Garage Door Maintenance Tip
 

Recently, I noticed that my garage door was making a lot more noise than usual when I opened the door. Today, I used a wet rag to clean the door gasket at the bottom of the door and the concrete floor where the gasket rests. It made a huge difference in the noise issue. Apparently, the gasket was sticking to the concrete foor and putting strain on the motor. I also sprayed all of the moving parts on the door with lithium spray-on grease, which is something I do every 3 or 4 months. I use the WD-40 brand of white lithium grease, that is available from Amazon.

In my "up North" home I replaced the rollers with Nylon Garage Door Rollers from Amazon, made it stealth!

If you have a Romac chain drive garage door, nylon rollers may help to reduce noise, but much of the noise is from the motor mechanism. The best way to reduce noise is to replace the door opener with a Chamberlain belt drive unit.

I found that grease collects dust if you don’t wipe off all the excess. Over time the roller bearings, hinges and tracks full of grit and hinges pivot points stick. I cleaned them all up with brake clean, used vise grips or pliers to get the hinge pivot points moving and very light greased wiping off all excess. Other areas of concern the lift cables fraying, hinges screws loosing over time from vibration, mud dobbers up in motor chain area, and spring shaft bearings.

Silicone spray works well on the rubber gasket seal around the door, the heat from the sun makes mine stick at times.

Attaching insulation to the door panels will quieten it down a bit. Also, you can purchase rubber pads and bushings to put on the bolts that hold the ceiling mounts to the motor. But, the belt driven garage openers really are the quietest. I won't be changing mine out to a belt driven installation until my original opener finally gives up it's ghost. I am waiting for my new bottom door weather stripping to arrive from Amazon so I can replace it. Didn't realize how bad off it was until I noticed the new one a neighbor just installed. The nylon rollers are much quieter than the original steel ones.

Is there a service that will come in and take care of all of this?
I need the rubber strip replaced.

Call Romac if you want a company, little pricey but we use them for parents who just won’t use handyman. Our garage door or HVAC guy doesn’t go south to our new home, so looking for new people.

Great post … Recognizing that the Belt Drive units are extremely quiet. Nylon rollers, clean tracks, proper lubrication of cables, cable drums, and hinges will quiet these old doors… BALANCE THE DOOR will extend the life of these components.

I agree 1000% in that the belt drive is unbelievably quieter than chain driven. I just did this at our place.

Garage Door
 

Call Scott's Garage Door. Reasonable and is a great guy. Former firefighter. (352) 697-0321

Great post addressing some of the issues I’m having with my garage door and screen. Unfortunately, I’m not very handy and could use some help.

The wheels and tracks should never have any lubricant on them. The wheels must roll, not slide. If they slide then they will develop a flat spot. Once the lubricant gets contaminated with dirt, that friction causes them to roll with a loud thump thump thump. Like a bad cart in a store. Only remedy is to replace all the rollers, and degrease the tracks.

White lithium grease (and other grease with a residue that is gooey) will collect dirt and then unintentionally cause wear. There is a specifically formulated lubricant for garage door hardware that should be used.

Spots to lubricate... springs, hinges, wheel bearings, cables, opener chain (but not belt).
Looking to stop squeaks, and prevent corrosion.

I just noticed that I need a new weather strip for the screen door that comes down. How do I know what type and size to buy and how do I remove the old strip and install the new one?

Yes, after cleaning with brake clean, lubricate the chain with a silicon bicycle chain grease that is sold in local bike shops. This Lube will not collect much grease and dirt.