Winter weather mix can affect Knoxville’s garage doors

Rain, snow, ice and cold combine to damage door systems

Knoxville has seen its fair share of bone-chilling wet weather. Surprising to many, wintry conditions can affect one of the most visible systems in your home, your automatic garage door. For many, the garage door opener has become the main key to our homes. Be aware that rain, snow, and bitter cold can have a lasting effect on the smooth functioning of your East Tennessee overhead garage door.

Temp changes.

Swings in temperature cause metal to expand and contract. Over time, this may affect the tracks, chains, and especially springs of your garage door system. Coiled springs may break without warning, potentially harming people, pets, vehicles, and equipment.

WARNING: Coiled springs should only be serviced by experienced repair techs.

Unreliable operation. 

The cold weather may make your garage door opener system uncooperative. The chains and tracks that glide smoothly in the summertime may react poorly to cold temperatures. We find hardened lubrication can slow, and even act as a barrier, to easy flowing systems, dictating a repair call.

Water damage.

Remember that wooden framing and old wooden garage doors can swell with moisture. This can mean warping or cracking of panels. Also, consider that your garage door is among the heaviest components in your home. Imagine it wicking up moisture, expanding with water to 2 or 3 times its usual weight. This heavy strain can also lead to overtaxing your garage door opener motor.

Frozen door.

After a nasty Knoxville sleet storm with falling temperatures, you may find your garage door frozen to the ground. Your electric opener may be quite unable to break the ice, incapable of lifting your door. Be careful not to burn out a motor. Stay vigilant and keep your threshold area as clean as possible.

A visual inspection of your tracks, chain, and threshold is always a good idea. For the optimal prevention of cold weather issues, schedule a maintenance visit with Overhead Door Company of Knoxville. Our experienced technicians will assess all the working parts of your garage door and electrical opening systems. From weather stripping to rollers, we'll test everything from your chain or belt drive to the batteries in your remote controls. We carefully check and repair your garage door to give you years of worry-free performance.

If you live in Knox, Anderson, Roane, Union, Grainger, Hamblen, Jefferson, Sevier, Blount, or Loudon county, we can serve all your garage door needs. Click here or call (865) 573-1950 to tell us about your concerns. We will happily consult with you and provide you with a professional service call or estimate.