It starts with a squeak. Then a grind.
The natural instinct is to grab a tub of grease or a can of thick oil and plaster the tracks.
Please don’t.
We go out to so many repair jobs in Bournemouth where the homeowner has actually killed the door with kindness.
Here is the problem.
Grease is a Magnet
Thick grease stays wet and sticky.
Because we live near the coast, the air is full of grit and dust. That grit sticks to the grease.
Over six months, that mixture turns into a grinding paste. It acts like sandpaper. Instead of making the rollers run smooth, it grinds flat spots onto them. Suddenly, your quiet electric door sounds like a bag of spanners.
Use Silicone Spray
If the door is squeaking, throw the grease away.
Go to a hardware store and buy a can of Silicone Spray.
It lubricates the nylon rollers, but crucially, it dries. It doesn’t stay sticky. The dust doesn’t stick to it.
Give the tracks a quick wipe with a cloth to get the old grime off, then give it a quick spray. That is all it takes.
The “Ghost” Problem (Spiders)
Here is another one that saves you a call-out charge.
We get calls saying: “The door comes down a foot, then bounces back up. It’s broken.”
It usually isn’t broken. It’s a spider.
The safety sensors (the little black boxes near the floor) shoot an invisible beam across the opening. Spiders love building webs across them. Or sometimes, it’s just a bit of mud splashed up from the rain.
If the beam gets broken, the door thinks there is a child or a car in the way, so it reverses.
Before you ring us, just wipe the photocells with a damp cloth. Nine times out of ten, the door works perfectly again.
Save Your Money
You don’t need to pay us to come out and do this.
You can do it on a Sunday morning in ten minutes.
Keep the tracks clean, use the right spray, and wipe the sensors.
If it’s still acting up after that, then give us a ring on 01202 533126. But try the simple stuff first.
