Heading home from a long day at work drops your stress level instantly -- at least until you have to face your noisy garage door again.  The screeching, banging, and groaning is a chaotic symphony that sets you right back on edge, but that’s just what garage doors do. Anyway, it’s a small price to pay to protect your car from the elements. Ordering the wrong type of lubricant could mean damaging your system. This is a surprisingly common attitude among homeowners with noisy garage doors.  They learn to live with the noise because they don’t think there is another choice.  Luckily for them, those moans and screams aren’t permanent.  In fact, they’re a warning that the garage door is desperately in need of lubrication.  Once that noisy garage door is properly lubed, the calm and quiet will return. Of course, the noise a garage door makes is secondary to the problems that are actually making all that tuneless racket.  Several parts of your garage door require frequent lubricating -- after all, your garage door is one of the biggest moving parts on your home.  

The springs, rollers, tracks and hinges all need some attention once every few months to keep the garage door functioning smoothly. Your lubrication process will vary depending on your door’s configuration, but generally, you want to tackle that big problem in this order:Start by cleaning the tracks with a rag to eliminate any build-up that might be interfering with your door’s gentle glide.  Don’t lubricate the tracks, but ensuring they’re clean is essential to your door’s functioning.Spray down the springs that lift your garage door day in and day out.   Again, you want to only lubricate them enough that they move better, without a lot of extra lubricant dripping out.Lubricate steel hinges at their pivot points, but don’t mess with the plastic ones.  Plastic doesn’t need lubrication -- it can actually cause the hinges to break down over time.If your rollers have nylon wheels that make contact with the track, make sure to only lubricate the bearings without getting any lubricant on the nylon itself.  

All-metal rollers don’t require as much precision, but make sure to wipe away any excess lubricant to prevent it from dripping on the garage floor or your car.ikea kitchen doors statIf your key sticks or the lock is hard to open and close, give it a good shot of lubricant, too.  auto glass repair lees summitMake sure you get lubricant into the tumbler as well as on other moving parts.garage door installation novato Once you have all your garage door parts properly lubricated, lift it and close it several times to even out the lubricant’s distribution.  garage door chain won't catch

If you still hear a lot of noise coming from your door, follow that sound to determine if you simply missed a moving part or if more substantial correction will be needed.baldwin door hardware australia There’s always some question as to what types of garage door lubricants are okay and what shouldn’t be used at all.  windows and doors livermore caWhatever you do, don’t spray WD-40 on your garage door parts.  garage door installation kenosha wiPeople commonly confuse this product, which has rust-destroying and degreasing properties with a lubricant because it generally helps metal parts move better.  That action is from the cleaning, not from true lubrication.The fixes for a garage door that makes a racket when it opens and closes are fairly easy and will take

less than an hour. all the door and track hardware (Photo 1). Use a deep socket and a ratchet on all the nuts to snug them up. overtighten—that can pull the carriage bolt heads right through the door skin or strip the lag screw holes. Next, check for worn rollers andMany track rollers have unsealed bearings that self-destruct after years of rolling around in a dirtyThe wear can be so severe that the rollers actually wobble as theIf your rollers are worn, consider replacing them with nylon rollers with sealed bearings (available at garage door suppliers or online). rollers are quieter and don’t requireBut they are more Replace track rollers one at a timeIf your door uses torsion springs mounted on the header above the door, do NOT attempt to replace the rollers in the bottom brackets. brackets are under constant spring tension and can cause serious injury if youThat’s a job for a pro.

Worn hinges are less common thanBut sloppy hinges make a lot of noise and can cause the door to bind and wear out the tongue-and-groove joints at the door sections. play at the hinge is normal. see an oblong hole where the tubular hinge pin mates with the hinge bracket,Gray dust and metal filings around the hinge pin are early Once you’ve replaced the worn door components, check the garage door opener chain. A loose garage door opener chain makes loud slapping sounds and causes jerky door movements that smack the rollers against theSo start by tightening the chain (find the procedure in your If you have a track drive opener, the next step is to lubricate the opener track with grease. have a screw drive opener, grease the threads (Photo 4). Next, spray the hinges, roller bearings (unsealed style), and springs (Photo 5) with a garage door lube like the Prime Flo garage door lubrication kit (about $7 at home centers).