Here are some general tips:

• Read the safety instructions that come with your garage door and door opener. Make sure that you know how the emergency release works and where it is located.
• To test the reversing mechanism of your door, place a 2 X 4 or full roll of paper towels under the door (beneath the infrared beams) and close the door. As soon as a little pressure is put on the board or roll, the door should pause and reverse. If it doesn’t, contact your installer or manufacturer for repairs.
• After testing the release mechanism, try opening the door manually with the door handles. It will probably only go up three or four feet, but it should be smooth and easy. If it isn’t, your door might be off balance, causing wear and tear and eventually accidents. Consult your door opener’s manual to find out how to balance your door or contact the installer or manufacturer.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that there are over 10,000 hand and finger injuries, related to garage doors, that occur annually.

Let’s face it. Kids are curious. They fool around with their friends and safety is the last thing on their minds. Some common accidents that occur:

• Children ride on doors and get injured
• Fingers get caught between rollers and track; Hands get caught in a closing door joint
• A door can push a child’s arm against the steel bracket; A child’s finger can get pushed against the steel track hole by the roller
• When installing or having installed a control button for the garage door, have it put high enough up that children cannot reach it. If you remove their ability to control the door, you immediately remove much of the danger.

• Safety bottom brackets
• Pinch-resistant joints: The joints between door sections should come with shaped edges that push fingers out of the cracks as they close. Steel and plastic doors have this safety feature; however, wood doors have shiplap connections that can pinch down on fingers.
• Torsion springs that are easier and safer to install.
• Safety containment cables on extension springs.
• Warning labels for operator attachment and bottom bracket removal.
• Interior and exterior gripping handles for easier and safer door operation.

A great way to ensure safety is to keep on top of maintenance.

• Parts can wear out and break over time and having your garage door serviced by a qualified technician once a year is a wise safety precaution.

Call us to have us perform an annual scheduled maintenance call to look after wear and tear items as well as replace worn out parts. These calls prevent surprise breakdowns and extend the life of your garage door system. Our certified technicians will keep your door in tip-top shape for a minimal fee, so you can have peace of mind that the door which is most used in the average home remains trouble-free!

Garage door torsion springs are rated by cycle life, with 10,000 cycles (a cycle being one opening and one closing action) being the industry standard minimum. Upgrades are available up to 100,000 cycles. If a garage door has two or more springs and one breaks, all springs should be replaced to maintain proper balance and even wear.

The leading causes of garage door failure and/or replacement include lack of maintenance and impact by vehicles. A proper maintenance schedule for a garage door includes lubrication of the rollers, bearings, pulleys, and springs once a year; washing painted steel surfaces several times a year; painting or refinishing wood surfaces as necessary; and making proper adjustments to the counter balance system as necessary to maintain door balance. A properly balanced garage door should be able to be stopped mid-travel without drifting down or up when operated manually.