The biggest and heaviest part of your home’s exterior is the garage door and between your kids going through to get their bike and your pulling through every morning and evening as you take the car out a lot is riding on your garage door functioning reliably, efficiently, and safely. For just that reason, it’s absolutely critical for homeowners to keep their garage doors repaired, cleaned, and maintained as the problems which can come from a malfunctioning door can not only be frustrating and expensive to repair, but may quickly become dangerous to the lives of everyone who relies on it to go about their usual routine. To ensure that your home’s garage door is as safe and dependable as possible it’s important to remember some basic garage door safety tips from trusted experts like those at the International Door Association and the Door and Access Systems Manufacturing Association. These tips are proven to provide homeowners with more reliable, longer lasting safety after the garage door installation and garage door opener installation is completed.
- Keep the garage door opening controls near the door and far enough up that small children can’t accidentally touch it.
- If you have a remote garage door opener make sure it is equipped with fresh batteries regularly and is away from both children and any other accidental activators.
Exterior garage doors - Make sure that everyone in your family knows where the emergency door release is located and how to activate it. This information should be listed in your user’s manual.
- Don’t perform garage door repairs on your own. Garage doors are carefully balanced and calibrated and when they’re damaged it’s vital for a professional garage door repair contractor to return them to proper working order.
- Regularly visually inspect the condition of your garage doors springs, opening tracks, and cables. Identifiable signs of wear to these components can quickly result in an unsafe situation.
- Keep an eye on the smoothness of the opening and closing movement. Even older models of garage doors are designed to smoothly open and close and stuttering, clunky movements are a sign of damage which necessitate the attention of a professional.
- Test stopping speed and reliability of opening and closing systems by placing an object in front of the sensor as the garage door closes. If it doesn't stop in time (or at all) it needs re-calibration and repairs.
Extra wide doors - At least on a yearly basis have your garage door professionally inspected for signs of damage and misalignment. The cost of this inspection is much lower than the cost of emergency garage door repairs which may otherwise be required.
- Don’t pass under a garage door which is still opening or closing. It may seem obvious but this is one of the most surefire ways to prevent damages and injuries.
- If your garage door is showing extreme signs of damage or is inoperable don’t hesitate to get in touch with professional garage door contractors. A quick response to damages is more likely to completely solve the problem without costing too much or putting your property at risk for long.