How to Adjust a Roll-Up Door

Proper and continuous maintenance of overhead roll-up doors is very crucial given the fact that our facility houses over 1,000 storage lockers.  With that many lockers, maintenance of doors becomes a daily routine in order to maintain and provide a user friendly storage complex for our clientele.

With this article I hope to provide some insight into the proper procedure of maintaining overhead doors.  Even though storage locker doors within a storage facility are not the same as residential garage doors, the procedure for adjustment is similar.  The following is a basic procedure for overhead door adjustment, allowing and providing a long serving overhead roll-up door.

1)      Assure that the vertical tracks are plumb, and parallel.  Distance between the tracks must be within manufacturers’ tolerances.  Our particular doors allow for ¼” to ¾ “ total play or movement of the door within the tracks.  If the tracks are farther apart or closer together than the manufacturers’ specified tolerance, then loosen the connecting bolts that attach the tracks to the wall and adjust accordingly, maintaining all tracks plumb and parallel.

2)      Unlike standard overhead doors, self storage roll-up doors do not have rollers, and consequently do not require lubrication.  They do however have plastic guides on the tracks that protect the door within the steel track.  These protective guides must be inspected for wear, and replaced as required to maintain a smooth sliding guide for the door.

3)      Over time the spring of the roll-up door have a tendency to weaken with use and temperature fluctuations, making it harder and more difficult to open the door.  The spring should facilitate the opening of the door, and when properly adjusted should hold the door halfway in the open position.  If the doors are difficult to open, then the spring requires an increase in tension.  The method of spring adjustment varies with door manufacturer, and can be dangerous if attempted by an inexperienced installer.  For this reason, consult the manufacturers’ manual for proper door adjustment, or if not experienced in this task, call a professional door installer.

4)      Proper lubrication of locking hardware, and axle bearings is the final step in extending the life span of a roll-up door.  We use high quality bearing grease and lube to lubricate all moving points.  Lubrication makes for a quiet and easy door operation, and extends the life span of the door immensely.