Maintaining Your Own Garage Door

Don’t you just find it so annoying when you garage door remote doesn’t work?

You arrive home from a long day at work to find that when you press that remote control pad button, instead of opening smoothly, you door stops half open or just doesn’t open at all. Of course, you can call in a technician to fix the problem, but before you pay out for this expense, you can of course try and fix the problem themselves.

First things first, you need to check the power supply to the opener. If this is faulty, then it will immediately answer your question as to why it is failing. If you cannot find any fault here, then your next place to look will be that there is no dirt of obstruction that means that the sensors are not receiving the correct signal to open the garage door. The sensors of course need to be aligned properly so they will recognize the signal to open.

As your garage door is on the outside of your home, it is easy to forget about. It’s one of those things that constantly seem to be on your list of things to do, but never reaches the top of the list. As well as this, make sure that all the moving parts within the garage are in good and working order and that they are lubricated.

If your door is an old fashioned up and over type, you need to look at all the parts for wear and tear including bolts and screws. If the screws are not tightly done up, this could cause the tracks to come off line and will mean that the door will not open smoothly. It is easy to secure your tracks and see if this is the problem that is prohibiting the door from opening.

If you have a door that swings open, you need to look carefully at the springs and the spring mounts to make sure everything is as it should be.

The springs also have to have the correct tensile strength; otherwise they will not lift the door smoothly. Make sure all brackets are also tightened properly and that the springs look as though they are in good order.

Another key to the proper opening and closing of your door is to make sure that you do regularly maintain your garage door. By checking and replacing the springs periodically as well as lubricating moving parts you can make sure that you garage door really does open smoothly every time you press the button. A little maintenance goes a long way to insure that you have a good working garage door.

Learn more about garage door maintenance here!

A Great Fix-Up Starts with your Garage Door

What’s the one home fix-up project that takes only a couple of hours and yields the biggest bang for the buck of any exterior home renovation?

Here’s a clue: This project adds style, energy efficiency and security to your home and the preparation is easy and mess free – all you need is an Internet connection and a telephone. For most people, the answer does not immediately come to mind: it’s a stylish new garage door.

Think about it. If your house has an attached garage, the garage door may comprise more than one-third of your home’s front facade. If that home is more than five years old, your garage door probably is a solid colored, raised-panel door that looks like every other garage door in the neighborhood.

A new door, quickly and correctly installed by a local professional, will differentiate your home and add style, value and curb appeal. The hottest new style in garage doors is the carriage house design. It’s available in steel, wood or composite materials and in many price ranges.

A garage door is an important home improvement project. It is typically the first thing people notice when they pull into your driveway or pass your house. Doors also offer protection against severe weather and theft, help you save money on heating bills and substantially increase the appearance and value of your home.

A nationwide poll of realtors revealed more than 71 percent felt a new garage door added to the value of a home, even adding as much as four percent of the selling price. That means $10,000 on a $250,000 home, which is a huge deal for people wanting to sell now during a difficult real estate market.

Call a professional for installation. After only a few hours of the pro’s work, you’ll get a stunning home makeover that will make you proud every time you pull in your driveway.

How to Prevent Garage Door Accidents

Garage door accidents, like so many accidents in the home, could be avoided if more care and attention was paid.

A garage is not essentially a play area or a work area, but a place to store your vehicle and household items. You should therefore never let children play around in an open door, especially when we are talking about traditional spring doors, as you are creating a danger zone.

Garage doors should be kept closed. They are not really designed to stay open, and if they were used correctly, then many accidents would be prevented. Although the springs in a traditional garage door are designed to hold a garage door open at half way up, springs can fail at any moment, the garage door falling abruptly down.

Keeping up to date with your garage maintenance is really important if you wish to prevent door accidents. A simple once over, periodically to make sure that none of the moving parts or hardware of the door are broken is all it takes to prevent so many accidents. If you do the simple test of leaving your door half way up, you should be able to determine if the torsion springs are in good order or not. If the door falls down, then the springs are too loose or worn.

When you check over your door and its’ working elements, if you see any corrosion around the hinges or springs, you should not delay to get them fixed straight away; this could prevent a really nasty accident. But what is also the cause of many door accidents each year is the DIY enthusiast who attempts to change door springs.

You only have to think about how much force there is behind the torsion springs of a door when closed to realize that changing the springs is a job that you should never attempt alone, or unless you are totally sure of what you are doing. These kinds of repairs really are best left to the experts, and a small charge to a door repairman could prevent a really nasty accident. In short, to prevent accidents around doors, never allow children to play in the vicinity of an open door, always keep garage doors closed when not in use, and lastly, maintain your doors to a high standard. When in doubt of the safety of your present ones, look to change the doors as soon as possible.

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How Not To Repair a Garage Door

It’s a fact: I don’t like to pay someone else to do something that I can dobetter. Well, at least that’s the theory. The reality is that I’m cheap, and I hate to let my money go on long trips without me. So, I often repair things that I should never mess with, just to save a few bucks. A classic example of my penny-pinching foolishness dates from about 1986, when I tried to repair my own garage door.

I didn’t have a fancy automatic garage door back then. I just had a manual unit: drive up, get out, lift the door, get back in, drive in, get out, close the door. Everything was fine with my little garage door, but I felt that it could be a tad easier to lift. So, I decided to adjust the spring tensioning mechanism myself. Who needs a professional, right? Mull on that last line for a few minutes…

Garage doors are heavy, and without the springs, all you’ve got is dead weight — too heavy to lift. To adjust the door, I had to tinker with the spring coiling components — it’s the coiling process that makes the door easier to maneuver. When I reached what I thought was the ideal balance of tension and torque, I lifted the door. It went up nicely. So far, so good, I thought. I made a few more tweaks and then lowered the door. That was a mistake.

As I lowered the door, all the spring support went completely slack. Suddenly, I had 300 pounds of wood crashing down on me. I slowed the door’s descent a bit, but it wasn’t enough. The door fell with a crash, and my left hand was mashed to the ground — pinned between the door and the concrete floor. I couldn’t budge the door an inch, and since it was well into the nighttime — and I was in pain — I had to holler and yell to be “rescued.” No man ever likes to be rescued. It’s just not dignified.

To this day, I still like to repair things, but I’ve learned my lesson about messing with spring-loaded slabs of wood at nighttime. My hand healed nicely, and I eventually got over the indignity of being rescued. But, no matter how much I might be tempted, I’ll never take a wrench to a coiled-up spring again. Words to live by… with an emphatic emphasis on “live.”

David McCoy, a notorious storyteller and proud Yellow Jacket, lives in Conyers, can be reached at davmccoy@bellsouth.net.

Lazy Man’s Automatic Car Cover

Okay, this blog is dedicated to the world of garage doors, however, this is a story that is very much related to garage door openers. So we thought we’d post this story about a very inventive DIY project that satisfies the couch potato in all of us.

It’s so easy to go out and spend $100 or $200 for a decent car cover to keep your vehicle clean and safe in the garage. Once you’ve made the purchase, however, you still have to put the cover on (preferably with a little help) and take it off every time you want to head out for a drive.

Now this guy got tired of that routine, so he designed an automatic car cover to protect his 2002 Corvette. Sounds expensive, right?

Wrong. The “automatic” part of the deal is supplied by his garage door opener. Mike simply bought three queen-sized sheets at Kmart, which his wife sewed together. Then he rigged the sheet with pulleys, rope and some other hardware to allow it to be easily raised and lowered by one person.

His total project cost? About $65. Check out this Web page for more photos and video.

Keeping Your Garage Door Protected: A Must

There are various types of GARAGE DOORS to choose from. The type you choose will all depend on a variety of factors: ease of use, security, cost, durability and aesthetics. An overhead door is one of the more popular choices for both home and commercial garages. It consists of a door that is opened by pulling up from the bottom, and remains over the top of the vehicle when open. Overhead garage doors are space-efficient, making them a good choice for garages with limited space. They come in an assortment of designs and materials. Steel overhead doors are a maintenance free option and heavy duty.

Overhead garage doors are a popular style because of its advantages. It takes up very little room, which makes it appropriate for smaller spaces. The roller type door runs on a streamline track, which does not take up much room. However, an overhead garage door requires enough headspace to accommodate the rolled up door. So be sure you have adequate space over the doorway of your garage if you are considering this particular type of garage door. Also, your overhead garage door should be high enough to clear your vehicle when parking in the garage. If you are planning to install an automatic garage door opener, you will also need to factor in the space that it will take up. Measure your garage space first before investing in an overhead garage door.

With overhead garage doors, you also have the option of insulation or non-insulation. If you live in a place with mild climate, a non-insulated overhead garage door can help you save up. Meanwhile, in hotter or colder climates, protecting your overhead garage door is recommended especially if your garage connects to your living space. Insulating your garage door is a good investment because it will not only make your garage more convenient; it will also make your vehicle guarded from extreme changes in temperature. More importantly, it will keep cold air from entering your room. An insulated overhead garage door may cost more but the benefits will certainly be worth the price.

When it comes to security, you should treat an overhead garage door as an access door that may be most accessible to burglars. Make sure that your overhead garage door is of solid construction with a strong frame that is in good condition. More importantly, make sure that you invest in a good lock for the door. Your garage door should be as safe as all the other external doors in your home for obvious reasons.

To assure full protection for your overhead garage door, you can opt to invest in the latest generation of garage door openers that use rolling code technology burglars will find very difficult to hack. Maintain your garage door’s protection by regularly checking the condition of the door and frame for signs of root and corrosion. Remember that your garage door is only as secure and strong as its weakest point.