Keep The Door To Your Castle In Good Shape

Garage doors are an important part of your home. They tend to take a great deal of abuse while protecting your family’s vehicles and all the other tools or valuables you have stored away.

Hockey and baseball players need a target for their shots and throws, and where better than the garage door? All this endless thumping only makes the wear and tear on the door to your garage progressively worse.

Your garage door can increase or decrease the value of your property and your home’s curb appeal, based on how well it functions or how attractive it is. It may even become a great liability or a serious nuisance if it is not fully functional. Take a close look at your garage door. Perhaps it is time to seek out a garage door service company for repair, a new door spring, or a complete replacement.

A door that is not functioning properly is a danger and a liability. An average one is likely to weigh three hundred to six hundred pounds. If this falls on a person or an automobile, it can leave quite an impression. Lessening the dangers of a garage door malfunction is the ideal if you want to protect your family, friends, and pets. Cutting corners by doing nothing could eventually cost you more than the value of your home in a lawsuit.

Since the garage door moves by being hoisted onto metal rails up to often ten feet in the air, it can potentially be deadly. If the garage door spring breaks or goes off track, it is possible that the device could fail to stay up and fall to the ground without warning. Having six hundred pounds of metal land on a friend or relative, could cause a lawsuit being filed against you. It is urgent that you find a reliable, trustworthy, and experienced garage door service company to fix any mechanical problems.

Seriously consider when to pay for a garage door repair versus when to replace it. Of course, repair costs less than a replacement. However, if the repair is not done properly, or the door is too far gone, it can end up being a waste of time and money. There are some parts that can be simply repaired.

The door spring is simple to fix, but does require an expert because of the danger involved. Don’t ever try to make this repair yourself. Other examples of reparable problems include broken cables, garage door opener malfunctions, or broken cables and rollers. A door off of its tracks can be adjusted and made to work as good as new.

The key to knowing when to replace the entire door or when to have a repair done is having a trustworthy garage door service company to consult with. Have experts come to evaluate the problems and weaknesses in your system. Allow them to determine if a section replacement is enough or if a new door should be installed. Whatever you decide, be sure to choose an attractive paint color to add beauty to your castle.

Family Safety with Garage Doors

It is very beneficial for homes to have automatic openers and this is proven by millions of users.

The new models are safer than ever, thanks to a new state and federal regulations that became effective on January 1, 1993.

The rules were drawn from the Underwriters Laboratories Standard 325 or UL 325 which entails every home garage door opener that are being fabricated for sale in the US to have optical sensor or door edge sensor. Environmental protection and defect detection needs are also listed in the UL 325.

UL 325 is the basis of all federal and state safety laws. It was pioneered by the Underwriters Laboratories in 1973 as an independent industry standard safety law and then tweaked some of the contents in 1982 and 1988 to also cover safety precautions for electric shock, fire and entrapment hazards.

The activated law in 1990 imposed a law requiring every residential garage door opener

sold in the US to abide by the UL 325 entrapment protection protocols. On the first day of the year 1993, the UL 325 widened the scope furthermore to cover the requirement of an optical sensor or a door edge sensor or a similar tool for garage doors.

This codification is not saying consumers should all buy new garage door models. The only catch is that you cannot find replacement of the parts once these old models become problematic. That is the time they will have no choice but to get safer and more modern designs.

A consumer awareness safety operation was pioneered in addition to the more stringent law that has been passed regarding its openers. To ensure that both garage door and opener are working in a safe and efficient manner, they should be tested on a monthly basis.

Irregularity in the maintenance and problem correction may lead to injuries. Hasty operation and not minding the kids as they play with the garage door opener controls are practices most likely leading to a catastrophic consequence.

The steps to take to keep your family and friends safe from harm are not really hard. It is too risky and may even have a tragic ending. Children should not be allowed near transmitters or wall controls.

Discuss safety with your children. Give the door your full attention until it is completely closed. Discipline kids as to not playing near or below an open garage door.

Maintaining the Garage Door

Whether you have a traditional garage door, or a sectional garage door, you will need to do regular maintenance to keep it working at its best.

Below are some of the ways you can keep your garage door working in great condition.

Check the Operation of the Door

One of the first things you will want to check each time you do maintenance on your garage door, is the actual operation of the garage door itself. Of course, each day you pull in and out of your garage, using your garage door opener, you know that it is working. It goes up and down, as it is supposed to, so it may never occur to you that there still may be a problem or a coming problem at that.

To check the operation properly, you actually want to disable your garage door opener, and check the door manually to see if it is operating appropriately.

Clean Everything

If you need to straighten anything, you want to do that first, but at the same time, you can clean anything that may look like it needs cleaning. Even if you don’t see any visible debris or dirt, it is a good habit to clean the tracks.

Try using an automotive degreaser to get all the dust, grime, and grease that will most likely be present on the tracks themselves. The thing you do want to watch out for is using too much degreaser which in turn will rid of the lubrication the door needs.

After you’ve done a good job cleaning the tracks, you will want to clean the bearings as well. After you have completely cleaned the bearings, using some lubrication to lubricate the wheel bearings. Use a good amount of lubrication while doing this, because this is what lets the door work properly.

Test The Safety Extras

The safety extras are something that should also be checked on a regular basis. One of the most common safety extras on garage doors is the reverse safety. See if any adjustments need to be made to anything in regards to the reverse safety. Simply open the door and set a fairly sizable object, such as a 2×4 in the center of the opening. Push the button to lower the door. If the door stops, and starts going back up at a certain point, your reverse safety should be in good shape, with no adjusting needed. However, if the door continues to shut on, or even close to the object, then that means you will need to do some adjusting to the reverse safety mechanism in your garage door opener.

Above are just some of the routine maintenance that should be done on your garage door. Whether you own a traditional or secitonal garage door, these rules and techniques should be followed to ensure that you have a garage door that opens and shuts appropriately, as well as lasts for a long time.

Garage Door Service: Finding Help!

You don’t realize how much you need and love that garage door opener until the day you hit the button and nothing happens, and you almost smash right into it!

The automatic opener is one of the great conveniences of today, and you don’t realize it until it’s broken. And then it’s time for a little repair.

Unless you know a thing or two about garage door repair, it’s probably best to call a professional. Before you make the call, clean the track and rollers. Sometimes if the door is not moving properly, it’s just because it needs a little cleaning. If that doesn’t fix the problem, it’s time to call a specialist.

What’s the best way to find the right service company? Just like most things, word of mouth is the best way to find what you need. Everybody’s got an automatic door opener. Ask your neighbors, friends and family. Most of them have probably had some sort of problem with their garage doors.

If the service was lacking, they’ll tell you.

The next best way is to use the Internet. Type in “garage door repair” and your local area into a search engine and see what you find. You can also check reviews. Do an Internet search on the company’s name and “reviews.” You can also try the company’s name and “terrible” or “awful” and sometimes turn up something informational!

There are a few things to tell them first. Tell them the specific problem. Also, let them know what kind of opener you have, and about how old it is. Most openers these days are steel, but there are also doors made of wood and other materials. The more they know about it beforehand, the easier it will be for them to fix it when they get there. They’ll probably ask you whether you have an opener with one or two tracks. Some have one track going down the middle, while others have two tracks along the walls.

After looking at your problem, they will fix it and they may try to sell you parts and extra features. It may seem like a scam, but listen to what they offer you. They’re experts, and most times they are not trying to rip you off, but just offering you something they think you can use.

Once you find a service you like, remember them and use them next time you need repairs. It is simple and cheap. Get that door fixed as soon as possible so you can get on with your life!

Garage Door Check-Up

Too often, you don’t pay attention to their garage door or opener until something happens. And it usually happens at the most inopportune time. Like me. Here i’m in the industry and the last time I check on my doors, well it’s embarassing to say how long it’s been. Do what I say and not what I do. Your garage doors should be checked annually to ensure proper operation and replacement of any worn parts.

Here’s what to look for.

1) Always test your door by hand. If you have a garage-door opener, disconnect it from the door by pulling down on the release rope. Run the door up and down, making sure that it is balanced properly (not too heavy to lift or to hard to pull down) and running smoothly with no binding on the door jamb or rollers binding in the track.

2) Check that all hinges and door hardware is securely attached to the door and there are no loose fasteners.

3) Lubricate all hinge points, bushings and roller axles using silicone spray lubricant.

4) Reattach the opener to the door and check the open and close travel limits as well as the function of the safety reversing systems built into your opener.

5) Inspect the inside and outside of your door, verifying the integrity of the paint finish; touch up or repaint as required. Wood doors need to be painted or stained on the inside as well as the exterior to ensure no dampness gets into the wood fibers causing the door to warp.

Temperature extremes (hot and cold) can cause door tracks to expand and contract, which can hinder smooth operation.

Garage-door springs are under extreme tension and can cause serious injury. Spring adjustments and repairs should only be performed by a trained garage-door service technician.