Garage Door Maintenance in Raleigh, Cary, & Surrounding Areas
20 Years Of Experience
Whether you want to refresh your home’s look or select a garage door for the first time, you can count on our local legacy of expertise.
Garage Doors For Any Budget
Our team can help you find a beautiful new garage door that updates your look and fits within your budget.
Locally-Operated
We proudly serve homeowners in Raleigh, Cary, Durham-Chapel Hill, Wilmington, and the surrounding areas. Our customers are a part of our family.
Your garage door is the largest moving object in your home, and just like your car, it needs regular maintenance. You wouldn’t drive 50,000 miles without an oil change. In the same way, you shouldn’t go years without maintaining the largest moving part of your home.
Unfortunately, many homeowners don’t think about their garage doors until something goes wrong. And by then, the problem could have escalated into a costly repair. Regular garage door maintenance helps to prevent problems before they happen and keeps everything running smoothly so you don’t end up in need of emergency garage door repair.
Over the years, we’ve learned that preventative garage door maintenance is key. Just like changing the oil in your car can prevent your engine from breaking down, regular garage door maintenance helps prevent more serious problems down the road. After all, most of us rely on our garage doors every day, so keeping them in top shape should be a priority. This is the main reason we offer a comprehensive garage door maintenance program meant to ensure your garage door keeps running as it should.
Garage Door Maintenance Plans
The best way to extend the life of your garage door – and avoid the inconvenience of a broken garage door – is with routine maintenance. We recommend two maintenance appointments per year: one in the spring and one in the fall, before winter weather sets in. When you choose Garage Door Specialist for your maintenance needs, here is what you’ll get with each appointment:
- Check for signs of wear or tear on the door and operator
- Tighten all nuts, bolts, and hinges
- Adjustment of the tracks, chain, and belt if needed
- Checking the balance and adjustment of the spring, if needed
- Check the weather seals for any unnecessary gaps or spaces
- Ensure the safety reverse setting on the operator is properly reversing
- Lubrication of the operator rail, as well as all moving parts and components to prevent rust
- Check with homeowner to make sure all operator accessories are functioning and reprogram or recode the keypad, homelink, or remote as needed
What Can Happen Without Garage Door Maintenance
- Springs snap unexpectedly and trap your car inside.
- Cables fray and break, causing the door to hang crookedly.
- Safety sensors fail, leaving children, pets, or property at risk.
- Doors go off track, creating emergencies that require immediate service.
Flexible Garage Door Maintenance Plans That Fit Your Schedule
Not every home or garage door requires the same level of care, which is why we offer flexible garage door maintenance plans designed to fit your schedule and your budget. Some homeowners prefer twice-a-year service, typically in the spring and fall, to prepare for seasonal changes, while others choose annual maintenance for ongoing reliability. No matter your preference, we offer a plan that makes sense for your needs.
One of the biggest advantages of enrolling in our garage door maintenance program is the long-term cost savings. Garage Door Specialist’s four-visit maintenance program costs $299 plus tax and includes a 5% discount on any necessary parts. In comparison, a major garage door repair can cost $799 or more, depending on the components that fail. Taking a proactive approach to maintenance helps you avoid these unexpected expenses while extending the life of your garage door system.
To put it into perspective, ignoring routine maintenance can lead to costly repairs such as:
- A major spring and cable overhaul ranging from $799 to $1,200
- A door coming off track, which may require extensive repairs or even full replacement
- Emergency service calls that often cost significantly more than a scheduled maintenance visit
Beyond the financial savings, routine maintenance provides something just as valuable: peace of mind. Knowing your garage door has been professionally inspected and serviced allows you to rest easy, confident that potential issues are being caught early. Much like regular check-ups with a doctor, addressing small concerns now can prevent much bigger problems later.
Contact Garage Door Specialist today to sign up for our comprehensive garage door maintenance program and keep your garage door operating safely, smoothly, and reliably year-round.
What Our Garage Door Maintenance Plan Covers
During a maintenance visit, we go through a thorough checklist to ensure your garage door operates safely and efficiently. Here’s a detailed look at what we check:
- Springs and Cables: These are the most common culprits for garage door breakdowns. Springs control the balance of the door, and if they break, the door will fail to operate properly. We look for any signs of wear, fray, weakness, or damage on the cables, springs, or other components, and replace them before they break. We also inspect and adjust spring tension as needed and test the overall balance of the door to ensure it moves smoothly without placing excess strain on the opener. As part of this process, we verify proper manual operation using the door’s release mechanism to confirm smooth, controlled movement.
- Rollers and Bearings: These small parts are essential for the smooth operation of the door. Over time, they can wear out, causing the door to become loud and jerky. If we spot any issues, we replace the rollers or bearings to ensure smooth and quiet operation. As part of each visit, we lubricate rollers and bearings to reduce friction and extend the life of these components.
- Safety Features: Many homeowners don’t realize that modern garage door openers are equipped with safety features, like safety beams that prevent the door from closing if there’s an obstruction. It is actually required by a law passed in 1993, UL325, that your garage door has this safety feature. We test these features during every maintenance visit to ensure they’re functioning properly.This includes testing the automatic reversal system and confirming proper alignment and operation of the safety beams to meet current safety standards.
- Lubrication: We lubricate the rollers, springs, and other moving parts to keep the door running smoothly. Without proper lubrication, the door can become noisy and start to grind.We also inspect opener gears, belts, chains, and rails to ensure everything is operating smoothly and efficiently, helping prevent premature wear and unexpected failures. Tracks are inspected for proper alignment and cleanliness to ensure smooth travel without unnecessary friction or strain.
- Weather Seals: As part of our maintenance process, we check weather seals along the bottom and sides of the door for gaps, cracking, or wear that could allow air, moisture, or pests into your garage. Proper sealing helps protect your garage and improve overall efficiency. We also look for signs of sticking or binding that can occur during colder weather and place added strain on the door and opener.
More Than Just Fixes: Peace of Mind
It’s not just about money – it’s about confidence. With a maintenance plan, you know your garage door has been inspected by a professional who caught issues before they turned into emergencies.
Benefits include:
- Fewer unexpected breakdowns
- Longer lifespan for your door and opener
- Quieter, smoother operation
- Added safety for kids, pets, and vehicles
- Free diagnostic check during any repair visit
4 Garage Door Maintenance Tips You Can Do Yourself
A regularly scheduled maintenance appointment can save your money long-term by uncovering small issues before they become costly. You can begin this process yourself by completing these four steps:
1. Perform a Safety Reversal Test
Your garage door should stop and reverse to avoid any obstruction in its downward path. This means it should only apply minimal pressure to an object blocking its motion. To test this, place a 2×4 on the floor near the center of your garage door’s closing plane and close the garage door. It should stop once it reaches the 2×4 and retract upward. If it stops, your garage door has passed the safety reversal test. If it does not, contact Garage Door Specialist today!
2. Ensure Your Garage Door Opener is Compliant with Federal Law
Any garage door openers manufactured after January 1, 1993, are compliant with federal law under UL (Underwriters Laboratories) Standard 325. This standard requires all garage doors to contain infrared safety sensors. Unfortunately, most garage companies have stopped selling replacement parts for openers made before January of 1993. We advise against spending money to repair an old sensor and recommend contacting Garage Door Specialist to ask about our garage door opener selection.
3. Inspect Your Garage Door
It’s pretty easy to assess the immediate condition of your garage door, but it’s important to look closely to inspect the hardware, including the springs, cables, rollers, pulleys, and other hardware for signs of wear and tear. If you do suspect damage or deterioration of any part of your garage door, contact Garage Door Specialist today. These pieces hold tension, so let one of our experts assist you.
Click here to see a diagram of everything that may need inspecting.
4. Conduct a Balance Test
It is important to keep your garage door in balance and well-adjusted. To determine the balance of your door, close it and use the release mechanism on your garage door opener to allow you to manually move the door by hand. You should encounter smooth movement with little resistance when you move the door upward. It should rest stagnant at 3 to 4 feet off the floor. If it does not, it is out of balance and should be adjusted by a professional. To have your garage door inspected or adjusted, contact us today.
Protect Your Family And Your Home With Regular Garage Door Maintenance
Your garage door serves as a key entry point to your home, adds a layer of security against break-ins, and increases your curb appeal. It’s the largest moving object in your home, so it’s important that it’s always functioning properly. Just like other investments, your garage doors require care to perform their best!
Regularly scheduled maintenance appointments ensure that your garage door is in working order. Our maintenance plans help avoid broken safety sensors, malfunctioning operators, faulty keypads, and so much more.
Trust Your Garage Door Repairs to Garage Door Specialist
At Garage Door Specialist, we can also provide repair and installation services. If we discover any issues during your maintenance appointment, we can repair them. If we think it will be cheaper to install a new door, we’ll help you through the installation process.
Our team is ready to help. Give us a call today to schedule a maintenance appointment at (919) 841-0030.
Compare that to the cost of ignoring your door until something breaks:
A major spring and cable overhaul can cost $799-$1,200.
A door that falls off track can lead to costly repairs – or even full replacement.
An emergency call can leave you with a bill far larger than a simple checkup.
