Ownership and preventative maintenance
The twice-a-year garage door maintenance checklist
The majority of emergency repairs we attend were preventable. Doors rarely fail without warning; they get noisier, stiffer or slower for weeks first, and nobody acts until something snaps on a wet Monday morning.
Twenty minutes twice a year, ideally before winter and again in spring, avoids most of it.
The owner checklist
Do this with the door closed and, on an automated door, with the power isolated for the visual checks.
- Listen: run the door once and note any new grinding, banging or scraping.
- Look at the tracks for dents, debris and rust; clear grit with a cloth rather than a screwdriver.
- Lubricate hinges, rollers and bearings with a light machine oil or silicone spray — never grease the tracks themselves.
- Check the bottom seal for splits, and the side seals for gaps letting daylight through.
- Test the balance on a manual door: it should stay put when lifted halfway.
- Test the safety reverse on an automated door with a soft obstruction.
- Check fixings around the frame for movement, especially on exposed or coastal frontages.
- Wash painted and laminate finishes with mild soapy water to stop salt and grime etching them.
Leave these to an engineer
Some components store enough energy to cause serious injury. There is no sensible DIY version of these jobs.
- Torsion and extension springs — under extreme tension even when the door is closed.
- Lifting cables and drums — incorrect tensioning drops the door.
- Operator travel limits and force settings — wrongly set, they defeat the safety system.
Signs you should book a service now
A door that judders, hesitates, closes faster at the end of travel, sits crooked in the opening, or needs an extra shove has already moved past routine maintenance. So has any door with a visibly frayed cable.
An annual service is far cheaper than an out-of-hours call-out and a replacement spring.
Questions we get asked
- How often should a garage door be serviced?
- Annually for a domestic door in normal use. Doors on frequent cycles, or on exposed and coastal properties, benefit from twice a year.
- What lubricant should I use?
- A light machine oil or a silicone spray on moving metal parts. Avoid heavy grease and avoid WD-40 as a long-term lubricant — it displaces water but does not stay put.
- Should I lubricate the tracks?
- No. Lubricant in the track collects grit and makes wear worse. Keep tracks clean and dry, and oil the rollers and bearings instead.
- How do I test the balance?
- On a manual door, disconnect any operator, lift the door halfway and let go. A balanced door holds position. If it slams down or shoots up, the springs need attention.
- Do you offer a service contract?
- Yes, including planned maintenance for commercial and industrial doors where downtime is expensive. Ask us for terms when you contact us.
Book an annual service
A serviced door is quieter, safer and far less likely to fail out of hours. We cover Northern Ireland from our Dromore yard.
Based at 31 Mount Street, Dromore (BT25) · covering Northern Ireland · 24/7 emergency repairs