There’s a lot that can go wrong with your home as the temperature falls during the winter months and your garage door is not immune to the effects of the colder weather and snowfall. Your garage door is a large and vital entry point into your home and it’s one of the biggest barriers between the interior of your home and the elements. In addition, most people use their garage door several times every day.

Between the wear and tear accumulated through daily use and the exposure to the elements it’s no wonder that there is a variety of problems that can occur during the colder months. There are 3 of the most common garage door problems during the winter and how you can avoid them.

1.       Broken Metal Pieces

Metal contracts when it’s exposed to freezing temperatures, especially if the exposure occurs for a prolonged period of time. It’s important to pay attention to all the metal parts and pieces of your garage door whose breakage could cause your door to malfunction as this could be very dangerous. The first thing you should check is whether any bolts and screws are frozen, broken or damaged and replace them immediately in order to prevent further damage and malfunctions to your garage door.

Next, keep in mind that during the winter the door’s metal springs are more likely to break and the tracks are more likely to warp. Both of these things are very serious issues and they pose a significant safety risk to you should always call in a professional repair company to fix these common problems as soon as they occur and don’t use the garage door before they have been resolved.

2.       Improper Insulation and Damaged Weather Stripping

We already mentioned that your garage door plays a key role in keeping you protected from the elements during colder weather. For attached garages, they’re effectively the first line of defense when it comes to making sure the cold winter air can’t get into your living space. However, if you haven’t winterized your door a snowstorm or deep freeze could leave you unable to close or open the door, which would mean that you either won’t be able to get your vehicle out of the garage, or you will be forced to leave the garage door open during freezing weather.

An improperly sealed and insulated garage door won’t keep the cold air out of your home which will lead to a significantly higher heating or energy bill. A key part of this insulation is the weather stripping at the bottom of your garage door. A common problem that can occur during freezing temperatures is the weather stripping being ripped off of your garage door because it’s gotten frozen and stuck to the ground. To avoid this, make sure to always clear snow away from the garage door as soon as possible and wipe off any frozen pieces that may be stuck to the stripping.

3.       Slow Automatic Opening

While a slow opening garage door is a less serious problem it can quickly become very frustrating, especially when you’re leaving for work in the cold and early morning. This common garage door problem occurs because cold and freezing temperatures cause the door’s motor to run more slowly. Luckily, there is an easy fix! All you need to do is access the setting of the motor and adjust them until the garage door achieves an opening speed that you’re satisfied with.

However, take care not to over-do it, as you don’t want to push the motor to its limits which may cause it to sustain damage or even burn out. It’s better to wait just a little bit longer than to be stuck with an inoperable garage door until you can replace your garage door motor.