Garage Doors Safety Tips
The garage door is typically the largest moving object in your home. If properly maintained and operated, a garage door and its operating system allow you, your family and your vehicles convenient access to and fro your home.
Garage is often used not only as a place to park your car or as storage for all kind of things, it could also be used as a recreation area (billiards or sports equipment), use for refinishing and painting furniture, repairing household items and caring for pets among several other things.
Garages are great for a whole range of listed above reasons but however could post safety and security challenges if caution is not taken.
Garage door safety has improved immensely over the past ten or twenty years, but there are still several deaths a year which occur mainly to children. The purpose of this article is to educate you on safety precaution to be taken and not to alarm you, but also some important things that every homeowner need to keep an eye on.
There are several safety tips one need to put into consideration when talking about the safety of garage doors. Though this list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every safety precaution. Endeavor to always consult your instruction manual for safety information about your personal model.
Through the International Door Association (IDA) and the Door and Access Systems Manufacturers Association (DASMA), we’ve prepared this list of garage door safety tips for keeping everyone and everything safe and secure.
Consult the owner’s manual and learn how to use the garage door’s emergency release feature. Every model of door and opener has specific safety instructions unique to that model.
Educate and teach your children the dangers of automatic garage doors – especially playing “chicken” or trying to slide under the door before it closes.
Set a good example for children. Make it a rule in your family to never walk beneath a closing door. Also, after activating a garage door, remember not to drive or walk away until the door is completely closed.
Do not leave the garage door partially open. When activated again, it may travel downward and come in contact with an object in its path. This also impacts your home’s security as well.
Anytime you’re on vacation, unplug the garage door opener unit or use a vacation lock console security switch, which renders remotes unusable and it’s an optional accessory to most openers.
Yearly, many homeowners injure their fingers by placing them between the door sections to pull down on the door. According to DASMA Standard 116, if your door lacks pinch-resistant joints, you should have lift handles or suitable gripping points on the inside and outside of the door. Even if your door has an opener, the door must occasionally be operated manually. Never place your fingers between the door sections. If you manually open or close the door, use the handles or the safe gripping points!
Your garage door is probably the largest moving part in your home and is naturally used every day. With time, parts can wear out and break, creating potential safety problems. Although it is recommended that you should provide monthly safety checks and maintenance to your garage door system, an annual visit from a trained door systems technician can keep your door operating safely and smoothly for a long time.
If the opener does not have rolling-code technology, which changes the access codes each time the opener is used to prevent code grabbing, be sure to change the manufacturer’s standard access codes on the opener and remote control, or consider investing in a newer model with more safety and security features that are now standard.
Check the garage door springs, cables, rollers, pulleys, and other door hardware for signs of wear. If you suspect problems, have a trained qualified person make repairs.
Make sure you lubricate the moving parts of the door regularly. However, do not lubricate plastic parts such as plastic rollers and plastic idler bearings. Consult the door owner’s manual for the manufacturer’s recommendation.
It has been discovered that must home invasion this days is guaranteed by stealing the door opener or car. Never leave the remote control in the car or with your parking attendant.
