When the temperatures in your neck of the woods drop, the change in weather brings with it a few mandatory maintenance tasks as a homeowner, even when it comes to your garage doors. When the snow starts to fall and ice starts to form, it could easily leave you stuck in your garage without being able to get your door to open, and this is never a welcome situation. To prevent problems with your garage door this winter season, there is a simple ABC rule set that you should keep in mind. 

Always check the rubber weather seals around the garage door for signs of damage and wear.

The rubber seals around your garage door serve the valuable purpose of keeping cold drafts away, but even more importantly, they will block incoming moisture as long as they are in good condition. If moisture makes its way into the small spaces between the garage door and the resting point on the floor, your door could easily freeze shut and get stuck like that until either the temperatures rise or you use a heater to eliminate ice. If you notice any damage to these seals, make sure you have a technician come to your home to replace them. 

Be sure you add plenty of lubrication well before the onset of winter. 

The colder-than-usual temperatures can wreak havoc on the moving parts of your garage door, because it is not uncommon for the lubrication already in place to dry out. Before winter arrives and throughout the season, skip the spray-on lubrication and use a heavy-grade white lithium grease to lube the moving components of the garage. Pay careful attention to the:

• metal guides of the garage door's roller wheels
• the tension springs overhead and on both sides of the door
• the chains of the automatic garage door opener
• the hinges of the connecting hardware on the door itself

Check to ensure your garage door opener sensors are well situated. 

The cold in the winter can have a detrimental effect in the garage door opener sensors that you have in place if they are not situated in a safe place. If the lenses of these sensors get clouded or blocked by frost or ice, it will often prevent the garage door from closing or opening as it should, because the sensors will be signaling that there is something in the way. Move the sensors to a spot where they will not be left vulnerable to the cold, away from drafty areas inside of the garage or anywhere where moisture could be an issue. 

If you feel that your garage doors need to be replaced altogether, contact a professional who deals in garage doors for sale.