Garage Door Maintenance Cape Town

What a service actually covers

• The door's balance is checked by hand with the opener released: it should hold position midway.
• Springs, cables and drums are inspected for corrosion, fraying and slack, and the winding cones are checked for movement.
• Rollers, hinges and bearings are lubricated with a product that does not attract dust, and worn rollers or hinges are replaced.
• The track is checked for alignment, and the bolts that hold it to the brickwork are tightened.
• The opener's force and travel limits are checked against the door, and adjusted if the door has changed with the weather.
• The safety reverse is tested on contact, and the safety beams are cleaned and aligned.
• The weather seal along the bottom is checked for splits, and the manual release is tested.

Why a yearly service pays for itself

• Rollers and hinges are cheap; a door that has been running on seized rollers has worn tracks and a stretched cable, which are not.
• A spring near the end of its life can be seen coming on some doors, and replacing it on a planned visit beats being stuck on a Sunday.
• A motor that has quietly been working harder every month burns out sooner. Servicing takes the load back off it.
• A safety reverse that has stopped working is the one fault you cannot see and should not live with.
• Paperwork: a dated service record supports a warranty claim and is useful when a property is sold or let.

When to book maintenance rather than a repair

• Before winter, when doors stiffen and rain gets under the seal.
• Before summer on the coast, when salt air and dust do their worst.
• When the door has started to sound different, but still works.
• When you have just bought or rented a house with an older door and no service history.
• When the door is a shared one in a complex and nobody can remember when it was last looked at.
• Not when the door will not open, will not close, or is hanging crooked. Those are repair call-outs, not services.

What maintenance cannot do

• It cannot restore a snapped spring or a broken cable. Those are repairs.
• It cannot save a motor that is under-rated for the door, or one whose gearbox is already worn out.
• It cannot straighten a track that was bent by a vehicle strike. A bent track is replaced.
• It cannot make an obsolete door with no available spares reliable; at some point replacement is the honest answer.
• It is not a substitute for fixing the door's balance. A service treats the symptom; a balance repair treats the cause.

What drives the cost of a service

• How many doors are on the property, and whether they are single or double.
• How much is worn. A service that replaces three rollers and a hinge is a bigger job than a lubricate-and-adjust.
• Whether the opener's settings need work, or the safety beams need re-mounting.
• Access and the height of the door, and whether the door is a commercial roll-up.
• Whether it is a once-off visit or a yearly arrangement, which is usually better value.
• Ask what is included in the service before booking, so a lubrication visit is not mistaken for an inspection.

What to look at between services

• Listen to the door. A change in sound is the earliest warning there is.
• Look at the gap under the door on both sides when it is closed. One side lower than the other means it is out of balance.
• Keep the track and the area under the door clear of leaves, sand and building rubble.
• Test the auto-reverse by placing a piece of timber in the doorway and closing the door onto it. It must reverse.
• Clean the two safety eyes and check their indicator lights.
• Do not lubricate the track itself with grease - it collects grit. Ask the contractor which product to use and where.

Where this work is passed on

Contractors who cover these areas take garage door maintenance work:

• Garage doors in the Northern Suburbs
• Garage doors in the Southern Suburbs
• Garage doors in the Table Bay
• Garage doors in the Helderberg