How to Prepare Your Garage Door for Winter

For most of us, the garage is a place to keep our cars safe and protected from the elements, maybe somewhere to store a few items to prevent them from filling up the house. As such, it’s rarely a part of the property that is particularly heat efficient, and that’s okay for most of the year. During the winter months, it can cause a problem, particularly for the garage door. Opening mechanisms contract in the cold weather, causing the door to stick; bitter winds can get through any gaps in the door frame; and wet, freezing weather can cause (or exacerbate) incidents of rust.

In this article, we give you some quick and easy hints for winterising a garage door so you can keep your car and garage alike protected during the colder months.

Check the weather stripping and seal around the garage door

Most garage doors should have weather stripping around the edges that helps keep the wind out of your garage. Usually made of rubber or plastic, they form a makeshift seal that protects your garage and its contents from the elements. While these strips are usually hard-wearing, winter is the time to check them for signs of damage or deterioration. Any holes in the stripping or gaps in the seal will leave your garage prey to the worst of the winter weather. Be sure to remove any damaged stripping and replace it with a new piece.

Lubricate moving parts

Check the opening and closing mechanisms of your garage door. This differs from model to model and could include the hinges on side-mounted garage doors, the tracks and casters on sectional and up-and-over doors, or the central axle on roller shutter doors. During the winter, it’s not uncommon for these to seize up in the cold weather, so give them a good spray of WD-40 or some other lubricant to keep them moving smoothly.

Ensure any electrics are sealed

If you have an electric garage door opener, it’s important that there are no bare wires or open controls during the winter. Of course, this is good advice at any time of year, but during the winter, you run the risk of cold, icy wind getting into the electronics and condensing on the inside as the temperature rises. This can potentially cause a short in the mechanism. Always remember, when checking the seals on your opening device, to be careful, as electricity is not something to be messed with.

Identify and remove rust

Rust on your garage door is never a good sign, but it’s even worse in winter. Cold temperatures don’t just make the existing rust more brittle and likely to form a hole in the metal, but the dampness of the winter months speeds up the oxidation process too. For surface rust, household ingredients like vinegar and baking soda will remove it effectively. The affected area can then be treated with waterproof paint to seal it off.

Install insulation

Of course, the best way to protect your garage doors from the winter’s chill is to install insulation. Not only will this limit the risk of cold and weather damage to your garage door, but it will also reduce the amount of heat lost via the garage itself, potentially reducing your energy bills.

Winterising Your Garage Door: Final Thoughts

If you’ve performed your winter checks and aren’t satisfied with either the performance or condition of your garage door, we can help. Here at Murray Garage Doors, we provide customers across Essex with a first-class garage door installation or garage repair service, depending on your specific needs. Call the team today on 01268 741 717 or 07442 497 285 or send us an email to murraygaragedoors@gmail.com to see what we can do for you, or to get a free, no-obligation quote.