Keep your family safe by keeping your garage safe! Follow these garage door safety tips to avoid mishaps and prevent damage and bodily harm.
1. Don’t race your garage door!
Most of us have run out of the garage as the door began to close at least once in our lives, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea...especially if you have an old garage door system that isn’t equipped with safety sensors. Hundreds of people have injured themselves or their garage doors doing this. Modern doors have safety sensors that detect obstacles in the door’s path, but if something goes wrong (which is very possible), the door could still close on you. Even if something doesn't go wrong, your timing could still be off, and you could collide with the door as you try to dash out of the garage. For safety, advise everyone in your home to remain at least a foot away from the garage door while it’s in motion.
2. Don’t shut the garage door if you have a pet in the garage.
Don’t shut the garage if your pet is inside and wants to escape, or it could close on him or her!
3. Don’t let kids play with the garage door or opener.
Children are injured every year while playing near garage doors. An opening garage door may seem like a free ride to one of your tiny tikes, but misusing the door can lead to serious injury. Remind your children and visiting guests that the garage door is not a toy, and make sure your children know what’s safe and what isn’t. Don’t let them play with the garage door opener; make sure the button on the wall is out of reach and they can’t access car or keychain remote controls.
4. If your garage door has windows, don’t let the kids play near it.
Many of us have basketball hoops in our driveways or play ball in the yard. If your door has glass windows or panels, consider relocating the hoop and asking your kids to play ball in a different part of the yard where they won’t risk throwing anything at the glass and breaking it.
5. Keep hands clear of moving garage door panels.
It’s easy to get pinched by the large garage door panels as they move. Don’t place your hands or fingers near the joints on your garage door, or you could lose one of them, or at the very least, suffer a very painful experience.
6. Repair your garage door as soon as something goes wrong.
If something seems like it’s acting funny, it probably is! Don’t put off calling a reliable garage door repair professional to inspect your system and determine what’s wrong. When it comes to problems with your garage door, a small issue can turn into a large, expensive problem quickly. If one part of the system isn’t working correctly, extra stress could be placed on other parts and weaken them prematurely. Usually the faster you address a problem, the less damage will be done and the less you’ll have to spend on a repair.
7. Maintain your garage door system.
Every fall, you should perform a few preventive maintenance tasks on your garage door to ensure it’s still working properly and will work well for you during the winter. Trust us when we tell you it’s much easier and more pleasant to check these things when the weather’s bearable than in freezing temperatures. Check the weatherstripping at the bottom of your garage door, lubricate moving parts, and clean the door with soap and water. Also check the springs and test the photo eyes, safety reverse mechanism, and door balance.
8. Know how to utilize the emergency release feature.
In case you experience a power outage or your garage door stops working unexpectedly and you need to open it manually, pull on the red emergency handle or rope attached to the door trolley. Pull toward the motor (away from the door). Make sure your door is down before you do this, or it could crash to the ground.
9. Make sure your garage door is secure when you leave for vacation.
Leaving a remote in your car is all but an invitation for someone to break in and rob you while you’re on vacation. Even without a remote, burglars can fairly easily break into the garage if you don’t take extra precautions. If your garage door has keypad access, make sure to keep your access code secure. Tell children to avoid sharing it with anyone, including friends. You could also purchase a dead bolt lock system to secure your garage door or simply add a zip-tie to lock the disengaging feature on the emergency release handle of your opener.
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