Garage Doors That Pose Dangers

One functional part in your house is the garage. Some prefer an older style tilt-up garage door, while most homeowners today prefer a roll-up garage door. In the garage you place your car, your child’s bicycles, and your repair tools. Around the house, a lot of accidents may happen. It is possible to burn your hand while cooking in the stove, break your leg while falling down the stairs, or accidentally knock your head under the dining table while reaching for that fork you dropped. There is danger everywhere, and your garage is not an exception. Do you have an automatic garage door? If its garage door opener is non-reversing, your family may be in trouble.

Hundreds of years ago, garage doors were made of wood. Then from the old barn door-style, garage doors developed into steel doors and doors made of synthetic materials for better insulation and durability. Basically, a garage door may weigh hundreds of pounds. True, it isn’t a good idea if your child, or even you, get trapped under a garage door. So certain precautions are needed in order to ensure your family’s safety.

If you have an automatic garage door that does not automatically reverse, you should replace it with a new opener that can do reverse. Reports received by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) states that approximately 60 children between the ages of 2 and 14 have been trapped and killed under automatic garage doors since 1982. Other reports show that other children had severe injuries when the closing of garage doors almost crushed them. That is why non-reversing garage door openers should be replaced at once. Or, you may opt for a new residential garage door installation if you want a new door with a reverse garage door opener. Don’t be satisfied with garage doors that only stop whenever it hits an object under it. You should be pining for the reversing one.

Check your garage door for signs of malfunction and failure. Replace parts that needed to be replaced. To do that, you have to make sure that your door is balanced. It should stay in place when stopped in any partially opened position. If your garage door is unbalanced, it may just crash whenever somebody is under it or not. Never allow your child to be near the area of the garage when a door check-up is going on. In many reported instances, even professional garage door technicians have suffered serious injuries like broken bones in the process of replacing garage door springs. The tension spring and torsion springs are hard to replace because of the great force imposed by the weight of the garage door. That is why it is very important not to do it on your own or by a family member who is not also qualified to change or replace garage door parts. So never ever think that you can do garage door repair by yourself.

You have to maintain your garage door more often than maintaining your car. If your garage door fails to function it may crash to floor then probably hurt someone under it, which is more likely to be your spouse or your child. Therefore, it is a wise precaution to have regular maintenance and repair for your garage doors.