Garage Doors in Winter Lock Frozen? Stiff Mechanisms? Here’s What To Do

Sometimes everything seems to go wrong at once, like when a garage door won’t open. The cold, snow, and precipitation can cause problems for mechanisms that sit outside. However, winter door problems can be preventable, and dealing with them can be simple if you know what to look for.

Locks Freezing Shut

Locks that sit in cold, moist, and damp air can freeze stiff, which can create problems when you are trying to open your lock. The last thing you want to do is attempt to force a key into a frozen lock, because keys can break when you do that, which only increases the number of problems you are likely to create.

One solution to a frozen lock is to use a specially designed lock de-icer, which you might want to keep in the house near the garage, and not in the garage. iv. It is a good idea to keep a hand warmer in your coat pocket if you are going to be outside.

To help prevent this from happening, it’s a good idea to put a small amount of dry graphite lubricant in the lock at the start of autumn. This product won’t gum up like oil-based lubes, and it allows the mechanism to function even when the temperature gets really low.

The door freezes to the ground

This is more common than you’d expect, especially when the bottom of the door sits really close to a concrete or tarmac floor. Overnight moisture can freeze and seal the door to the floor. Forcing it to open — either using the motor or by hand — can result in tearing the bottom rubber seal, damaging the door panels, or straining the motor mechanism.

Instead, pour some lukewarm water at the bottom of the door. Don’t get it boiling hot, as the cold concrete won’t like it, but just warm enough to melt the ice. After a minute, try again. Once it is free check the rubber seal at the bottom, as a damaged seal lets in more water, meaning you will have the same problem when it gets cold next.

Everything seems slower and more stiff than before

The cold can creates a thicker consistency in the lubricant, and the metal contracts. A door that opens and closes easily in July may begin to slow down in December. If your door seems to be working harder than before, or if you have to give the door a big shove, try giving the tracks and rollers some attention first.

If you applied a good garage door lubricant to the tracks, springs, hinges, and rollers, your door should be good to go. If you can spend ten minutes now cleaning it, you will save yourself a ton of work in February.

Cold weather does not work well with remotes

When the weather becomes cold, remote controls will not work as well. If the battery is fully functional, the remote will become useless. Just make sure to change the battery when it does not work so you do not have to stand in your driveway at 7 a.m. to try to get it to work.

With just a little prep in October — some lubricant on the mechanism, a new battery in the remote, a quick touch on the door seal — you should sail through winter without any issues. It’s one of the jobs that takes very little time, but is very annoying to have missed.