Denver is one of the toughest climates for mechanical items in the country. We are at 5280 feet, get on average over 300 days of sunshine per year, have huge temperature swings between night and day (often 40-50 degree swings), get a lot of snow, and are right in the middle of one of the most active hail corridors in North America.
Here’s what happens to the individual components of your garage door system and how we at Smart Garage Door can help extend your door’s life in the extreme climate of Denver.
Temperature Swings and Metal Fatigue
Denver’s wild temperature swings affect garage door longevity more than any other aspect of the climate here. You can wake up to a 28° spring morning and have it warm up to 72° by afternoon. This kind of wild temperature swinging causes every metal component of the garage door system to expand and contract.
Spring performance is negatively impacted by the high number of temperature swings in the Denver area. The spring’s steel is a metal and as such is subject to metal fatigue. Repeated contraction and expansion of the spring’s steel over the years causes the crystalline structure of the metal to weaken. This weakening will eventually cause the spring to fail. Because of this factor, springs in the Denver area tend to wear out before their rated cycle life. For example, a spring rated for 10,000 cycles would last approximately 7 to 8 years in mild climate but only 5 to 6 years in the Denver climate.
The steel tracks also go through a lot of expansion and contraction, which can cause them to become slightly out of alignment over time. And the bolts and fasteners throughout the system also can loosen up a bit as the temperature goes up and down.
Schedule a garage door tune-up each fall before extreme weather hits. Check the spring for proper tension. Lubricate moving parts. And, make sure all of the garage door hardware is tightened. That is the single biggest thing that homeowners can do to extend the life of a garage door.
UV Exposure at High Altitude
As previously mentioned, UV radiation is a huge component to weather here in Colorado and specifically in the Denver area. Because we are at a high elevation of 5,280 feet above sea level, the UV here is intensified due to the air being so thin. Even on partly cloudy days, the UV here is strong. But what’s worse is that as we climb in elevation, the UV increases even more so with every thousand feet of elevation. For example, at 7,000 feet, the UV is 41% stronger than at sea level. With over 300 days of sunshine per year here in Denver, this is a huge concern for any garage door that is painted or has a finish on it.
U.V. exposure on painted steel garage doors causes the color to fade and the painted surface to chalk or wear off prematurely. The finish that is applied at the factory to protect the steel from corrosion also wears off prematurely in high UV environments. Once the finish has worn off, the bare steel is subject to rust.
In terms of wood garage doors the most significant effect that weathering has on them is that of drying out of the wood, particularly on Front Range structures in low humidity. In a typical coastal structure in a humid climate the wood garage doors will last decades but in low humidity environments such as those found on the Front Range the same wood door would need refinishing every few years to keep it looking good and to keep it from suffering structural problems due to the drying out and subsequent cracking and checking of the wood.
Choose a garage door with a finish rated for UV exposure in very sunny climates. Periodically inspect the finish on painted steel doors and apply a protective sealer or a fresh coat of touch-up paint when the finish starts to fade or chalk. Wood garage doors require regular refinishing. This typically needs to be done every 2-3 years in Denver’s environment to keep the door looking its best and to maintain its integrity.
Hail Damage
The Denver Front Range is one of the most active hail regions in the country. Each year, Colorado is ranked in the top five states for hail claims. A single severe hail event is all it takes to dent or even break garage door panels that are not protected from structural damage.
These kinds of garage doors can get a lot of dents from hail. Typically a garage door with a single layer of steel is more prone to receiving a lot of dents from hail than a garage door that has more than one layer of steel or other reinforcement.
Some Garage Doors are Much Better at Withstanding Hail than Others. Look for a Garage Door with thicker Steel and Polyurethane Foam Insulation bonded to the back of the Steel. This type of Garage Door will resist the impacts of hail much better than a Single Layer Steel Door.
Replacing a garage door with a single layer of steel will not provide the protection you need. Doors made with 24-gauge steel and filled with polyurethane-foam insulation are far better at withstanding hail damage than single-layer steel doors. If a severe hail event does occur, be sure to check your garage doors for any dents or damage, even if the door appears to be functioning normally.
Snow and Ice
While Denver does get a fair amount of snow, (57″ per year on average) The Front Range gets a variety of different types of snow pack, and they don’t typically stay around long. A heavy wet snow fall in Denver can be followed a few days later by a warm spell which causes the remaining snow pack to turn to mud and create all sorts of problems around the exterior of buildings. This type of weather can create a heavy wet snow covered garage, followed by a warm rain, and then a freeze, all in the span of a week or two. In addition, this kind of weather can cause a garage to become a muddy mess.
The heavy snowfall of Denver can put a large amount of weight on your garage door. Thankfully, modern sectional garage doors are designed to withstand this kind of load. Where the snow can cause a problem is at the base of the door, where it meets the floor of the garage. Large amounts of wet snow can melt during the day and then refreeze at night, eventually forming a large ice chunk that can seal the bottom of the door to the floor of the garage. This can prevent the door from opening in the morning.
Ice in the track: As water enters the track system it will freeze in cold weather. This will prevent the door from opening and in extreme cases the ice can cause enough pressure to crack a roller or even split the track.
Make sure to grease the bottom seal of your garage door prior to winter. This will allow the seal to repel water and prevent it from freezing to the concrete floor. Keep the area immediately in front of your garage door free of snow so that any melt water will not collect and then freeze. When you do grease your garage door tracks in the winter, use a lubricant rated for cold temperatures. Standard lubricants can thicken up in cold temperatures and actually cause more problems than they fix.
Wind
Colorado’s wind events can be severe, particularly along the Front Range foothills where chinook winds descend from the mountains and can reach extremely high speeds. The Denver metro area regularly experiences high wind advisories, and garage doors on properties with western or southern exposures face direct wind loading during these events.
An un-reinforced garage door can flex, panels can come loose from the frame, and in extreme cases, a garage door can even be pushed into the garage or come flying out of the garage. This type of damage can be catastrophic and is usually covered by insurance, so it is worth making sure your door is ready for high wind events.
To protect garage doors from wind, look for doors that have been rated for wind loads. Some doors have wind load reinforcement, such as horizontal struts between sections of the door that stiffen the door to handle wind pressure laterally. Also, make sure that all the door’s moving parts and all of the fasteners are tightened annually.
Dry Air and Low Humidity
The dry air in Colorado greatly affects weatherstripping and rubber seals on garage doors. Because these items are made of rubber, weatherstripping and rubber seals dry out and crack in low humidity. In extreme cases, the rubber may even crumble as it tries to bend. This causes big problems by allowing cold air, moisture and even pests to enter your garage.
The rubber seals and weatherstripping also can become brittle, crack, and even crumble. So it is not good to put them in low humidity air.
Because many garage doors and their components are made of wood, this element is also sensitive to the dry air and low humidity. It can cause wood to dry out, shrink and create cracks and splits in wooden parts and the frame. It can also cause doors made of wood to warp, leading to failure and require costly repair. To prevent this from happening, we recommend that customers with wooden components treat them treated regularly with wood conditioner or a penetrating oil finish.
Inspection and replacement of weatherstripping as needed. Application of wood conditioner or penetrating oil finish to all wood components to assist in maintaining moisture in the wood.
The Colorado Maintenance Schedule
Below is what we recommend for annual maintenance on your garage door to keep it running safely throughout the year.
Fall (Before Winter): For those with garages that they park their cars in during the winter perform a full service on your door(s) including lubricating all moving parts, check and tighten all hardware, check the spring tension and adjust as necessary, inspect and replace weatherstripping as needed and finally inspect the bottom seal for any wear and replace as needed.
After Winter: Inspection for Spring – Spring is a good time to inspect the door finish for signs of UV degradation. The winter season can also bring hail storms that can cause considerable damage to garage doors. Inspect for signs of hail damage and clean out the tracks of any winter time salt and debris. Also give all of the moving parts a good lubrication.
Year-Round Maintenance: Remove debris from around door(s), Inspect bottom seal of door(s) for wear before it deteriorates completely, Address any Unusual Operation or Noise immediately (before a complete failure occurs).
Smart Garage Door Service offers garage door maintenance for residents throughout the Denver Metro region. Our technicians have years of experience with garage doors and understand what type of weathering a garage door in the Colorado climate goes through.
