Fort Collins winters wreck unprepared garage doors. Here's the exact 20-minute checklist we give homeowners every fall — seals, lube, balance, and more.
Cold snaps in NoCo turn small garage door issues into $500 repairs overnight. Here's the 20-minute fall checklist that prevents most of them.
Fort Collins, Loveland, and Windsor all see overnight temperature swings of 40–50°F in October and November. That's brutal on garage doors — springs contract, grease thickens, weather seals stiffen, and any weakness in the system shows up fast. Every fall we get a wave of emergency calls that could have been avoided with a 20-minute checklist. Here it is.
1. Replace the bottom weather seal (the rubber U-shape along the bottom of the door). If it's cracked, flattened, or letting light through, replace it. A $25 seal keeps mice, snow, and 20°F wind out of your garage — and keeps the concrete floor from cracking when meltwater refreezes under the door.
2. Check the side and top weatherstripping. The flexible vinyl strips along the door jamb dry out and split in Colorado sun. If yours is brittle, replace it now before it snaps off in a January windstorm.