No matter how often the garage is used, the garage door is important. Your garage might be used to protect your vehicle, or it might be used for storage. It could be used as an additional living space. You want the garage door to work and you want it to work safely. We have compiled a list of garage door safety tips for this reason. A door that is not working correctly can be a safety hazard. Here are some tips that we hope you will find helpful!
Do a Visual Inspection
It is important that you check the garage door frequently for any potential concerns. Do an inspection and visually take a look at parts like springs, rollers, cables and pulleys. Note any signs of wear and tear. If something does not look right, contact an experienced garage door company. Do not try to repair parts on your own without the proper tools and experience. Working with parts such as springs can actually be quite dangerous because they can snap and are under tension.
Be Cautious With Children
We recommend ensuring the control for the garage door opener does not fall into the wrong hands, for instance, small children. Many toddlers and small kids enjoy pressing buttons and playing with things they are not supposed to, and you don’t want them messing around with the garage door.
On that same note, it is important to ensure remote controls for your garage door are not used as a toy by kids. And speaking of kids, you don’t want them to play near or on the garage door. They should understand that they can’t place their fingers between sections of the door. If they are old enough to understand, explain how a garage door can be dangerous, or that the panels can pinch their fingers. It might be worth considering a garage door without panels if small children are in the home.
Check the manual for your garage door and make sure you are aware of how to use the emergency release feature for the door.
Reverse Feature
Make sure the reverse safety feature for the garage door is working. You can test this feature by placing an object in the door’s path, such as a wood board or even a bag of toilet paper rolls. This should be enough to cause the garage door to reverse when you are closing it because it should sense something in its path. However, if the door is not reversing when you do place something in the path, it is important to call an experienced garage door service. You will also want to consider replacing the opener system if it has not been replaced since the early 1990s. If this is the case (that your opener is this old), yours might not have a reverse safety feature.
Going away for a few days? Taking a road trip? Visiting family out of state? Unplug the opener unit for the garage door. Another option if you are not going to be home for a few days is to take advantage of a vacation lock console security switch. What does this do? It makes the remote inoperative.
Do you have an opener that does not have rolling code technology? This is a reference to the ability to change access codes whenever the opener is used. You should change the standard access code on the remote control and opener.
Listen!
Listen for squeaking, grinding, a loud bang or any other unusual noises, which could indicate a broken part.
Finally, do not leave the remote control for the opener system in a car or with someone you do not trust. A better option is to use a key chain remote. Also make sure that if your garage is connected to your home that you lock the door leading into the house. Yes, it will take an extra few moments to get into the home if you enter through the garage, but this is a safety and security tip that can make a positive difference and prevent a break in.
No matter how often the garage is used, the garage door is important, and if it is not used properly, it can be dangerous. Your garage might be used to protect your vehicle, or it might be used for storage, as previously mentioned. It could be used as an additional living space. You want the garage door to work and you want it to work safely, regardless of how the garage space is used. We have compiled a list of garage door safety tips for this reason and we hope they have been beneficial for you. A door that is not working correctly can be a safety hazard.
Here is a quick summary of the tips that we have provided, and we hope you find them useful!
- Do a visual inspection
- Don’t attempt to repair damaged parts as a DIY project. It is important to call in an experienced garage door company when service is needed.
- Make sure children know not to play with the garage door. Teach them that it can be dangerous and let them know that they should not put their fingers between panels, if your door has panels. Ensure the remote control stays out of their hands and is not used as a toy.
- Make sure the reverse safety mechanism is working. The garage door should reverse when you try to close it, when it senses something in its path.
- Listen for grinding and squeaking sounds that should not be there. Listen for a loud bang, such as a spring snapping. Look and listen for anything that does not seem right, and if this is the case, call in a garage door service for assistance.
Thanks for reading our garage door safety tips! We are a mobile garage door company that is proficient in repair, installation and more.