Winter weather can pose some problems for your home’s garage door. Often, this time of year, our cars and trucks are parked inside, and out of the elements, but what happens when the cold weather prevents the door from opening? What happens if your garage door freezes to the ground? These things do happen, and, unfortunately, could happen to you just before you’re trying to leave for work, take the kids to school, etc.

Garage doors can freeze to the ground. This poses the obvious problem of a stuck-in-place garage door, one that won’t move up the track. But, the other problem to a frozen garage door, is that if the garage door is frozen to the ground, even just a little bit, and you open it, it may travel upward in the track, and, as it comes unstuck from the ground, it may go ajar a bit in the track. Any deviation of the upward motion of the garage door in the track could lead to damages within the track, and damage may prohibit the door from functioning correctly.

So, what do you do? Well, obviously you shouldn’t shovel snow in a pile at the base of the garage door. Clear that snow out from the base of the garage door, or else, when it melts, it may seep under the closed garage door, and when the temperatures at night drop back below freezing again, the door will freeze solid to the ground.

There are a few other remedies for this. One being to rub a layer of WD-40 on the bottom of the garage door, and, because WD-40 repels water, this will prevent any water from sticking to that surface, thereby eliminating freezing! However, the WD-40 will need to be applied frequently, as it will wear out in time. Another option is to apply a thin layer of salt to the ground at the spot where the door contacts the ground, and this will also prevent freezing and sticking. Salt will also need to be reapplied throughout the winter season as it will dissipate.

Contact Bailey Doors for all of your garage door needs.