Without a track, your sliding driveway gate wouldn’t be able to function properly, let alone be stable. Staying on top of all gate track maintenance and repairs is important to keep your sliding driveway gate operational. Whether you’re thinking of installing a sliding driveway gate or already have one, how you take care of it can mean the difference between easily traveling to and from your home or getting stuck outside, waiting for help. Avoid this potential outcome by checking out these five sliding gate track maintenance and repair tips.
5 Sliding Gate Track Maintenance And Repair Tips
The following sliding gate track maintenance and repair tips will surely help you keep your driveway gate in shape. Keep reading to learn all about those tips.
1. Inspect The Gate
The first tip for gate track maintenance and repair is to take time to inspect your gates at least every two or three months. Specifically, you should inspect your gate track for any signs of dents, rust, or debris. If there are dents and rust, call a gate technician to take care of them. If there’s debris, you can easily solve this problem on your own.
2. Clean The Gate Tracks
This next gate track maintenance and repair tip is the most DIY-friendly of all since you just have to clean the gate track. There are multiple ways to approach cleaning your gate tracks. You can spray away the dirt and debris with a hose or use brushes or other tools to scrape it away. If you live in an extremely cold area in winter, make sure to deice the tracks so they don’t cause your gates to be misaligned or damaged.
3. Lubricate The Tracks
Another DIY-friendly sliding gate track maintenance and repair tip is lubrication. Like garage door parts, your gate track also needs lubricant to operate. Before lubricating the gate tracks, take time to degrease the original lubricant. After degreasing, apply a new layer of lubrication. Experts advise against using WD-40 and recommend a spray-on white lithium grease. WD-40 is likely to attract debris and trap it against the tracks, making it a less-than-ideal choice for a gate track lubricant.
4. Keep Tracks Level
If the soil beneath your gates has shifted, the balance of your gates might be thrown off. Periodically, ensure that your gate tracks are level. Unbalanced gate tracks can scrape against your gates, causing serious damage and leading to plenty of other possible operational issues. Luckily, your gate tracks can be rebalanced with help from a gate technician.
5. Realign Tracks
Whether in your garage door or your sliding driveway gates, tracks can easily be misaligned. To know whether or not your gates are misaligned, pay close attention to how they move. This misalignment can take the form of tracks moving side-to-side, making jerky movements, or being crooked. Neglecting to realign your gate tracks can result in severe damage. The moment you notice something amiss with the ways your gate operates, seek help from a gate technician.
Gates Repair Houston Maintains And Repairs Tracks!
Hopefully, you’ll be able to keep your gates operational with these sliding gate track maintenance and repair tips. Aside from the tips mentioned above, don’t forget to ensure that all the screws and bolts are tightened as needed and see if the wheels are worn out. If so, get the wheels replaced as soon as possible. Even with all these tips, you still want to have a reliable gate repair service on hand to handle bigger challenges. If you’re looking for the best gate technicians in Texas to do the job, contact us today at Gates Repair Houston.