How Summer Weather Can Take a Toll on Your Garage Door

Ah, summer has arrived! Long days at the pool, grilling out and picnics with friends! What you might not have considered is how our Louisiana summers play havoc on our garage doors. Below are a few things to keep in mind to protect your garage door from harm during the summer months.

Let the Sunshine In! Or Not

Sunshine can be hard on your garage door system. It is possible for the sun to trick the photo eyes on your garage door system into thinking that there is something obstructing the door. If your garage door persistently partially opens and partially closes in the summertime, this may be the culprit.

Tip: Create a sun visor out of cardboard to prevent the rays from reaching the photo eyes. If this does not solve the problem, give us a call for an inspection. Oftentimes, prolonged high temperatures can cause systems to malfunction.

Windy Days

During the summer months, storms can brew quickly and along with them, high winds. Such winds can toss tree branches and lawn decorations or furniture at your garage door. Take a moment to inspect it for damage after such an occasion.

Tip: Whenever possible, bring indoors or fasten down any objects that can be blown around during a storm.

Heavy Rain Storms

Severe storms often bring about electric outages. When this happens, your automatic garage door system, which runs on electricity, will stop working.

Although rare, it is possible that your electricity could be out for severeal days. Your garage door can run without electricity if it has a battery backup system.

With a battery backup system, the garage door opener will pull power from a 12-volt battery unit to operate the garage door. If the battery is fully charged at the time of the power outage, it should operate for the next 24 hours or up to 20 cycles. Opening and closing the garage door one time is one cycle. The battery will recharge once the electricity comes back on. If you are unsure if your garage door opener has a battery backup system, give us a call to check it out for you. Most garage door opener brands offer a battery backup system.

What If My Garage Door Opener Doesn’t Have a Battery Backup System?

If your system does not have a battery backup, you will have to open your garage door manually. You can do this by pulling the red emergency release handle that hangs down inside your garage near the garage door. This will disengage the system so that you can lift the door manually. You will also have to close the door manually and reconnect the emergency release in order to make the garage secure.

Tip: If you do not have a battery backup system, practice disengaging the door as mentioned above, so that you are confident should the  need arise in an emergency.

Humidity

High humidity can cause havoc on garage door systems, often causing the garage door track to stick. This can be an ongoing problem during Louisiana summers!

Tip: This problem can be greatly reduced by keeping the track and parts lubricated.