Dealing With Doors

When you’re done with spreading the coating, you’ll spend a few minutes sealing any open cans, and doing general clean up.  But then there’s really not much to do as you wait for the coating to cure.  When you’re not there you don’t want neighbors, kids, cats, dogs and other critters to walk on the still wet floor and ruin that perfect finish, so it’s a good idea to close the door and keep the floor off limits.  This can be a problem if the area underneath the garage door has also been coated. You need to close the door, but not quite all the way.

• If you have a roll up sectional garage or a tilt up garage door with tracks here are a few easy ways to deal with the garage door. Try these before you start to coat the floor.

• Be sure to check for clearance and operation before you start to coat the floor! When there’s a wet coating is a bad time to find out if door stops at the right point!

• If you have an electric opener you will need to unplug the door opener and disconnect the door trolley from the track and operate in manual or power outage mode, check your opener owner’s manual for specific instructions.

• After the door is disconnected from the opening mechanism, place a small piece of wood about an inch thick on the floor where the door closes. Then manually close the door until it rests on the piece of wood.

• Next take a pair of Vice-grips or a C-clamp and clamp the track just ahead of the trolley.  If you have a screw drive system, no not clamp onto the screw.  You can now open the door and remove the block.  After you’ve coated the floor slowly close the door and it will stop before it touches the coating.

• If you have a manual tilt up door, with the block in place, try clamping a c-clamp on the top rail of the door, it should provide a large enough gap as it rests against the door opening header.

• If you have a sectional manual roll-up, try clamping the rail right underneath a wheel.

• Thoroughly vacuum / clean between all door segments and any tracks as part of your final clean before coatings application. These areas collect debris which you do not want to have falling into your fresh coatings!

Make certain all clamps and tools are firmly attached and will not shake or vibrate loose.  After you remove clamps carefully check the operation of the door and automatic opener to be sure that all safety features are functioning properly.  See your garage door owner’s manual for details!

Doors, hardware, and other factors are unique and subject to change. Therefore, these tips and suggestions are for reference only.  We cannot warranty suitability and/or results. Check to make certain this information applies to your situation and use your best judgment. Always employ safe operating procedures and wear appropriate safety gear.