Monthly walk — 15 minutes per door

  • Look at the bottom section for impact dents and check the bottom astragal seal for tears
  • Run the door fully open and fully closed once — listen for new noises and watch the cables track evenly on both sides
  • Check both lift cables at the bottom bracket for fraying — a single broken strand is a replace, not a wait-and-see
  • Inspect each roller stem for visible wobble or play; replace any roller that wobbles in the track
  • Test the safety reverse with a 2x4 on the threshold — should reverse instantly
  • Wipe the photo-eye lenses on both sides of the opening
  • Lubricate hinge pivots and spring coils with garage-door-rated lubricant — never WD-40

Quarterly service — 60 minutes per door

  • Manual balance test — disconnect opener, walk the door up by hand; should float at midpoint
  • Spring inspection — measure coil gap, look for cracking near the cones, check turn count vs install spec
  • Cable swap interval check — replace any cable showing surface corrosion or stranding
  • Track alignment — straight edge along each vertical track; flag any deflection at impact points
  • Hinge bolt torque pass — every hinge, every section
  • Track bracket lag check — re-torque all lag bolts into the jamb
  • Opener gear, sprocket, and chain inspection — chain tension to spec, gear teeth for wear
  • Safety sensor alignment and bracket re-tighten
  • Weather seal full perimeter inspection — bottom astragal, side seals, header seal
  • Dock leveler interface — confirm the bottom seal engages the leveler lip without binding

Annual — full PM

  • Replace bottom weather seal regardless of visible wear
  • Replace lift cables on doors over 5 years old or any door past warranty cycle count
  • Replace any roller older than 5 years on a high-cycle door
  • Full spring replacement on any door at or past 80% of its rated cycle life
  • Document the work in the customer log so the next service interval is informed

What kills dock doors faster than anything else

  1. Backing trailers into a partially open door — bent top sections that never fully recover
  2. Forklift contact with the bottom section — driver visibility issue, fix the safety procedure first, the door second
  3. Running the opener with one cable already broken — the door racks and takes the track with it
  4. Ignoring the safety reverse — the door eventually closes on freight and bends a section
  5. Painting over weather seals — the seals harden, crack, and let conditioned air leak

Local context — North Dallas warehouses

Dallas-area summer ambient temperatures inside un-conditioned warehouse bays routinely hit 110–115°F. That heat dries out roller lubrication and bottom weather seal faster than most national PM schedules account for. Customers in Carrollton, Lewisville, Plano, and South Dallas distribution corridors generally need lubrication and weather seal checks every 60–90 days through July, August, and September — versus a quarterly cadence the rest of the year.

When to call instead of fix

  • Any visible cable damage
  • Any spring with a coil gap
  • Door that does not balance on the manual release
  • Track deflection that you can see with a straight edge
  • Opener that strains, chatters, or smells burnt

For commercial overhead-door service across the DFW area, we run a scheduled-PM model for warehouse and distribution accounts.