When was the last time you carried out regular precautionary maintenance on your Continued or your garage door opener? Although your garage door opener is a big benefit and works well, virtually all house homeowners take it for granted.

According to a current US investigation, 45% of homeowners who have a garage employ the garage door as the primary point of entry into their house. In addition, a separate study indicates that 71% use their garage door openers to enter their houses. That means that the successful operation of your garage door and its opener can be very important in your daily life.

Just like all mechanical devices there comes an occasion when your garage door opener will fail to work. Unfortunately it will in all probability occur at the most inconvenient time. That's why a little preventative upkeep can be a terrific method to make sure that you notice problems with your garage door before something breaks.

This would seem like adequate evidence to convince anyone regarding the significance of regular upkeep for their garage doors and openers. An essential thing to keep in mind is that a garage door opener can effortlessly raise a 450 pound double residential door. Consequently, if a door reverses as it is closing, it is reasonable that the door opening machinery must be carefully checked out.

Children have a way of becoming enthralled by the operation of garage doors. Left to their own devices they can stress a garage door to the breaking point by pushing the remote or wall button during the operation of the door. Therefore it's best to keep remote controls away from children and do not allow them to have fun with the wall control panel.

Here are several important routine preventative upkeep tips.

Twice a year, you ought to disable the automatic opener while the door is closed. This can be accomplished through pulling on the red cord or pull rope.

Then carry out a equilibrium test. Once the door is in "manual mode" check to see if it is appropriately balanced. Open the door half way. It ought to remain there without you touching it. If this is not the case, you may have a cable or spring malfunction. Call a garage door company so that they can further analyze your problem.

Visually inspect rails, chain/belt and mounting brackets on your garage door opener. Horizontal rails must always be parallel to insure that the door operates correctly.

Lubricate all metal parts two times a year with a proper metal lubricant. The same applies for weather seals. Make sure to make use of a silicone based lubricant. This will add years of worry-free operation to your garage door.

Do a reversal test. Make sure that the reversal mechanisms of your Continued opener are working. Since 1996, all garage door openers are equipped with two safety systems. The first one is a photocell system that will stop and reverse the action of the door when a person or an object passes through the light beam. The second system will stop and reverse the door automatically if it senses any resistance while the door is closing.