Over 30,000 people are injured from garage doors yearly. If you do not have a garage door with the property safety features and updated equipment, you are at-risk. The garage door is the largest moving object in the house, which is why it is important to ensure that it is working correctly. At Advanced Door, we have seen our fair share of garage door accidents and injuries. Here are some safety tips to keep your garage door safe.
Clean the Safety Sensors
There are two safety sensors on the bottom of the garage door rails. The safety sensors are normally six inches from the ground, and designed to cause the garage door to open again if something crosses in front of the laser that is pointed from one sensor to the other. If a person or animal accidentally crosses in front of the sensor, the door will stop and reverse immediately. Check on your sensors to see if this is working. If it is not, contact our Ogden, Salt Lake, or Logan office for garage door repair.
The auto-reverse feature was added in 1991 to all new garage doors. If you have a model that is older than 1991, call us immediately to have it replaced with the new safety features.
Do Not Share Passwords
Passwords make it nicer for families who have children that need to get into the garage with a code. Codes are a great way to ensure only certain people can get into the garage, but you need to be mindful of who has the code. Some openers do have user-specific codes designed to keep people from opening them if they do not have the right passcode. Some of our latest models include a phone app that you can use to control your garage door from your smartphone.
Never Hang on the Door
A major issue we often face is how to keep children from hanging on garage doors. While it might look like a fun ride to children spells serious disaster for the garage door, and the child. It is important to educate children that garage doors are not rides, and they can easily end up in the hospital. The garage door isn’t meant to hold a lot of weight, so additional weight can place too much strain on the spring and system, causing it to break.
Children and Garage Door Safety
Going on a garage door ride is a common issue, but the other injury that often happens with a garage door is having a finger get caught in the track or pinched between panels. Always educate children when they are around garage doors about the risks and dangers of the door. Some of the modern garage doors include pinch protection to prevent major injuries.
Check on the Force
The force of the garage door is something that needs to be checked. If the door doesn’t stop when you push it down when it is rising, the force needs to be adjusted. The force settings are normally easy to adjust, but there are times when you need to hire a professional. If the garage door isn’t working properly and it is not updated with safety settings, it’s time for a replacement. Contact Advanced Door today for all your garage door repair needs in Northern Utah!