How often to service a garage door
| How often | What hangs on it | |
|---|---|---|
| Steel-Line | At least annually, by Steel-Line or an approved service partner | Miss it and the warranty is invalidated |
| B&D | Within the first 12 months, then at least every two years | A condition of B&D's warranty |
| Gliderol roller doors | Recommended every 24 months, by an authorised distributor or technician | Skipping the 18-24 month service on its Glidermatic Heavy Duty and Dual openers voids the 5 year motor warranty |
Your job and the door specialist's job
A door specialist's service and your own care are two different things. Steel-Line's sectional door manual asks for preventive maintenance at least every six months, more often if conditions call for it, and says an owner's part stops at lubricating and inspecting. Everything else, especially the cables and springs, goes to trained door people.
So look on a service as the visit that does what you shouldn't. It is also the easy end of door repairs: a door that is cleaned, balanced and checked gives its springs, cables and motor an easier life.
What a garage door service should cover
- Spring tension and whether the door balances
- Cables, cable drums and the bottom fixings
- Tracks, rollers and hinges, cleaned and lined up
- The fixings into the wall or ceiling
- Seals along the bottom and sides
- The opener's auto-reverse and any safety beams
- A note of anything likely to need attention before the next visit
Steel-Line garage door service
Steel-Line has the tightest service rule of the big makers we checked: at least once a year, by Steel-Line or an approved service partner. It says it services doors through its own 22 branches. So while a Steel-Line door is under warranty, ask any door specialist straight out whether they are an approved partner, because the wrong answer could cost you the cover.
Steel-Line's residential cover runs 2 years on workmanship and components and 1 year on spring tension, so check the date the door went in. Once the warranty period is over, that condition falls away and the choice of who services it is yours.
How to lubricate a garage door
Close the door and put the remote away
Nobody should be able to start the door while your hands are near it. Work with the door shut and the opener left alone.
Clean the tracks first
B&D's Smart Pro manual says to wipe inside the guide tracks every 3 to 6 months, using a cloth dampened with mineral turps or methylated spirits. On a door that has had building work nearby, expect brick dust.
Keep oil and grease out of the tracks
Steel-Line says grease in the tracks attracts dirt and dust. B&D's New Zealand care page says the same for roller door guides, and allows a silicon spray there after cleaning.
Lightly oil what moves on a sectional door
Steel-Line's manual lists the hinge points, roller stems and locks. A little goes a long way, and wipe off any drips.
Treat locks as your manual says
Steel-Line oils them, but B&D's New Zealand page prefers powdered graphite on sectional door locks. If you have the manual for your door, follow that.
Leave the springs
Steel-Line's manual mentions grease on torsion springs. We would leave that to the door specialist at the service, because it puts your hands right beside the spring.
Run the door and listen
Open and close it once with the remote, standing clear. If it now runs quietly, you are done.
Why is my garage door so noisy?
Dirt is the first suspect. Steel-Line says an excessively noisy door can be a sign the tracks and hinges need cleaning, and the same goes for a door that closes, reverses and returns to open. It names brick dust from new building work as a common cause, so a noisy door after a renovation has an easy explanation.
If the noise is still there after a clean, or it is a new bang, grind or scrape, stop there and book a service. A roller door that strains or slams shut needs its tension looked at, and that is never one to try yourself: see roller door repairs.
Washing the door
Steel-Line recommends clean water and a cloth at least every six months, and more often in salty or industrial areas. BlueScope says to hose down the Colorbond parts that rain doesn't reach, including the top of the door, on the same timetable. Keep sunscreen off the coating, and never wash the opener.
It is more than looks. Steel-Line's warranty excludes damage from grime, chemicals and pollutants that weren't removed. Near the sea, Steel-Line suggests lubricating at least twice a year, or every three months for longer life, and says homes many kilometres inland can still see faster corrosion.
Your own checks between services
- Every month: test the auto-reverse the way the safety guide sets out
- Every month: watch one full cycle and listen for anything new
- Now and then: with the door fully closed, disengage the opener and run the door by hand. B&D's Smart Pro manual says it should move smoothly and need no more than 20kg of force at the bottom rail. Skip this if you heard a bang or a spring looks broken
- Every six months: look over the cables from a distance for frayed or broken strands, and wash the door
- Any time: check the release cord for fraying, as Merlin suggests
Inspect, never adjust
Steel-Line's manual says the door is constantly under extreme spring tension, and warns never to loosen any fastener on the spring assembly or the bottom cable fixtures. It also says not to paint the tracks, rollers, hinges, lift cables, springs or locks. If an inspection turns something up, stop using the door and leave it for the door specialist.
What you can do, and what to leave
You can
- Clean the tracks and wash the door
- Lightly oil hinge points, roller stems and locks
- Run the monthly reversing test
- Look at the cables without touching them
Leave to a door specialist
- Spring tension and balancing the door
- Cables, drums and bottom fixings
- Lining up tracks and tightening fixings
- Setting the opener's limits and force
What we would do
Keep every service invoice in the same folder as the warranty. Steel-Line and B&D both make servicing a condition of cover, so if you ever need to claim, that invoice is what shows you held up your end. Ask for the date and the door's details to be written on it.