Flood season preparation for the garage and door

Flood season guide

Why the garage is often the first place water arrives

A garage sits at the edge of the house, usually at the lowest point, with a wide opening to the driveway. In heavy rain, water that collects on the pavement pushes against the bottom seal, finds gaps at the corners and creeps under the door. In the Houston area, where downpours can be intense and drainage can be slow, that makes the garage a natural place to prepare before the season begins.

The door is part of that preparation. A bottom seal that is cracked, a threshold that has settled or a track base that is rusty can all let in more water than you expect. What follows the water matters too. Dampness affects stored items, the opener, the wiring and the metal parts of the door, and the effects may not show up until days later.

This guide is general advice for homeowners, not a flood plan for any particular street or building. Conditions vary by property, and you should ask your city, your insurer and your community about local flood information and requirements. What you can do here is reduce what a wet garage costs you, and avoid unsafe moves when water has been around electrical equipment.

Raise and reorganize what you store

The simplest preparation is also one of the most effective: get things off the floor. Boxes of paper, cardboard, holiday decorations, tools with wooden handles and anything that soaks up water should live on sturdy shelving, not directly on concrete. Raise items high enough that a shallow flow of water would pass beneath them. Heavy shelves should be anchored so that they do not tip when a shelf is loaded.

Think about what is hard to replace. Photographs, documents, medicine, paint and chemicals deserve special care. Keep documents in sealed plastic containers on upper shelves, or better still inside the house. Store paint, fuel and cleaning products tightly closed and well above the floor, away from the door and away from any ignition source. If the garage floods, those items can spread and cause problems beyond the water itself.

Leave a clear path to the door and the opener. Stacked boxes against the wall near the tracks can trap moisture against metal and make later inspection harder. A garage that is organized for water is also easier for a technician to work in. The guide on preparing for a service visit offers more ideas for keeping the area accessible.

• Move cardboard, paper and fabric to high shelves or into the house.
• Raise tools, batteries and equipment off the concrete floor.
• Close chemical containers tightly and store them high and away from the door.
• Keep a clear walkway to the entry door and the manual release area.
• Anchor tall shelves so a heavy load cannot tip.

Look at the bottom seal and the threshold

The bottom seal is the flexible strip along the lowest edge of the door. Its job is to close the gap between the door and the floor. Over time, heat and sun make it hard and cracked, and humid air can cause it to stick or tear. Look along the full width with the door closed, from inside, in good light. Any gap that lets in daylight is a gap that can let in water.

Check the floor as well. Concrete settles and cracks, and a garage floor that slopes slightly toward the door can send water into the room instead of away from it. Notice where puddles form after rain and where stains appear. A small rise at the threshold, installed by a professional, can sometimes help, and the page on water getting in under the garage door explains the common causes.

The seals on the sides and across the top matter too. They keep wind driven rain from entering along the jambs. If they are cracked, flattened or missing, water can run down the inside face of the door. The article on types of weatherstripping compares common seal designs, and the page on a torn bottom seal shows what failure looks like.

Check drainage outside and around the door

Water follows the shape of the ground. Walk the driveway apron during or just after a rain, if it is safe to do so, and watch where the water goes. If it collects against the door or runs toward the garage, there may be a low spot, a blocked drain or a gutter downspout that discharges in the wrong place. These are things to bring up with a contractor or your community, because changes to the slope are outside the scope of a door repair.

Clear leaves, mud and debris from drains, gutters and channels near the garage. A pile of wet leaves against the bottom of the door keeps the seal wet and rusts the bottom bracket. Keep landscaping beds from sloping toward the door, and make sure mulch does not pile up against the siding or the jamb. Little changes like these can reduce how much water reaches the threshold. It also helps to note which way the water flows during a hard rain and to take a short video from inside the garage, so that you can show a contractor or your association exactly where it collects and how deep it gets.

If you have a drain in the garage floor or a trench drain across the opening, make sure it is clear. Test it with a little water from a hose. If you do not know whether your property has such a drain, ask a plumber or your property manager. Rules about drainage and what you may change vary by city and community, so ask your city and your association before altering anything.

Know what water does to the door's hardware

Water and metal do not get along. Springs, cables, rollers, hinges, tracks and fasteners are mostly steel, and standing water or repeated dampness encourages rust. Rust on a spring can create rough spots where cracks begin, rust on a cable can break strands, and rust on a roller stem can lock it in place. The bottom bracket, which sits closest to the floor, is especially exposed.

Wood doors and wood trim absorb water and swell. Swelling adds weight, makes the door rub against the jamb and can break the paint or finish, which allows more moisture in. Composite and steel doors resist this better, but even they can suffer at the bottom edge if water pools there. The guides on caring for a wood garage door and caring for a steel garage door describe how to look after each type.

Lubrication helps, but only on the right parts and in the right way. Wiping off rust flakes and applying a suitable lubricant to rollers, hinges and the track side of the stems can slow down corrosion. Never lubricate or touch the springs, cables or brackets under tension. Any lubricant you use should be suited to garage doors, because some household products attract dust, gum up in heat and leave a sticky film that makes rollers and hinges work worse than before. The lubrication guide explains which parts to treat and which to leave to a technician.

Opener, wiring and power: treat water as a hazard

The opener is an electrical device mounted near the ceiling, and its wiring, sensors and wall controls run through the garage. Water can reach these through humidity, leaks in the roof, wind driven rain or flooding at floor level. The sensors sit close to the floor, which makes them especially vulnerable, and their low voltage wires can corrode at the connections.

If water has risen in the garage, do not touch the opener, the outlet, the wall control or any wiring while standing in water or on a wet floor. Do not operate the door. If you can reach the main electrical panel safely from a dry location, and you know how, you may switch off power to the garage circuit, but do not wade into water to do so. If in doubt, leave everything alone and ask a qualified professional to check the electrical system.

After a surge, a power outage or a flood, an opener may behave oddly even if it looks fine. It may refuse to respond, reverse, flash its lights or run on its own. The pages on a door that stops working after a surge and on a door stuck after a power outage describe what to observe safely and what to tell a technician.

After water has been in the garage

Once the water has gone down, resist the urge to test the door immediately. Look first. Check whether the floor is dry, whether the door moved or shifted, whether any track or hinge has rust streaks or bent sections, and whether the bottom seal or bottom bracket has been pushed or lifted. Check the lower rollers and the lower part of the tracks for mud and debris.

Look at the opener from a distance. Notice whether the housing has water marks, whether the cord or outlet shows corrosion, and whether the sensors have mud or moisture on the lenses. Do not plug in or test anything that was wet. Wipe the sensor lenses with a dry cloth if they are dirty and you can reach them without stepping into standing water. Take photographs for your records and your insurer. Open windows or the entry door for air if it is safe, because trapped damp air encourages mold on stored items and rust on exposed metal, and a garage that dries out sooner suffers less lasting damage.

Then arrange an inspection. The system is looked over on site, and the options are discussed before work begins. A technician will check the balance, the tracks, the rollers, the hinges, the cables and the opener, and will test the safety sensors and travel limits. The guide to post storm garage door inspection covers what a thorough check includes.

Seals, thresholds and weather related upgrades

If the garage floods or leaks repeatedly, you may want to explore upgrades. A better bottom seal, a threshold seal on the floor, new side and top weatherstripping or a door with a tighter fit can make a difference for ordinary rain and splashes. They do not make a door waterproof, and they will not stop deep or rising water. They simply reduce what gets in during moderate weather.

Some homeowners consider flood barriers, sandbags or temporary panels across the opening. These are outside the scope of a door repair, and their use depends on the situation. If you are thinking about them, discuss your options with your city or a qualified contractor, and ask how they interact with the door, the tracks and the opener so that nothing is damaged. Do not attach temporary barriers to door tracks or parts that carry load.

The page on weatherstripping and insulation describes what is involved in refreshing seals, and the page on storm preparation covers how a door can be checked before severe weather. Both are good places to start if your door has shown signs of letting water in.

Insurance, records and community rules

Water damage and insurance can be complicated, and policies differ. Some policies cover certain kinds of water damage and exclude others, and flood coverage is often handled separately. Ask your insurer what is and is not covered, what documents they require and what they want you to do after an event. Do it before the season, when you have time to read and ask questions. Write down the answers, including who you spoke with and when, and keep them with your photographs and your service log so that you are not searching for details while dealing with a stressful event.

Keep records that make a claim simpler. Photograph the garage and the door in good condition before the season begins, including the opener, the sensors and the stored contents. After an event, photograph the damage before anything is moved. Save receipts, estimates and notes. The guide to keeping a service log gives you a simple structure.

If you live in an HOA community, ask the association about rules for exterior changes such as seals, thresholds or replacement doors. A like for like repair is often simple, while visible changes may need approval. Requirements vary by city and community, so ask your city, your association and your insurer instead of assuming.

A short seasonal routine

Before flood season begins, walk through a simple routine. Raise and organize the stored items. Inspect the bottom seal and the side seals. Clear drains and gutters. Look at the tracks and hardware for rust. Clean the sensor lenses. Test that the door reverses when it meets an obstacle, following the cautious steps in the guide to testing safety reversal.

Make a plan for the household as well. Everyone should know that the door must not be used if the garage has been flooded, that the opener is not to be touched while the floor is wet and that the first call after water has been in is for an inspection. Keep a phone number handy and a list of what to report.

247 Houston Garage Door Repair can inspect the door, the seals and the hardware on site, talk through the options before any work begins, and go over the finished work with you. Calling before the season gives you time to choose calmly, instead of making decisions when the sky is already dark. Ask what you should watch for during the season, which small signs deserve a call, and how to keep the door safe to leave closed if a storm is approaching and the household may need to be away for a few days.

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