How To Lubricate Your Garage Door?

Have you been having trouble getting rid of the squeaking noise from your garage door in Calgary? We want to explain to you how to take care of that problem with a couple of do-it-yourself solutions and some valuable information on how to lubricate your garage door properly.
One of the most common errors that homeowners make when greasing the garage door is that they use regular oil or ever-so-popular WD 40. The main problem with WD-40 and oil is that they’re degreasers, so they’re actually taking out the grease rather than helping your situation.

Lithium-based garage door grease

The best thing to use is lithium-based grease. If you can’t find the lithium spray at your local Home Depot, Lowe’s, or another hardware store, the next best thing would be a silicone spray. It’s not as good as lithium, but it’s a hundred times better than using WD-40. The lithium spray leaves a generous, thick coat that doesn’t run or drip like oil.

How to lubricate your garage door properly?

You want to lubricate all moving parts of the door. First, make sure that your door is in a closed position and disconnect the door from the garage door opener. You should be able to move your doors manually around the bend of the track, make sure you grease all moving connections.
The next things you want to lubricate are your rollers, the most common rollers that most manufacturing and garage door companies are using are metal rollers or plastic rollers. If you have plastic rollers, you can put some grease on it, but we’re not sure how much good that’s actually going to do because these rollers have no wall bearings and they’re only designed to last a few years, so you should probably be replacing them anyway. If you have metal rollers, you should also be able to see the ball bearings. Those ball bearings always need to be greased. Use the straw so when you spray your grease, it can get in there and fill it up. Remember, you’ll be doing this with rollers in place on the door track so be sure your workspace is well lit. You may need to use a ladder to get to the top spots.
For homeowners in Calgary, properly lubricating your garage door is especially important due to the city’s fluctuating weather conditions, which can affect garage door components more quickly than in milder climates.

Garage door opener chains

Garage door opener chains come out of the factory with a protective coat already on it that should last the life of the motor. If you ever feel the need to give your chain a little love to help maintain it take a cloth spread a little WD-40 on it and wipe it down, that’ll help repel moisture.
What you want to do is lubricate the top of the rail, that’s where all your friction is, not at the bottom. Most people spray the bottom of the rail. That’s not going to hurt, but it’s not going to do anything either, just going to create a mess that drips all over your car, the floor, and your head.

Another thing you don’t need to grease is your garage door track. If you think you see symptoms that make you feel you need to grease a track, then you have something wrong with your door. Some people might start adding oil or packing it up with more grease, over time, air will pick up dust and dirt and bring it into the grease.
The only thing on the track you can grease that’ll help out with the noise is; the part of the track with a break and the bolts screwing two pieces together. Not necessary but it’s the only place in the track that we would recommend. Remember, tracks don’t need to be greased, they need to be cleaned, that’s something you can easily do with a wet cloth or a little WD-40.

Garage Door Springs

When it comes to your garage door springs, you won’t need to grease them if you have extension springs; they’ve already been dipped-coated and require no maintenance. On the other hand, torsion springs will need a little love. Instead of being stretched, torsion springs get wound, and for that reason, you’ll want to grease them.

Even when they’re brand new, they tend to make some noise from rubbing against each other. All you have to do is take the spray straw out and coat from one end to the other, then bring the door up and down a couple of times and let the grease work itself in. The grease is going to do two things for your torsion spring; one is it’s going to reduce the amount of noise that you hear due to friction. Second is that most of the companies out there only use oil-tempered or galvanized springs so the grease help prevent rust build-up.

Here at Calgary Garage Door Fix, we prefer powder-coated springs. Basically, it is a spring that’s been dipped and coated both inside and out, and therefore you never have to worry about rust problems. So, when choosing a manufacturer to get a new spring or going to a Home Depot, you may end up with a spring that is coated on the outside but not inside the coils, and trust me; it’s challenging to coat the inside of a coil spring.

Our recommendation is to ask your garage door specialists or the salesperson at Home Depot and find out if they have powder-coated springs because it’s the best investment that you can make, as it’s maintenance-free.

Bearings

The last thing you need to grease is your bearing. One is in the center, and two more are located on both sides of the door; with the shaft fixed in. When you wind up your spring, all the power gets transferred to this shaft, and the bar spins inside the bearings. Unfortunately, bearings in the plates are not accessible unless you remove the springs.

I would not recommend to the average homeowner to deal with springs. If you feel your garage door needs service, you should immediately contact a professional door technician. For homeowners in Calgary, this ensures your safety and keeps your garage door working perfectly for years to come!