Your garage door is essential to your home’s safety and security. It adds curbside appeal and gives your family easy access to the house. High-quality garage doors will last for decades with routine maintenance and repairs. While these doors often last between 15 to 30 years, their overall lifespan can vary greatly based on regular care and usage. Here’s what will affect your garage door’s lifespan in your home.
Local Environment
Your garage door has to withstand years’ worth of harsh weather conditions. From rain to sleet to violent hail, your door is the first line of defense against precipitation getting into the house. Over time, this constant abuse can wear down the door and cause potential structural and mechanical issues.
If you’re constantly facing rain and high winds, you may have to deal with more rust, broken windows, and splintered wood. A garage door constantly dealing with harsh weather is more likely to have a shorter overall lifespan.
Material and Quality
Your garage door can vary in quality just like your roofing shingles or siding. If you choose a less expensive material like fiberglass, you’ll likely struggle with more maintenance needs and a shorter lifespan. Lower quality parts are more likely to break and need to be replaced more often. Higher quality doors have the strength to withstand regular usage and the local environment.
You should also always rely on professional installation services rather than attempting to install your own door. Garage doors require a variety of moving parts to function correctly. Incorrectly installing your door may cause it to begin malfunctioning early in its life and potentially lead to costly and even dangerous issues.
Routine Service
Regular professional service is the best and most efficient way to prolong your garage door’s lifespan. Professional technicians can easily switch out broken springs or faulty mechanics before they lead to more problems. Routine maintenance ensures your garage door is functioning efficiently and without issue. Not scheduling professional service can leave damages to spread and worsen over time, ultimately leading to the entire system being compromised.
Many families wait to schedule service until there’s a clear issue. This strategy often won’t save you money but instead will cost more in damages. Protect your family and home by relying on professionals to repair and maintain your garage door.
Daily Usage
Unfortunately, your regular usage can also affect your garage door’s lifespan. Opening and closing your garage door a few times a day is often an average amount of use. However, using your door upwards of eight or 10 times daily can shorten its lifespan.
You may have several adults in your household who drive frequently and need regular access to your home during the day. Lowering your average usage can increase the door’s lifespan but ultimately defeats the purpose of your garage door. Regular maintenance can manage the impact of your usage and ensure the garage door is working as intended for as long as possible.
Warranty Guidelines
Most garage doors come with a warranty. This warranty may only cover installation issues or give you recommendations for how to best care for your garage door. As the owner of the door, it’s your responsibility to follow all care suggestions. Regular care you can complete yourself often includes lubricating the door, regularly looking for potential issues, and keeping the system clean.
You also have the option to reference the manufacturer’s recommendations. These suggestions have been formally tested and found to be the best way to prolong the system’s lifespan. Regular care keeps debris out of the track and ensures your garage door can open and close without a problem. By being mindful of any new noises or signs of damage, you can call in a professional early before the issue has worsened.
Superior Garage Door Company
BDK Door Company is the foremost garage door service company in Montgomery, IL. We’ve been dedicated to helping our neighbors for more than 40 years. Our family-owned and -operated company puts customer care and service above all else. Let our friendly and experienced technicians give you an unparalleled service experience. We can help you with both your residential and commercial garage door needs. Our team is trained to handle every repair issue from broken springs to malfunctioning rollers. Call BDK Door Company today to request a garage door service appointment in Montgomery.
