Every spring, I get a wave of emergency calls from homeowners dealing with garage door problems that could have been prevented with a little seasonal upkeep. After years of running Murray’s Garage Door Services here in Massachusetts, I’ve put together the exact checklist I recommend to every customer after a long New England winter.

Spend 30 minutes on these 10 tasks and you’ll avoid most of the expensive repairs I see all season long.

1. Visual Inspection of Springs and Cables

Start by looking at the springs mounted above your door (torsion) or on the sides (extension). Look for rust, stretched coils, or gaps in the spring body. Check the cables running from the bottom brackets up to the drums — fraying or loose strands mean the cable is failing.

If you see any damage, don’t try to fix it yourself. Spring replacement and cable repair involve components under extreme tension and require professional tools.

2. Lubricate All Moving Parts

Winter dries everything out. Apply a silicone-based or lithium-based garage door lubricant to:

  • Torsion springs (coat the entire length)
  • Hinges (the pivot points, not the rollers)
  • Roller stems (where the shaft meets the roller)
  • Bearing plates (the round plates on each side of the spring bar)
  • Lock mechanism (if your door has a manual lock)

Skip the WD-40 — it’s a solvent, not a lubricant. It actually strips the grease you want on these parts.

3. Tighten All Hardware

A garage door moves up and down over a thousand times a year. That vibration loosens bolts. Grab a socket wrench and tighten:

  • The bolts on the hinges
  • The brackets holding the tracks to the wall
  • The bolts on the opener’s mounting bracket
  • The fasteners on the door’s vertical track

Don’t touch the bottom brackets (where the cables attach). Those are under spring tension and should only be adjusted by a technician.

4. Test the Door Balance

Disconnect the opener by pulling the red emergency release cord. Lift the door manually to about waist height and let go. A properly balanced door should stay in place, maybe drifting an inch or two.

If the door falls shut or shoots up, the springs are out of balance. An unbalanced door strains the opener motor and shortens its life. This is something we adjust during a routine maintenance visit.

5. Inspect and Clean the Tracks

Look at the vertical and curved tracks on both sides of the door. They should be plumb (straight up and down) and free of dents or bends. Wipe them down with a damp cloth to remove grime and debris.

Don’t lubricate the tracks themselves — the rollers need a clean, dry surface to roll smoothly. Greased tracks actually attract dirt and make things worse.

6. Test the Safety Reversal System

Your opener has two safety features mandated by federal law, and both need to work:

Mechanical reversal: Place a 2x4 flat on the ground where the door closes. Hit the close button. The door should reverse within two seconds of contacting the board. If it doesn’t, your opener needs adjustment or repair.

Photo-eye reversal: While the door is closing, wave your foot through the sensor beam at the bottom of the door. The door should reverse immediately. Clean the sensor lenses with a soft cloth if they’re dirty.

7. Check the Weatherstripping

The rubber seal along the bottom of your door takes a beating every winter. Look for cracks, tears, gaps, or sections that are hardened and no longer flexible. Damaged weatherstripping lets in cold air, water, rodents, and insects.

Also inspect the weatherstripping along the top and sides of the door frame. If you see daylight from inside the garage, it’s time for replacement.

8. Inspect the Panels

Walk around both sides of the door and look for:

  • Cracks or splits in steel, wood, or fiberglass panels
  • Rust spots (especially at the bottom where salt spray hits)
  • Dents that may be affecting the door’s operation
  • Peeling paint that exposes the panel to moisture

Small dents are cosmetic. But cracked or rusted panels compromise insulation and structural integrity. Panel replacement is usually more cost-effective than a full door replacement if only one or two sections are damaged.

9. Test the Opener’s Battery Backup

If your opener has a battery backup (most newer models do), test it. Unplug the opener from the outlet and try operating the door with the remote. If it doesn’t work, the battery needs replacing.

This matters more than people think. During a power outage, you don’t want your car trapped in the garage. If your opener is older and doesn’t have battery backup, that’s a good reason to consider an opener upgrade.

10. Clean and Inspect the Exterior

Give the door a good wash with mild soap and water. For steel doors, look for rust bubbles forming under the paint — catch them early and you can sand, prime, and repaint the spot before it spreads. For wood doors, check for rot, warping, or peeling finish.

This is also a good time to assess whether your door still looks presentable. Your garage door is roughly 30% of your home’s front face. If it’s faded, dented, or outdated, a new garage door installation can return 90%+ of its cost in home value.

When to Call a Professional

This checklist covers what you can safely do yourself. But some things require a trained technician:

  • Spring adjustment or replacement
  • Cable replacement
  • Track realignment
  • Opener motor repair
  • Anything involving the bottom brackets

If something on this checklist reveals a problem, don’t ignore it. Small issues become big repairs fast — especially heading into the heavy-use summer months.

Need a professional spring tune-up? Murray’s Garage Door Services offers comprehensive maintenance service across Massachusetts. Call (978) 850-3990 or book online to get on the schedule before the summer rush.