Why You’re Having Trouble With Your Garage Door in Winter

If you have started noticing that your garage door problems seem to start when it is cold outside, you are not imagining things. There is a good possibility that this is due to the weather outside and not just your imagination. You already have a lot to think about when the weather begins to change; now you have to add caring for your garage to the list of things that you have to do. If you have small children, you may have to deal with sick kids who are home from school. We understand how upsetting it can be to now have to deal with a temperamental garage door. Well at Ahwatukee Garage Door Repair in Ahwatukee, AZ, we can give you some relief in letting you know that cold weather problems is usually something easily fixed. Although most problems are easy to resolve, there are, occasionally some circumstances that may require the assistance of a professional service provider.

Below, you will find a list of common problems that you may experience during the winter months.

Contracting Metal

If the metal contracts, the door opener will not function. The door will not go up and down. You may need to apply a force adjustment in order to fix the problem. The process is applied to the garage door opener. By consulting your owner’s manual, you should be able to handle this on your own. However, if you are reluctant to perform the job yourself, we are always here to assist you with your service needs. If we are called upon to perform the task, we’ll also perform a clean sweep of the entire garage door to make certain that there are no other problems that could impede the movement of your garage door. There are some safety precautions that you may need to implement, which the manual may not discuss. This is very important and necessary if you wish to remain safe while making the needed adjustments. The door opener has a motor. Since this is a moving part, it is even more important to remain alert while performing any repairs or adjustments.

Frozen Garage Door

While we may not be prone to experiencing extreme weather in Arizona, there is still a possibility that it can occur occasionally. When it does, the garage door may become frozen. The garage door can freeze if ice builds-up around the tracks. You may also notice that the door will not go all the way down to the ground due to ice. The solution to this problem is fairly easy. Clear away the frozen ice underneath the door. We know that this might be a little of an inconvenience for most people but if you need access to your garage and do not want to experience the problem of your door being stuck, you may not mind a few minutes of being inconvenienced. An easy and quick fix for this problem is to spray some cooking oil on the rubber seal at the bottom of the door. This is actually a good way to avoid the door from freezing.

Broken Gears

When you hear the garage door opener but your door is not moving, it could be due to broken gears. This can happen with the door is frozen. Since your door is heavy, this problem is magnified because it could also strip your gears. You may not be able to determine that this is the problem on your own if you lack the knowledge and understanding about garage doors. This is what we are here for, to probe and find out what is causing the problem. If it is winter, we can usually assume that the weather is a contributing factor.

Built Up Grease

If you have been attempting to open or lower your garage door with no success, the problem could be due to grease that has settled on your track. This grease will harden when it is cold outdoors. This will undoubtedly make it difficult for the door to roll over. A simple grease solvent applied to the track can help get things moving again. After applying the grease solvent to your track, you will then need to put a coat of silicone-based lubricant on the track; this helps your garage door to move along the track more freely. In some cases, if you have vertical track, we may need to replace it. This might be the only way to remedy the problem.

We can put together this list because these are the most common problems that our customers send us service requests to resolve for them during the winter. Prior to contacting us, there are a few things you might be able to do to find the problem on your own.

1. Check for broken springs. If you have a spring that is broken, you will have trouble with your door lifting up. So if it is winter and you are having trouble with your door lifting up, although you may conclude that it is due to the weather, it could actually be due to a broken spring.
2. Again, grease that has built up around your track could be the problem with your door working. You can disconnect the opener and manually open the door. Once you do this, look around to see if there is any grease on the track that you need to clear away.
3. You might need to adjust your garage door opener’s force close setting.

In order to prevent the problem with your garage not working during the winter, you can take some preventative measures:

1. Spray a solvent on your hinges, track, and latch. This will keep your door moving along the tracks even when it is cold outside
2. Lubricate your pulleys and bearings regularly
3. Keep your door hinges clean so that during colder months the door will not get stuck
4. Rollers, springs and bearings should be sprayed with a silicone-based lubricant