For business owners, having functional overhead doors is an integral part of their operations all year long. What happens when it’s the middle of winter and your commercial doors are suddenly frozen shut and inoperable?
Unfortunately, thousands of businesses face situations like this year after year.
What makes the situation even more complicated, is that most people don’t know how to solve the problem. Thankfully, the expert crew at Authority Dock & Door is here to help! We’ve got the top-notch advice you need to help you repair a frozen overhead door quickly and easily.
5 Tips & Tricks for Repairing Frozen Overhead Doors
If you can’t open your commercial overhead doors from the inside or outside and you notice a build-up of ice along the ground, there’s a good chance your door has frozen over. Use these five tips to try and remedy the problem:
Tip #1: Look for Physical Damage
Before you start working on trying to unfreeze your overhead doors, it’s crucial to look for other signs of damage. If you notice broken or missing parts, don’t do anything else. Contact a trusted overhead door company, like Authority Dock & Door, to evaluate the problem.
Tip #2: Try to Open the Door Manually
If your electric door opener isn’t working, try giving the manual lever a try. Sometimes if you can jostle the door manually, the ice and frost will break up enough to loosen the door from its frozen position.
Tip #3: Poor Warm to Boiling Water Along the Edge of the Door
In cases where the manual lever isn’t helping, you’ll need to try and melt some of the ice. Slowly pour hot water along the seal of the door to eliminate ice and frost. If you have one, you can also use heat guns or blowers to do this.
Tip #4: Chip Away at the Ice
After trying to melt down the ice, you can use an ice scraper or other devices to chip away at any remaining iciness to free open your overhead doors.
Tip #5: Try to Leave Your Doors Open for a Little While
If you’ve used water to melt down the frost and ice along your door tracks, there’s a good chance it will quickly start to freeze in frigid temperatures. If the overhead door is lowered into the water too soon, it will end up freezing closed again. Try to leave your commercial doors open a small amount until the water can freeze.
Prevent Commercial Doors from Freezing
Now that you have a handle on repairing frozen overhead doors, it’s time to put a stop to them freezing in the first place. Try these tips to keep your commercial doors running smoothly all winter long:
- Clear the Tract on a Regular Basis
- Sprinkle Table Salt Along the Door Seal
- Replace the Weather Seal and Keep it Lubricated
- Install a Garage Door Heater
- Schedule Regular Commercial Door Maintenance
Maintain Your Overhead Doors All Winter Long
Don’t let the thought of keeping your overhead doors working the right way stress you out. At Authority Dock & Door, our professional team of commercial door specialists are here to assist you every step of the way.
If you’re concerned about frozen overhead doors during the harsh winter months, our crew is here to help you fix the problem quickly and efficiently.
