How the Weather Impacts Your Garage Door

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How Hot & Cold Weather Affect Your Garage Door

You may not think of the South Bay Area as having extreme temperatures, but our cold winters, humidity, and sunshine can all have an impact on your home’s garage door. Find out how hot and cold weather affect your garage door:

  • Hot Weather – The hot weather heats up your garage door even if it doesn’t get direct sunlight. Intense sunlight causes all types of problems for garage door sensors. Glare can confuse your sensors and cause them to determine that something is blocking your garage door. This means when you attempt to close your garage door, the sensors may reverse the action, and your door will be stuck open. When it’s hot and humid, wooden garage doors can absorb moisture, causing the wood to deteriorate. Some possible solutions to these problems include shading your sensors and applying a protective top coat to your garage door.
  • Cold Weather – The cold weather in California can also impact your garage door in negative ways. You should check for water or melting snow pooling up near your garage door. That way can cause your garage door to freeze shut, so be sure to remove any snow or water around the front of the door in time. Colder temperatures can make the lubricants in your garage door’s tracks thick and dense, making it hard to open or close the door. An all-weather lubricant can help with this issue. Cold temperatures can also result in garage door springs becoming brittle.

How to Weatherproof Your Garage Door

Being proactive can help you keep the weather out of your garage. Garage door weather stripping seals the openings around your garage door, keeping out the weather while increasing interior comfort, reducing noise, and lowering utility bills. Weather stripping protects the inside of your garage from flooding and provides better insulation for your home. Weather stripping keeps the cool air in during the winter and the hot air out during the summer. It also keeps the wind and rain out of your garage. Sealing the gaps around your garage door can save you as much as 10 to 15% on your monthly energy bills. Cal’s Garage Doors is proud to offer garage door weather stripping services for homeowners in San Jose, CA.

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Common Problems Garage Doors Have from Weather

Garage doors having problems can be frustrating. While some issues are minor, others can be more severe. The following issues can occur when the weather gets too cold:

  • Metal Contracts – When the weather gets cold, metal contracts. This causes garage door springs and other metal pieces to potentially seize up. Lubricant may be required to fix this issue.
  • Hardened Grease – Grease often hardens in colder weather. A grease solvent and a silicone-based lubricant can remedy this issue. Our team can perform this maintenance for you, or you can attempt to do it yourself.
  • Broken Springs – Your garage door’s spring system helps to balance the weight of the door. Those springs will eventually break, and this happens more often when the weather is cold. Any garage door spring repair should be left to experienced professionals.
  • Frozen Weather Seal – Frozen water near a closed garage door can make the weather stripping stick to the ground. That stripping peels when you open the door, causing the seal to be less effective. Brush away puddles and snow to prevent this from happening.
  • Warped Tracks – Garage door rollers become misaligned or worn down over time, and extreme temperatures can be the cause.
  • Dirty Photo Eyes – Driving in the snow can bring salt into your garage on your tires. This can eat away at the electronics in the garage door opener’s motor and obstruct the safety sensors or photo eyes that detect obstructions.
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