The Importance Of Winter Maintenance For Your Industrial Doors
The extreme weather of winter can take its toll on your industrial doors. Winter can affect the functionality and even the longevity of your doors, resulting in costly repairs. In some cases, it can even cause disruptions to your business that could have an impact on your ability to run your business effectively - or at all.
With the right maintenance program in place, you can prepare your industrial doors well in advance to stop many issues from occurring. From inspecting and then lubricating door components to making sure there are no issues with sticking or freezing parts, making your industrial door maintenance a regular occurrence will help to keep everything working.
Put a maintenance plan in place
It is never too late to organise and implement a maintenance plan for your industrial doors, and it shouldn’t just cover the winter. Preventative maintenance is an all-year-round task. It can be a good idea to get a company who specialise in industrial doors to do the maintenance. They will have the expertise and knowledge to know exactly what needs to be done. Plus, they can spot small issues before they become big problems.
What should your plan include?
A good maintenance plan will include:
Inspecting and lubricating all moving parts
Cold weather can result in the components of your door contracting and this will lead to an increase in friction and potential damage. All parts should be inspected for dents and obstructions, and these should be addressed before the door is lubricated
Ensuring there is adequate insulation
This is key to the prevention of heat loss and will ensure that you provide a comfortable working environment throughout the winter. As part of this, it is also important to seal any gaps and cracks in the door and frame. These can stop your warehouse from maintaining temperature.
Inspecting weatherstripping
It is also important to look for any tearing or damage in the weather stripping around your doors as this can also lead to heat loss and poor energy efficiency. Once you have inspected it you should also clean it. This will ensure that there is nothing that is preventing it from maintaining a tight seal.
Other things to consider
In addition to a regular maintenance plan, it is also important to remember that snow and ice accumulation may pose a threat to the functionality of your industrial doors. When your doors freeze, or stick shut, this can lead to downtime, which will reduce your productivity and may also cause damage to the doors themselves. In order to prevent these types of problems it is important to make sure that freezing and sticking doors are addressed quickly.
This will ensure that you have full access throughout the winter. This does not need to be part of your routine maintenance. However, it is something that you should check on a regular basis during the colder weather.
Any snow that is piled up around your industrial doors should be removed as quickly as possible. This will help prevent the buildup of ice whilst giving you easy access to your buildings. Appropriate de-icing agents can be used to melt any ice that has formed in the tracks or on the doors themselves. If you are not sure what de-icing agents are safe for use with your particular industrial doors it is important to check. You could check with the company that provides you with your routine maintenance or your door supplier.
Keeping your doors properly maintained throughout the winter will help to keep your business running smoothly and with minimum disruption. It will also be a more comfortable place to work.
