Mentor stretches from the Lake Erie shoreline near Headlands Beach inland toward Kirtland, with Willoughby to the west and Painesville to the east. Most of the city grew up as a suburb in the second half of the twentieth century, so a large share of homes have attached two-car garages.
Two things set the garage door picture here: lake-effect snow, and a generation of original doors and openers that have simply worn out with age.
Living with lake-effect snow
Lake County sits in Ohio's snowbelt, where cold air crossing Lake Erie can drop heavy, localized snow. For a garage door, that means snow and ice piled against the bottom, meltwater refreezing on the slab, and plow ridges at the end of the driveway that get pushed back toward the door.
When a bottom seal freezes to the concrete, the opener may strain, stop or tear the rubber loose. Shovel snow off the face of the door once a storm ends, keep a bag of concrete-safe ice melt on hand, and free a frozen seal by hand before pressing the button.
- Keep a strip in front of the door shoveled down to the pavement.
- Wipe a silicone spray along the rubber seal before winter to reduce sticking.
- If the door will not budge, do not keep cycling the opener.
Original doors from the suburban boom years
Many Mentor houses still have doors and openers from the 1970s through the 1990s. Those doors were often thin, uninsulated steel or hardboard panels, and the openers may predate today's photo-eye safety requirements. Their springs may have been replaced once or twice, if at all.
If your door is that age, a replacement can improve safety, noise, insulation and curb appeal in one job. If the door itself is in good shape, a new opener with safety sensors and battery backup is a sensible first step.
Insulation for the room over the garage
A lot of suburban homes have a bedroom or bonus room above or beside the garage. In a snowbelt winter, an uninsulated door turns the garage into a cold box that chills those rooms. Insulated doors, particularly those with injected polyurethane foam, add rigidity and help the garage hold onto warmth.
Insulation only pays off when the seals are good too. Replace the bottom seal and the vinyl weatherstrip along the sides and top at the same time, so cold air does not simply flow around the new door.
A snowbelt maintenance calendar
Timing matters in a place with long winters and short shoulder seasons.
- September or October: lubricate hinges and roller bearings, and replace a bottom seal that has split or flattened before the first freeze.
- November: check the opener's battery backup and test auto-reverse.
- During winter: hose salt slush off the bottom section whenever a thaw makes it practical.
- April: inspect cables and bottom brackets for rust after the salt season.
Last updated by the American Garage Door Team.