Is Your Garage Ready for Winter?

Is Your Garage Ready for Winter?

Forget whether your garage is ready, are you ready for winter?! While it comes every year, it always seems to take us by surprise. What is this strange white stuff that I need to push to the side of the driveway?

Of course, it doesn’t take long for winter to not only become familiar again but to become a long, cold chore of keeping ice and snow from your driveway and walkways.

You might not think of it this way, but your garage is often the centre of your ‘winter operations’. It’s where you keep the snowblower, shovels, and ice melter. You might plug your engine block heater into the garage outlet, store the sleds, skis, and hockey equipment, and have lots of windshield washer fluid ready to go on the shelf.

So, you’ll be in and out of the garage a lot more during the winter than only when you leave or come home in the car. That also means your garage door will get more use too. All that extra work, especially when it’s freezing outside, can increase the chance of having a problem with the door. A problem at the worst possible time, because who wants to be trying to fix a garage door in sub-zero temperatures?

Here are just a few things you can do to get your garage, and especially its door, ready for winter.

Lubricate the Door

Think about how many times your garage door operates, and then think about how many times you’ve ever lubricated it. Chances are the answers are, in order, ‘too many to count’ and ‘never’.

Using a petroleum-based lubricant for metal moving parts, like hinges, and a silicone-based lubricant for weather-stripping and seals, not only helps the garage door operate smoothly, it offers protection from the harsh weather conditions.

Check the Door’s Rollers and Tracks

Every moving part of your garage door is important, but the tracks in which the rollers on each side of the door run can be tricky. If they aren’t perfectly in line with the door, it can make opening and closing the door more difficult and eventually cause the door to jam.

To make sure your door opens and closes smoothly, disconnect the opener and operate the door manually. It should open and close with relatively little effort and work smoothly throughout the entire operation.

Always Keep the Base of the Door Clear

In addition to keeping objects inside the garage from blocking the door and/or its safety photo eyes, be sure to check the base of the door throughout the winter for the build-up of snow or ice, which can interfere with the operation of the door.

Organize Your Garage

Anticipate what you might need throughout the winter, including all your snow clearing equipment, anything you need for your car and any toys, sports equipment, etc., and put them all in an easily accessible place.

Have fuel or a recharging station handy for the snowblower. Remember that the snow and ice that clings to your snow removal equipment will probably melt in your garage. Clear off as much snow and ice as possible outside and have some rags handy to mop up any puddles that form. Make sure to store the blower and shovels in a place that, if puddles form beneath them, the water won’t drain towards anything it could damage.

The more prepared you make your garage for winter, the less of a chore it will be and the lower the chance of having a problem with its most important moving part, your garage door. If you need garage door maintenance services for your garage door, contact Upper Garage Garage Doors. Our technicians can come out to your home to ensure that your door is ready for winter!

A Homeowners Journey of Garage Door Discovery

A Homeowners Journey of Garage Door Discovery

If you have a garage in your home, this scenario might sound familiar. You’re in the garage, maybe working on something or putting something away. You hear something outside the garage door. You’re not sure if it’s your neighbour, the one whose lawnmower you haven’t returned yet, but want to use again before you do, or if it’s the new lawnmower that you ordered being delivered.

Do you risk facing the neighbour by opening the door to find out what the noise is about?

Now imagine if you had windows in your garage door. Problem solved.

Not only would you know if it’s your neighbour or new lawnmower, or something completely different, but you could open your door entirely confident of exactly what you’ll see when you do.

Such is the power of a window in your garage door.

While we’re making a little fun here, we’re doing it to highlight a point. Making a simple change to your garage door when replacing it, versus going with exactly what you had before, can make a huge difference in how you use your door, its looks, and the benefits you get from it.

The Benefits of Trying Something New for Your Garage Door 

Every month, garage door manufacturer Clopay gives away $1,000 to the winner of their imagineNATION contest. Homeowners can enter the contest each month by submitting ‘Before’ and ‘After’ photos of their Clopay garage door installation.

The story of a recent contest winner from Connecticut is really typical of what we come across almost daily. When homeowners decide to replace their garage door they usually just think of getting a new one that looks much the same as the old one. Why not? It’s a safe bet and they don’t have to worry about picking a new colour or style, right?

Huh?!

This is the largest single visual element of the front of a home. You use it every day. It’s as important as any other space in your home. But you want to just go with a replacement that’s as close as you can get to the old door? Kinda like you’re replacing furnace filter?

Fortunately, the contest winner decided to try some upgrades. Needing a new door because the old one was not working properly and was flimsy, the homeowner originally wanted a similar style, except in an insulated version.

But once he got to see what styles were available, he made his first step up to a carriage style door from the traditional raised-panel door he was replacing.

Knowing that the homeowner was open to options, the garage door dealer suggested going even further outside his comfort zone. The dealer suggested an insulated steel door for durability, in black to match the home’s exterior colour scheme, with windows to match the home’s windows.

What Does the Homeowner Think of The New Door?

“It’s funny, but the new door has been life changing.”

It does seem funny that something we take for granted could actually become ‘life-changing’. How can that be? The homeowner gets to see the impact of the new door on his house every time he comes home. “When we arrive home each day, it really makes a nice difference.”

In the end, the homeowner summed up his experience this way. “When we decided it was time for a new garage door, we were doing it out of necessity to replace the old, shaky garage door that was becoming unsafe. Never in our wildest dreams did we imagine that we would change the entire look and feel of our home! Better curb appeal, insulation, windows for viewing, and a quieter door. We’re so happy with our garage door replacement.”

If there’s one more lesson to be learned from this story, it is that it pays to talk to a garage door specialist when it’s time to replace your door. Call us here at Upper Canada Garage Door when you’re ready to see what’s possible.

Why You Should Keep Your Garage Door Closed – Especially in Winter

Why You Should Keep Your Garage Door Closed – Especially in Winter

Why Your Garage Door is One of the Best Ways to Increase Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Why Your Garage Door is One of the Best Ways to Increase Your Home’s Curb Appeal

Curb appeal means exactly what it says: it’s the ‘appeal’, or how attractive your home is, from the ‘curb’, or street. In other words, curb appeal means how good your home looks from the outside.

While most homeowners have pride of ownership and want their homes to look their best, curb appeal really has no dollar value unless you’re selling your house. Then it has lots of dollar value.

Still, people will go out of their way, and over budget, to keep their homes’ exteriors looking great, including improvements to the landscape, keeping windows clean and up to date, making the entranceway more inviting and so on. So why do they do it if it won’t pay off unless they put the house on the market? In addition to the pride thing, there’s more than a little ‘keeping up with the Jones’’ because no one wants to have the worst looking home in a neighborhood. Especially if they are selling.

Why is Curb Appeal so Important?

The term curb appeal was coined back in the day when home buyers literally drove around to look at homes. So the look of a home from the street, where the buyers would be in their cars, became the first hurdle to getting buyers interested in a home. Very often, buyers would not even get out of the car if they didn’t like the look of the home from the car – or its curb appeal.

Today curb appeal is even more important. With the advent of online shopping for a home, you don’t even have the luxury of presenting your house in person. Instead, it better look good on Google Streetview and any images on a realtor’s web site. If it doesn’t, prospective buyers won’t even bother to visit.

Your Garage Door & the Curb Appeal of Your Home

We’ve told you many times that a garage door can account for a large portion of your home’s appearance; up to 35% of the visible area of your home from the street.

Yet despite that fact, we were always disappointed whenever we saw “How to Improve Your Curb Appeal” posts and few if any of them mentioned garage doors.

That is, until now.

Last summer, U.S. News & World Report published the article “10 Home Renovations With the Best Return on Investment”. The articles, based on an analysis by Remodelling Magazine, listed home renovations according to the cost of the renovation versus how much the renovation increased the value of a home.

Unlike other similar articles, this one looked at the entire home, inside and out, to come up with their suggested renos. 40% of the highest return renos were to the home’s exterior.

To our great pleasure, the article’s author wrote, “when it comes to what it considers upscale renovations, Remodeling Magazine says replacing the garage door offers the best return on investment.”

Yes! In your face kitchen remodeling! Take that bathroom renos!

Homeowners could expect to get back 85% of their investment by installing a new garage door.

Why Curb Appeal is More Important than Ever

Home prices in Ontario and the GTA are cooling somewhat since the highs of 2017. That means residential real estate isn’t the sellers’ market it was not too long ago. If you’re even thinking of selling, you have to prepare for more competition from increased listings by people who are trying to sell their house before prices go any lower. Gone are the days of bidding wars for fixer-uppers.

To learn more about choosing the right garage door to maximize the value of your home, whether or not you’re selling, please contact us here at Upper Canada Garage Door.

How to Make Your Garage More Eco-Friendly

How to Make Your Garage More Eco-Friendly

From adding more efficient attic insulation to using triple-glazed windows, homeowners are constantly taking more and more steps to make their homes more energy-efficient. While that means the home is more eco-friendly, burning less electricity and/or gas and oil to keep the interior comfortable, most of us are insulating our homes for more selfish reasons. We often make energy-saving upgrades to save money on energy costs and/or take advantage of government rebates to defray the costs of the renovations.

Regardless of the reason, there’s one part of the home that few homeowners think to include in their eco-friendly renovations. Can you guess what area that is, considering that this is a garage door blog?!

Interestingly, while not so many homeowners take steps to make their garage greener, it can be the source of some of the biggest energy wastes in the house. Uninsulated walls and doors mean that the garage can be almost as cold or warm as outside. But garages often share many common walls with the house and we don’t always take the same precautions to keep the door to the garage closed as we do to the other main entry doors to the house.

So when you make your garage more environmentally friendly, you also help to make your home more environmentally friendly, and less costly to heat and cool.

Below are some of the things you can do to your garage to keep cold air out in winter and cool air in during summer, all while making your home more comfortable and less costly to run.

1. Get Rid of Incandescent and Neon Lighting

You’ve done it elsewhere in your house, so now it’s time to reduce the power you use to light your garage. Even though your garage probably doesn’t use a lot of lighting, switching to CFL or LED fixtures will still make a difference. And if you do want to increase the lighting in your garage to make it more useful for different purposes, LEDs and CFLs will let you do so while still using less electricity than a couple incandescent bulbs.

2. Insulate the Garage

Any garage walls that border the outside should be insulated and sealed using energy-efficient building materials. Spray foam insulation often offers the highest R-value for the least thickness of insulation, but foam board and batt insulation can work too. Seal any cracks or gaps, like those that may be around windows, with caulking and insulate any pipes and ductwork.

3. Install an Insulated Garage Door or Insulate the Existing Door

The sheer size of even a single-width garage door can make it a substantial source of energy loss, regardless of whether the rest of the garage is insulated. You can insulate an existing door with rigid foam board insulation.

4. Keep Your Garage Door Opener in Peak Operating Condition

Garage door openers often operate for many years without maintenance and repair. But that doesn’t mean they’re using energy efficiently. If they are not checked regularly to make sure there’s nothing putting extra strain on the motor, like rollers that are sticking, they can draw more power while still seeming to work properly.

If you hear any unusual sounds coming from the opener or the doors, springs, and rollers while the door is moving, it could mean the motor is doing more work than it has to. Always check the roller tracks and lubricate the door hinges and any other moving parts.

If your door is out of balance, it can put more stress on the motor than just about anything else. You can regularly check the balance of your door by disconnecting the opener, which is usually done by pulling the release handle/cord and manually raising the door halfway up. If it doesn’t easily stay in that position, your garage door may be out of balance.

The best way to keep your garage door and garage door opener working well, or to repair and replace them, is to give us a call here at Upper Canada Garage Door.