What are some Tips to Prevent my Garage Door from Freezing?
Q: What are some tips to prevent my garage door from freezing?
A: Our Canadian winters can be harsh and brutal, with temperatures and wind chills well below freezing. On these particularly chilly days, your garage door can have problems of its own. It can open and close much more slowing if it is an automatic door. The cold causes the parts and components to contract and potentially seize up.
Not to mention if there was snow on the ground near the garage door that happened to melt a little during the day, where water got under the bottom seal of the door, it could freeze overnight, causing the door to stick to the ground.
We'll get to the prevention in a minute, but here's what to do if your garage door is already frozen:
If you hit the switch to open your garage door and the motor kicks in, but nothing happens, you'll want to shut off the electric opener right away. You'll need to manually unstick the frozen door. The first thing you will want to do is check outside and make sure snow has not piled up against the door. If it has clear it away.
Once the snow is cleared away, attempt to open the door manually. You'll need to dis-engage the door from the automatic track, by pulling the manual release cord. If the door starts to move slightly, then stops, it means it's frozen to the ground. You can use a hair dryer to heat up the bottom, just make sure to not place it too close to the water from the melted ice.
If the door isn't frozen to the bottom and won’t open manually, certain parts and components could have seized up or contracted too much. You can use an electric heater and warm the garage up above freezing to see if this helps.
If the door opens after warming up the garage, then great. If it still won’t budge, now is the time to call in a professional garage door technician for assistance.
Dealing with a frozen garage door is not something you will want to have to deal with day in and day out every cold winter day. While we can't guarantee your garage door won't freeze shut, we can offer some preventive tips so it'll hopefully not happen to you:
1. Replace your existing door with an insulated garage door. Insulated doors help block out cold and could prevent freezing.
2. Before closing the door, make sure to spread de-icer pellets under where the door will close. The de-icer pellets will turn the ice into water and help keep it from refreezing.
3. Install a new weather seal around the garage door opening. If you notice cold air gaps or light coming into the garage when the door is shut, you need a new weather seal.
4. Make sure all moving parts and components are well-lubricated. Lubricants contain oils that don't freeze and can prevent any moisture on parts and components - and can even help the door’s track from freezing.