6 Strategies To Avoid A Frozen Garage Door

A frozen garage door is not fun for anyone. You want to reach your destination on time because your garage door was frozen shut, and you couldn’t get your car out. Melting the ice around the door and opening it can take up a lot of time. However, a garage door in Vancouver often freezes during winter. 

But there are many ways to prevent this:

Keep Water and Snow Away

Your garage door can freeze due to faulty drainage. If water or ice is accumulated around your door, then there is a high chance that your door will freeze as the temperatures drop. So, remove any water, snow, and ice accumulated around your garage door before the temperatures drop below freezing point. If not cleared, the water and ice can damage or deform your garage door sections and damage garage door hardware, opener, and seals. It can put an unnecessary strain, affect the door’s structure, and might cause the garage door to rust.

You can use a floor squeegee and push out stagnant water regularly to prevent pooling. Keep the garage door open when you sweep, scrape, or shovel anything from around it.

Maintain the Garage Door Regularly

You must maintain your garage door regularly to keep it in good working condition. Ensure your door is well-maintained all year round to prevent it from freezing during the winter months. Inspect the entire system, including the hinges, tracks, springs, and rollers, for any signs of damage or wear and tear. These could hinder the proper operation of the door during winter. 

You can even call a professional to examine the door before the cold months arrive if anything looks out of place or damaged.

Ensure the bottom rubber creates a tight seal, not allowing water in.

Open and Close the Door Regularly

While you may be tempted to stay indoors as the temperature outside drops, you must open and close the garage door regularly to avoid any snow or ice buildup around the weather stripping. If your door is already stuck, you can disconnect it from the opener using the manual release cord. You can use a pry bar or metal shovel to break your door free if it is frozen to the ground. 

Sprinkle Sand

Sprinkling and layering sand at your garage door’s base can help prevent it from freezing during winter. While salt could be helpful as well, it can cause severe corrosion if you have a steel door. Place the sand layer where the bottom edge of your garage door is touching the ground. 

Also, layer the sand along crevices and cracks that may exist between the asphalt and concrete sections as well.

Warm Up Your Car Outside the Garage

While warming your car inside your garage is very tempting due to the cold weather outside, avoid doing so. Even when you open the door, the carbon monoxide levels in your car and garage can reach hazardous levels.

In addition, the heat from your car will thaw the ice and snow around your garage door and create a puddle of water. These puddles will quickly refreeze due to the cold temperatures if your garage is not heated or detached.

What to Do If Your Garage Door Freezes?

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, your garage door may freeze. Below are some ways in which you can melt the ice around your door and get it to open again:

Melt the Ice with Hot Water

Most of the time, garage doors freeze due to a buildup of ice along the base of the door. Once the ice melts, you can open and close the door easily. Boiling water can help melt the frozen ice and move the door. Pour boiling water at the base of your door and wait for a few moments. You can try to open the door once the ice melts. Ensure you clean up the melted ice as much as possible to prevent rusting or refreezing. 

You can also raise your garage door slightly from the ground to prevent refreezing.

Apply Direct Force to Free the Door

Sometimes, a minor force can help break the frozen ice and free the door. You can gently kick the door near the bottom. 

However, avoid kicking too hard to prevent denting or damaging the garage door sections.

Use A Hairdryer or Heat Gun to Melt the Ice

Small amounts of heat can help break the ice and release the door open sometimes. A hair dryer or heat gun can help you blow hot air near the frozen door edge and melt the ice. 

However, this method can be time-consuming as the heat generated by the dryer or gun may take a long time to melt the ice. 

Chip Away the Ice

Another way to open a frozen garage door is to chip away the ice along its base. You can use an ice scraper and start chipping the ice from the outside. Ensure you don’t hit the weatherstripping seal at the bottom of the door while chipping.

What Should You Not Do When Unfreezing Your Garage Door

There are certain things you must avoid when unfreezing your garage door to prevent further damage:

  • Don’t melt the ice with a torch
  • Don’t try to use the automatic garage door opener 
  • Don’t pull the door open using a lever
  • Don’t ram the garage door with your car

In addition, many professional garage door technicians state that you should not try to open your garage door repeatedly when it is frozen. Repeatedly opening the door when it is frozen will put a strain on the door motor and burn it out. It will also strip the gears in the lifting mechanism and cause expensive repairs. 

Trying desperately to unfreeze a frozen garage door can cause more damage. If you cannot pry it and open your garage door in a couple of attempts, you can contact a professional garage door repair company.

https://titangaragedoors.ca/ is a garage door company that offers residential and commercial garage door repair and installation services. Our services are available 24/7, and our technicians can help you fix any problem with your garage door.

 

Name, Address, and Phone

Titan Garage Doors, 

Coquitlam BC V3B 0J3, 

604-313-0108

 

Social Account URLs

https://www.facebook.com/titangaragedoorscanada/

https://twitter.com/admindoors

https://www.linkedin.com/in/titan-garage-doors-vancouver-bc-444b1113b/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmsjGvrZOfMR4T20ERH5MFg

https://www.instagram.com/titangaragedoors/?hl=en

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Reviews For Titan Garage Doors Coquitlam

Christopher Jones
Christopher Jones
04:41 09 Feb 20
My old garage door opener failed on Saturday afternoon. I called Titan Garage Doors in Coquitlam and was amazed to... learn that they could have someone available to look at it that day. Technician Adam was at my door shortly after 6:00 pm. An hour and a half later, I had a brand new opener installed, the spring rebalanced, and door joints lubricated. I was very pleased with the prompt and professional service. Titan will be my “go to” for all of my garage door needs going forward.read more
Simon Hardy-Francis
Simon Hardy-Francis
02:08 17 Jan 20
One of our two, relatively new, garage door springs broke after about 5 years. So googled and found Titan Garage Doors... to fix it. They turned up same day within 1.5 hours to fix it. Alex, the technician was a super nice and super skillful guy, and it was obvious he had done the job countless times. He had to work in cramped conditions because the cars were struck in the garage, but he did a great job. The final price for two new springs was C$420 including tax. I'm only taking a star off because the person on the phone initially -- not Alex -- said a different price range; $150 to $250 ish. They must replace pairs of springs all day long... so why not just quote the real prices charged over the phone? Summary: Loved Alex. Hated the phone person in retrospect.read more
Chris M
Chris M
20:37 31 Dec 19
Needed a new spring replacement. I was able to make an appointment same day and the technician was excellent. Great... customer service and stayed true to their estimate that was quoted over the phone. I would use them again.read more
Kevin S
Kevin S
23:07 28 Dec 19
My garage door spring snapped. Called these guys first thing in the morning. When the mechanic arrived 30 minutes... later, I was anticipating getting ridiculous quote like those locksmith scam (paid $260 for 1 minute of job because locksmith knows you are desperate about getting locked out). Later I realized garage door repair isn’t the same as locksmith. I was given a reasonable quote for one hour of labour and it includes the price of the spring. After the mechanic got the door fixed, I was able to pay by credit card and was given a receipt. And on top of that, there is warranty for their repair work. I hope I don’t have to called them any time soon, but if I have to I will. Highly recommended.read more
David Ronald
David Ronald
20:21 14 Dec 19
Customer service phone response was excellent. Service tech , Alex, arrived promptly, surveyed the issue, provided... options , made adjustments and debriefed very professionally. Management of payment was fast and fair. This was an overall excellent experience.read more
Rob C
Rob C
02:54 11 Dec 19
Very prompt service. The technician, Eli, was pleasant, courteous and professional. He assessed the problem that we... were having with our garage door opener, opened the unit up and showed me the parts that had failed. Upon my approval of his price quotation, he went to work replacing the defective/failed part which I was pleased to find out that he carried in his vehicle.Very happy with the experience and highly recommend this technician and the company.read more
Bebe Z
Bebe Z
04:37 10 Dec 19
We're very happy with the service. Dan did a great job fixing our garage door. He also updated all rollers and... installed door seals on the sides and top. Would recommend to anyone who needs their garage door fixed or serviced.read more
Patrick Wright
Patrick Wright
01:49 26 Nov 19
I would NOT recommend this company!We called Titan to come and do a service, maintenance and any necessary repair on... our garage door. The technician showed up, spent maybe 10 minutes at our place, balanced the door, took his $120 bucks and basically that was it. We asked if there was anything else that needed to be done and we were told no.Our installer arrived the next day and we were told that some of the rollers and hinges would need to be replaced prior to the installation of our new garage door opener. We were not told by Titan that any of this needed to be done.Titan returned the next day to give us a quote for the rollers and hinges... They quoted $40 dollars for each hinge, and $15 per roller. We have 12 hinges/rollers! At this rate, we'd be better off buying a whole new door!We had another company come in and replace only what was broken for a fraction of the cost and they did an amazing jobI would not recommend this company, unless you have money to burn and want to overspend!read more
Rennie Durgapershad
Rennie Durgapershad
22:48 02 Nov 19
This was great and most expeditious service. The installer Adam was great and knowledgeable. Impressed with speed of... the service!read more
Chris Adamson
Chris Adamson
18:16 18 Oct 19
I am very happy with the service. Adam from Titan Doors did a great job fixing my garage door. He found the problem... right away (broken spring) and replaced the part quickly which he already had with him. Arrived within half an hour of me calling at 9 in the morning and fixed it all before 11am! Garage opens smoother and quieter than it did before! Thank you!!read more
Keni Casti
Keni Casti
23:38 01 Oct 19
We had Mario respond fast, (within the hour) he was very professional and friendly. He did excellent work and explained... step by step everything that was repaired. Excellent all around.read more
Frances Jans
Frances Jans
18:38 29 Aug 19
Convenient, called last night with a garage door issue, made an appointment for between 8-9am the next morning. Kim and... his team showed promptly within the time frame given, and completed within the hour. I would recommend this company.read more
Sarabjit Sehmi
Sarabjit Sehmi
01:15 29 Aug 19
Excellent service provided today along with the parts supplied. Best people to deal with regarding the repairs of any... garage doors requirements. Called them in an hour and were at my house within the specified time. Recommend this company for any repair needs.read more
Flora Lai
Flora Lai
20:45 26 Aug 19
These guys are great. They worked hard. Polite and nice. It is a good job.
Farid Jamal
Farid Jamal
21:11 04 Jul 19
These guys were great for speed and quality of service . They came in the first part of time window provided, reviewed... the work, provided a quote, which was just as well, as the their dispatcher had provided much lower quotes, I was happy with the quote and recommendations and they proceeded with the job. They were efficient, courteous and clean.. I would not only use them again, but also highly recommend them.read more
Sonia Workman
Sonia Workman
23:11 02 Jul 19
Garage door busted today and Kim was here within an hour and even called to let me know he was running a bit late so I... was waiting around. Was fast, efficient and thorough! Even fixed something else that I didn't notice. Would definitely recommend Kim and his services to anyone that needs any sort of garage door repair!!!!read more
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