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Common Summer Garage Problems (and Top Solutions)

Metal fan mounted on white brick wall inside garage

The modern garage is a wonderful thing, enabling homeowners to exit and enter the house in the comfort and safety of their vehicle without having to worry about rain, snow, extreme cold and who knows what else. But while the garage - and by extension the garage door - has made modern life safer and more convenient, seasonal problems can still arise that need to be dealt with. Below the garage door installation experts at C & M Garage Door take a close look at common summertime garage problems.

The Oven Effect

Anyone with a garage has experienced what it's like to walk into that garage on a summer day. The effect can be striking and even a little scary. You should care about the temperature of your garage for a few reasons.

  • It's just not good for your car to be sitting in extreme heat all the time. Various components, including the tires, paint job, and upholstery, will wear out faster.
  • A garage that's as hot as an oven is a threat to pets. If your dog or cat gets caught in the garage on a hot summer day the consequences could be devastating.
  • A boiling hot garage is going to radiate heat through the walls and ceiling into adjoining spaces making them more difficult (and expensive) to cool down.

Just what is it that allows the garage to get so hot in the summer? It's not actually any one thing. It's typically a combination of factors that feed off each other and generate a kind of temperature vortex that can spiral out of control. Those factors include:

  • A lack of insulation – Insulation not only keeps heat in during the winter it keeps heat out during the summer. A lack of insulation allows heat to radiate through the walls into the garage.
  • Poor ventilation – Heat gets trapped inside a garage because there is nowhere for it to go. In other words, there's no ventilation in the garage.
  • The location of the garage – Location is not only important for retail it also determines how hot your garage will get. If the garage door gets direct sunlight all afternoon the temperature inside is going to spike.
  • Garage door color – If your garage door is a dark color it's going to retain heat from the sun. If it's white a lot of the heat-producing UV light will reflect off of it.

    • Keeping the Garage Cool in the Summer

    Here are some steps you can take to keep your garage cool in the summertime.

    • Leave the garage door open for a few hours to vent the heat – Not everyone will be able to do this for various reasons. But if it's safe to do so, opening the door can prevent heat buildup.
    • Install an exhaust fan – A modest exhaust fan can go a long way toward preventing excess heat buildup inside the garage and it doesn't cost a fortune to install.
    • Park your car outside – The engine of your car is going to be extremely hot when you get home. Leave the car outside the garage for an hour so it can cool off before you put it inside.
    • Install a window in the garage – This will cost more than an exhaust fan but can make a big difference during the summer months.
    • Insulate the garage walls – Upgrading the insulation in the exterior walls will prevent heat transfer during the winter and summer. Better insulation should also reduce your energy bills.

    What About the Effect of Summer on the Garage Door?

    When it comes to the garage, summer weather in Loveland isn't just bad for your tires and car upholstery, it can also have a detrimental effect on your garage door. Here are a few ways the summer can be bad for your overhead door.

    Extreme heat can affect the components of the garage door opener

    The garage door opener is a complex electronic device and electronics are notoriously sensitive to heat. In the case of the opener extreme heat can negatively affect the opener's wiring and sensors, causing it to malfunction.

    Summer sun can cause problems with the garage door safety system

    Every modern garage door has a safety system comprised of a beam of light that passes across the door opening and hits a sensor on the other side. If anything interrupts that beam while the door is closing it reverses, returning to a fully open position. The thing is, direct sunlight on those sensors can cause the safety system to malfunction.

    Humidity can affect the door's performance

    In the past couple of years, summertime humidity has hit record highs in Colorado. All that humidity not only causes homeowners to run their air conditioners more often to keep things livable but it can also take a toll on garage door performance. If you have a stuck garage door it might be an obstruction in the track or an alignment problem. Then again it might be high humidity causing the door to stick.

    Violent thunderstorms can damage a door

    The weather in this part of the country can hit a variety of extremes: extreme heat, extreme cold, blizzards, tornadoes, dust storms, and violent thunderstorms during the summer. Lighting strikes during a thunderstorm can send a power surge through the lines that burn out your opener, while high winds can send debris flying everywhere, damaging the panels and windows of your door.

    UV rays can bleach out the door

    Ultraviolet rays from the sun are extremely powerful. During the summer when the sun is high in the sky, those rays shine directly down for protracted periods of time bleaching out furniture and rugs near windows in the house, and bleaching out the color of your garage door.

    How to Deal With These Potential Problems

    • Prevent the accumulation of extreme heat inside the garage by following the tips we provided above.
    • Relocate the electronic eyes of the door safety system so that they are not hit by direct sunlight at any time of the day.
    • Reduce the humidity levels in your garage by using a portable dehumidifier, or two if need be.
    • Use a surge protector to prevent your garage door motor from power surges. They're cheap and easy to install.
    • If your door panels look bleached out have them painted before they start affecting the curb appeal of your home.

    Putting these simple tips into practice can help reduce the number of times you need to call for garage door repair, while at the same time making your garage a safer and more comfortable place for everyone that uses it. And don't forget: reducing the temperature in your garage can also have the effect of lowering your air conditioning bills during the summer, as heat from the garage won't be radiating into the rest of the house.

    Call C & M For Expert Garage Door Installation in Loveland

    The summer months can be particularly hard on garage doors as the heat spirals upward, violent storms rule the skies and humidity compromises the door's performance. Fortunately, there are some pretty simple steps you can take to neutralize these and other threats to your garage door and ensure its continued safe operation. For expert garage door repair or installation call C & M today at (970) 663-7335.

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