Tips To Help You Restore The Hardware On Your Old Garage Door

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When your home's garage has survived nearly a century or more, it deserves to be restored and its history saved. Restoring your garage to its former glory can also preserve the quality materials and workmanship in its built-to-last design. Here are tips you can use to help you restore the garage door's hardware while renovating your old garage door.

Disassemble Door Hardware and Clean Rollers

The first step to restoring your garage door is to remove it from its roller tracks and disassemble all the hardware. The rollers can become clogged with old grease and dirt and the hardware can become covered in several layers of paint or rust, so each piece will need to be cleaned. 

First, clean and degrease the garage door rollers. Spray a degreaser all over the surface of each roller, making sure to let the degreaser get into all moving parts. Wipe off the degreaser and old grease with a cloth until all the rollers are free of oil and dirt. Next, spray white lithium grease onto each of the rollers, making sure it gets into all moving parts.

Remove Paint From the Hardware

One of the easiest ways to clean off hardware is by soaking them in a crock pot full of water overnight. Place them in the crock pot, cover them with water, turn it on, and let it simmer. You may need several crock pots to fit all your hinges and brackets. Make sure to use a crock pot that will no longer be used for cooking food, because lead from the old paint can leach into the crock pot's cooking surface, making it dangerous for cooking food. The next day, use a wire brush to clean the paint layers from the metal hardware. The paint should peel and lift off the metal hardware after soaking. 

For cleaning paint and rust from off larger hardware or garage door rails, you will need to use metal paint stripper. Using a brush while wearing gloves and a long-sleeved shirt, paint a thick layer of metal paint stripper onto the surface of the paint. Once the paint stripper begins to bubble, use steel wool to wipe the paint away. Then, you can use a paint brush and lacquer thinner to wipe the hardware pieces clean. Allow the surface of the hardware to dry, then brush off any remaining flakes of paint or debris with a metal brush, scraper, or sandpaper. The primer and paint won't adhere properly if there are any old paint particles remaining.

Prime the Hardware

After all the paint has been removed from the hardware, you need to prime any ferrous metal surfaces with red oxide primer. Red oxide primer protects your layer of ferrous metals from corrosion and rust due to moisture. If you are not sure if the metal is ferrous, or contains iron, test to see if it attracts a magnet. If the magnet sticks to the metal, it is ferrous and will need oxide primer. Also, if the surface of your hardware already contains spots of rust, the primer will coat and stop the rust from further corroding the hardware. 

Make sure you apply two coats of primer, making sure the primer is dry to the touch before applying the second coat. This can take up to two hours, depending on the humidity in your work area and the type of oxide primer you are using. Also, make sure you are working in a well-ventilated area, such as outside. If you are going to be painting an overcoat over the primer, such as hammer paint, make sure both coats of primer are completely cured, which can take between 16 and 24 hours.

Use these tips to help you clean and restore any old garage door hardware to help preserve the history of your old garage. If you need assistance, contact a company like Jayton Door Corporation.

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2 November 2015