20 Effects of Extreme Weather on Your Garage Door and Preventive measures

20 Effects of Extreme Weather on Your Garage Door and Preventive measures

Extreme winters can adversely affect the condition of metal objects. Including garage doors. When the temperature fluctuates suddenly and reaches a chilly point, things start going downhill.  

Sudden cold temperatures take a huge toll on the performance of the garage door, which, in turn, affects the door’s lifespan. However, frost and humidity both can play a role in limiting your garage door’s efficiency. Let’s find out how.  

10 Effects of Moisture on Garage Doors 

We all know that dry winters take a toll on garage door performance. How about moisture and humidity? Hate to break it, but moisture doesn’t complement garage door efficiency. Multiple concerns arise from excess humidity, affecting the garage door’s longevity. Such as: 

1. Wooden Garage Doors face swelling tendencies in cases of extreme moisture.  

2. Excess moisture can also lead to the rotting of wooden garage doors.  

3. Extreme humidity puts a lot of pressure on the electrical parts of a garage door. 

4. Excessive moisture can lead to corrosion and rusting of the garage door surface.  

5. Excess heat and moisture around wooden doors can form small splits and cracks.  

6. Prolonged contact with moisture can corrode the metal garage door tracks. 

7. Corroded garage door tracks will ultimately lead to the garage door’s functional failure.   

8. The refined finish on your metal garage door’s surface will fade away after receiving excess moisture.  

9. Even insulated garage doors can’t be saved from the burn of excessive moisture. Prolonged interaction of insulated garage doors with moisture can result in mold formation.  

10. Insulated garage doors show weak performance if moisture penetrates the insulation.  

How Winter Affects Garage Door Performance? 

Excessive cold climates put a dent in your garage door’s shelf-life.  Let’s find out the different garage door problems in winter that you should know about.  

1. All garage doors (be they metal, plastic, or wooden) contract when the weather gets colder and drier.  

2. When steel doors contract, the possibility of misaligned garage door tracks increases.  

3. Metal garage doors can get stuck in the middle of operation. Leaving the door halfway open, thus breaching security.  

4. Excessive cold temperatures can cause metal garage doors to get deformed and completely change shape.  

5. Excessive cold temperatures can also meddle with the garage door’s functions.  

6. The garage door’s springs lose integrity and become easily breakable under extreme cold temperatures.  

7. In extreme winters, the lubricant becomes thick, resulting in slow operations and performance lags.  

8. If the opener motor encounters excessive cold temperatures, there are chances of total breakdown. Thus, resulting in garage door failure.  

9. Battery-operated opener motors are more prone to failure as batteries fail to retain charge in such harsh climates.  

10. Wooden garage doors can break because of extreme temperatures, leading to garage door replacement.  

Read More:
Top 10 Common Garage Door Issues in Winter

8 Preventative Measures for Better Garage Door Maintenance 

While there’s only so much, we can do, prevention is still a smarter choice than doing nothing. Waiting for the garage door repair expenses to hit the roof. So, here’s a list of hacks that’ll help save your garage door from decay!  

1. Use A Weather-Stripping Seal  

Though not visible to the human eye, after garage door installation, there remain some tiny gaps. These tiny gaps don’t favor a garage door’s condition by letting in air, water, and dust.  

Once cold or hot air seeps in, the weather strip keeps getting weaker.  

What you can do: 

• Take a look at your garage door at regular intervals. 

• If you can locate gaps, replace the garage door frame with weather-stripping sealant at the earliest.  

2. Schedule Regular Maintenance 

Excessive weather fluctuations can lead to wear and tear of garage door rollers, cables, and other metallic parts.  

What you can do: 

• Inspect each part of the garage door at frequent intervals. 

• Regular maintenance sessions for your garage door will prevent negligence and save you from serious repercussions.  

3. Lubricate Your Garage Door  

Lubrication is essential for all metal objects. Even if your garage door is wooden, certain accessories are made of metal. If you don’t lubricate these parts, chances are your garage door will stop functioning in harsh temperatures.  

What you can do: 

• Schedule a lubricating session every 3 months to stay on the greener side of the grass. 

• However, if the temperature lowers drastically, you need to lubricate the cables and springs a few more times.  

4. Garage Door Opener Sensitivity Adjustment  

Most modern garage doors come with openers that have sensitivity settings. This feature comes to aid in harsh summers and winters. These are set at a moderate level, which allows added pressure to increase garage door efficiency.  

What you can do: 

• Lower the ‘sensitivity’ or the ‘force’ setting on your opener remote.  

• This allows the opener to perform without any added pressure, especially in extreme climates.  

5. Use Impact-Resistant Garage Doors 

Also known as hurricane-rated garage doors, these doors were made to tolerate high-pressure winds. Especially during storms, hurricanes, hailstorms, and more.  

These doors can shield your garage from heavy storms, without a dent in the garage door surface. Thus, reducing your repair expenses. 

What you can do: 

• If you live in an area that receives a lot of rainfall and hailstorms, you could consider purchasing an impact-resistant garage door.  

6. Align Garage Door Tracks  

Harsh weather conditions can shake your garage door’s alignment. If neglected, not only could the garage door stop functioning, but it could also cause fatal injury.  

What you can do: 

• Get garage door professionals to inspect your garage door tracks occasionally. 

• If it’s positioned inaccurately, we’ll take care of it for you.   

7. Clean The Surroundings 

Harsh climates come with strong winds, storms, rainfall, and snow. In each of the cases, cleaning your garage door and its surroundings is crucial. This is one of the most common ways water or moisture seeps through the garage door sealant and forms cracks and gaps.  Causing a ruckus at the end. 

What you can do: 

• Whatever may come, do not forget to clean the surroundings! 

8. Use Rust Prevention Coating on Garage Doors 

This one’s a winner – rust is metal’s first enemy. Any minute it encounters oxygen, it falls prey to gradual rust formation.  

What you can do:  

• Applying a coat of rust-preventative material on garage doors can stop or slow the rusting process. It’s an efficient and cost-saving solution.  

Other Tips Include: 

1. Fix Electrical Issues Immediately   

2.  Tighten Loose Nuts and Screws  

3. Ventilate Your Garage Space  

4. Always Keep Garage Door Opener Batteries Backup 

5. Test the Sensors Frequently and 

6. Add Insulation Kits to Your Garage Door. 

The Final Word 

The weather has caused disasters, accidents, and whatnot since time immemorial. While it’s hard to manoeuvre the forces, making a little effort never hurts anyone. Crib all you want but if you don’t want a hole in your pocket every time there’s a hailstorm – get smarter. Insulating your garage door for both summer and winter will reduce your expenses drastically. Calculate your garage door repair and maintenance expenses with all the above considerations. Stay safe, and keep your garage doors safe!