weather stripping – You should check that your garage door has adequate weather stripping on its bottom edge. If it is cracked or falling apart, it can be as if there is nothing there at all because water, dirt, and bugs can still get into your garage. So, before the arrival of winters, make sure that the garage door’s weatherstripping is fine or it needs to be replaced if it appears brittle, cracked, or falling apart.

If accurately prepared for the harsh chilly weather conditions, the door of your garage will contribute to shield and serve you and your home for a long time. If it’s’ time to winterize your garage, the ways mentioned above can undoubtedly help to make your garage door ready to withstand the imminent challenge.

Before you make any modifications to the door system of your garage, you should always consult the owner’s manual. Your system may have particular issues that need specific attention. When in doubt, you should call a professional garage door repair company to do the task.

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