Having a garage in the house can literally be a lifesaver! You not only get a covered parking area for your car, but it also provide you an extra storage space where you can keep all the important yet not-so-presentable stuff. Although garages are a wonderful addition to any home, however if the safety of garage door is not ensured; it can become a huge security concern. Well, it is not only about the contents of your garage, but your households and especially the safety of your family members is at great risk as well.
Garage door locks are not given much importance when we think about the possible hazards laying around the house. However, these systems can cause a serious danger if they are not handled with proper care and attention. Especially, older lock models are not much reliable in terms of security.
According to the reports by The US Consumer Product Safety Commission, a whopping 30,000 garage door-related accidents take place annually. Just imagine yourself all set for outing, and while buckling your seat belt you realize that your phone is still in the bedroom. What’s next? Going to leave the car instantly, and run inside to get your thing? But before that what lf you press the switch of garage door to sneak out while the door closes? Accident may happen! What if your garage door is open in your absence, and a burglar takes advantage of it?
What should be done? How to avoid these situations? What are the safety measures? Well, Just read on to get your answers.
Cautions
- Do not try to enter a garage door when it opens. Why? Because it is not as safe as it seems! What if the door stops while you are escaping and it starts descending? Serious injuries can happen.
- While opening and closing door; watch it carefully until it finishes the action.
- Make sure your pets and kids are not running around the garage door unsupervised.
- Keep your garage door in check from time to time to avoid inconvenience.
Maintenence Is The Key
Routine maintenence tasks of garage doors can save you from a lot of regretful incidents and serious injuries. Also, it’s more about the safety of you and your family. Want to know more? Here are some tips to consider.
1. Observe
First of all, observe the action of your doors closely. This won’t take a lot of your precious time. Just keep an eye on it while opening and closing. Is there any strange sound like grinding or scraping? Is the movement smooth or is it stucking? Do the cables, pulleys and springs look symmetrical? Observe!
2. Tighten Parts
Garage doors open and close several times a day, and thousand times throughout the year on an average. Consequently, certain parts if the door become loose with the passage of time. That is the time when you take out your tool box and get in action! Usually roller brackets and bolts get loose, but make sure to check all the parts.
3. Ensure Garage Door Balance
Is your garage door hard to open? Does it makes strange noises? If the answer of these questions is a “yes”, then you need to balance your door correctly. It will not only make it smoother than ever, but will also expand its lifeline. In order to test whether the garage door is balanced or not; firstly pull release handle to disconnect it. Now, you need to move the door upwards with your hands. If it starts moving on its own; it indicates that the counterweight system needs to be balanced correctly. Well, this is the time when you need a professional to fix this issue. Why? Because this procedure involves spring adjustments that can cause serious injuries, if not handled with care.
4. Replace Rollers
No matter if your rollers are made of nylon or steel; they need proper maintenance. However, they doesn’t require high maintenance, just keep a check on them two times per year. Rollers need to be replaced only once in seven years, but wait. If you frequently use your garage door in a day, they you have to replace them soon. How to Know when it is the right time to change them? Pay attention if the roller is worn, chipped or crack; get a new one!
5. Change Weatherstripping
There is a rubber seal right at the bottom of garage door, it is referred to as weatherstripping. As the name suggests, its function is to prevent anything entering the area, including dust and debris. If that bottom strip seems cracked or broken to you, then change it immediately to prevent the damage.
You can easily get these weatherstrips from hardware shops or home improvement stores. All you need to do is, cut the strip in required size, install it on the right place and that’s all. Easy peasy!
Garage Door Safety and Security
Once your garage door is well-maintained, the next step is to make sure its security. Garage door locks cannot serve the purpose alone. You need to follow these tips as well.
- First things first, frosting the windows of garage door is important to prevent burglars from looking inside the area.
- Invest in motion-detecting floodlights that will add up to your garage door security.
- Install sturdy garage door lock that needs a key to open.
- Ensure that the control button of garage door opener is not accessible for small kids.
- Remote control should be totally out of children’s reach.
- Do not forget to learn about the ‘emergency door release’ feature through owner’s manual.
- Don’t leave the door of garage open. This not only impacts security of your home, but can also damage an object while travelling downwards.
- Unplug the door opener unit while leaving for a vacation or use a security switch.
- Last but not the least, install security cameras to keep looking into your garage whenever you want.
Is your house clean? Check! Is it well decorated? Check! Is it secured from outside? Check! Is it secured from inside too? Well, you need to double check!
We make sure that our home is perfectly secure from inside but we forget about inside safety, especially garages are most ignored corners of the house. Do you know according to a report by “National Association of Certified Home Inspectors” 9 percent of the burglars sneak into the houses through garages?
However, the entry point of the garages – its door, doesn’t require much attention if they are well-maintained and all the security measures are fulfilled, like garage door locks and security cameras. Talking about maintenance, garage doors don’t need a lot of your time either. A close look every few months will serve the purpose. Furthermore, for safety and security; you have to invest in good-quality locks, cameras, door openers, etc. Have you made a checklist of your home security already? If no, then it is the right time!