New Doors
Whether you are interested in a new commercial or residential door, one of the first factors to consider when specifying a new garage door is how often your door will be operated each day. The Total Garage Store™ offers doors designed for a wide range of door cycles and we will work with you to offer you options that meet your needs. We offer commercial doors designed to operate several hundred times per day to mini-storage doors that may be operated several times per month. We offer residential doors that your family may operate ten to fifteen times per day to doors for your basement or RV storage that may be operated several times per month. While there are a number of characteristics to consider when specifying any commercial or residential door, your first consideration should be how many times per day you will plan to operate your door.
Door Maintenance
We recommend that you treat the operation and maintenance of your garage door in the same way that you treat the operation and maintenance of the tires on your car. You could decide to use each tire for 100% of its life, until it fails. While this absolutely will get you the longest possible use of each tire, it will not be the lowest cost solution, and it will not be the least stressful solution. Your tire will not fail in the parking lot of your tire dealer. It may fail on the highway during a rainstorm at night and it might damage your wheel when it fails. Your only option may be to change the tire yourself or to call a tow truck at whatever price you have to pay because it is now an emergency situation. You can also install the tire and not do any maintenance until the tire fails. We all understand that periodically rotating and balancing your tires will extend the life of the tires and will improve how your car handles during the life of the tires. Why don’t you treat your garage door with the same logic?
Almost all of the garage doors on the market use a spring that lifts the door. On residential doors, the most common springs are rated at 10,000 cycles. Depending on how often you operate your door you may expect four to seven years of life or as little as two years. While tires are rated by mileage, we all understand that actual tire life is determined by a number of factors, including your personal driving style, the weight of your vehicle versus the weight rating of the tire, your climate and the age of the tire. Tire mileage ratings are helpful comparisons when purchasing new tires but we all recognize that each tire will not fail at exactly its rated life. This is why it is recommended to replace your tires once the tread falls below a certain measurement, with 4/32” one common measurement. It is also recommended that you replace your tires after a certain amount of time, with five or six years being common recommendations. At The Total Garage Store we believe that approaching the care and maintenance of your garage door with that same logic is a much better approach than simply using your spring until it breaks, which is how our industry currently approaches spring replacement and, like a tire blowout, creates an emergency situation or major inconvenience when you cannot get your car out of your garage.
At any of our six locations, our expert staff will work with you to define a maintenance schedule that balances a long life of the spring with the least stressful time to change it. We recommend changing your spring after six years or when the spring has reached 90% of its rated life.
There are a number of different ways to measure door cycles, from a simple manual counter to measuring them with your garage door operator. Several brands of operators on the market will count door cycles and technology is quickly being introduced in our industry that will notify you when your spring needs to be changed or your door is due for maintenance. It is possible that even your home security system may have the capability of recording door cycles. On many new cars, we can get a text or email notifying us of recommended maintenance or error codes, and this technology will inevitably become common in the door industry. We are excited to work with you to develop a proactive door maintenance and spring replacement schedule that balances the life of your spring and the stress of replacing a failed spring with a recommended 24-month service schedule on your door. Would you rather work with The Total Garage Store to change your spring during normal hours on a day of your choosing or scramble for an option when your spring breaks at the most inconvenient time? The garage door is the largest moving object on your house. Having a professional door technician service your door every twenty-four months will result in your door operating as efficiently as possible, extending the life of your door and reducing the risk of a door failure at an inopportune time. We believe our proactive approach to garage door spring replacement will be the norm within five years because it will eliminate the stress of your spring breaking when you are leaving on vacation or taking your children to school.
At The Total Garage Store we are dedicated to improving your experience and satisfaction with your garage door. We look forward to earning your business!