Tucker Garage Door, LLC: Garage Door Issues in Cold Weather

Are you having problems with your garage door when the weather turns cold? When it is warm outside, if you have grease on components of your garage door, it’s probably completely fine and you have never noticed an issue. However, when those cold temperatures hit, you might find that the garage door gets stuck or won’t open at all if you don’t have any grease at all that you are using or if you are using too much of it (so it freezes). From the door not closing and opening as it should to parts contracting, there are several issues that can come up when the weather turns cold. Here, we are going to go over garage door issues in cold weather.

Do You Have a Garage Door with Metal?

Metal is one of those materials that can contract when cold weather strikes. So if you have a garage door opener which most do, it might not work how it is supposed to, which could lead to the garage door not closing and opening properly. Adjusting the force limit might prove helpful. But pay mind to lubricating parts like tracks, hinges and bearings. This might help with the contracting.

Too Much Grease Was Used

In regards to grease, as previously mentioned, parts can stiffen if you use too much in cold weather conditions. Why? Because the grease can literally freeze. The same notion holds true for lubricant that you might be using. So you will want to use a light amount if you know the temperatures are going to be dropping. Having heat in your garage can make a sure difference, if this might be an option for you. But if your garage door is not opening and it happens to be cold, check for hardened grease or lubricant.

Damaged Garage Door Springs

Now that you realize when colder weather strikes, metal parts can contract, you will want to focus on other parts of your garage door that can become damaged in the cold. We are talking about garage door springs. If your door is not functioning the way that it is supposed to, you will want to take a few moments of your time to take a look at all the springs. Do you see a gap? Is one broken? Does one look to be on the verge of snapping maybe because of a space between the coils? We don’t encourage anyone to try to handle springs on their own. We recommend reaching out to an expert. Tucker Garage Door, LLC serves those in and near Tucker, GA and makes sure all parts are working as they should.

Springs can certainly break if the weather is cold and can cause malfunctioning in a garage door. An expert will have the right parts and the know-how to take care of this.

Garage Door Froze

You might not have thought that this could ever be a problem, but in extremely cold weather, your garage door could end up sticking to the ground. This could be due to layers of snow and water turning into hard ice. What are you supposed to do if you need to get your car out of the garage to get to work? Are you completely stuck? Well, the first thing you want to do is prevent this from occurring in the first place. Putting oil around the garage door seal can make a difference by preventing the garage door from getting stuck to the ground. Also keeping snow out of the way by shoveling it when possible is helpful. You can scrape the ice away if the garage door is already frozen to the ground, or try pouring hot water down. A heat gun could also be used.

The Tracks Are Warped

When your garage door tracks are warped, it could be because of cold weather. This could also cause misalignment. While frustrating, the damage is not permanent. But you don’t want to try to use a garage door that has come off track. So if you notice it is getting stuck, call an expert who can work with out of balance or off track garage doors. This can be extremely useful and can get things up and running again.

Extremely cold temperatures can cause various components of the garage door like the garage door opener or the garage door itself to malfunction. This could be due to the issues listed above, but of course other things could always go wrong, too. From metal contracting to hardened grease, there are things that can go wrong in cold weather. Maybe the opener motor is not working. Maybe the springs have broken. You are always better off turning to an expert for help. A garage door repair and installation company will be able to help you so things are up and running once again.

Try to determine why your garage door happens to be malfunctioning or failing to work completely if the weather has become very cold. Frigid weather conditions can certainly lead to issues. Some problems can be taken care of on your own but if you are not comfortable it is always best to turn to an insured and licensed expert. You don’t want to damage the garage door or its parts, nor do you want any warranties to become voided. Not to mention, you don’t want an injury to occur because you worked with a component you didn’t have the experience with or the tools to work with safely.

Give us a call if you are in our service area and want advice on how to prevent garage door problems in cold weather. Professionals such as ourselves can provide you with the seasonal advice you need to maintain this important part of your property and ensure it stays in good shape for as long as possible. 

From the door not closing and opening as it should to certain parts contracting, there are a wide range of issues that can come up when the weather turns cold. Here, we have discussed garage door issues in cold weather.