What Road Salt Does to a Garage Door in Upstate New York

Upstate New York salts its roads harder than almost anywhere in the country, and it has to. The problem is that the salt does not stay on the road.

How it gets to your door

Brine and salt spray coat the underside of your car. You pull into the garage, the car warms slightly, and the mixture drips onto the floor directly beneath the door track. Some of it splashes. Some of it becomes airborne as the water evaporates and settles on everything in the garage.

The hardware sitting closest to that floor is exactly the hardware that matters most: the bottom brackets, the lower rollers, the cable ends, and the bottom section of the door itself.

What corrosion actually does

Rust on a garage door is not just cosmetic. Three things happen:

• Springs develop a weak point. A spring corroded in one spot fails there rather than wearing evenly across its length. That is why a corroded spring often breaks well before its rated cycle count.
• Rollers seize. A roller that will not turn drags along the track instead of rolling. That puts sideways load on the hinges and is a common cause of a door coming off its track.
• Cable ends fray. The cable is under constant tension. Corrosion at the drum or the bottom bracket is where cables snap.

What actually helps

• Rinse the bottom of the door in a thaw. Any mild day above freezing, take a hose to the bottom two feet and the track. Ten minutes, twice a winter.
• Keep the floor under the door clear. Squeegee the meltwater out rather than letting it evaporate and leave the salt behind.
• Lubricate before winter, not during. A proper garage door lubricant on the springs, rollers and hinges leaves a film that salt cannot easily reach. Do it in October.
• Do not use WD-40 on springs. It is a solvent, not a lubricant. It strips the protective coating and makes the problem worse.

When corrosion has gone too far

If the bottom section is bubbling or flaking, if a cable shows any broken strands, or if a roller will not turn by hand, those are replacement items, not maintenance items. Call (646) 960-8060 for a free look.