Friday, September 16, 2011

3 Essential Safety Tips for Garage Doors

As the heaviest moving item in most homes, garage doors can be the source of many injuries and accidents. By taking appropriate safety measures, however, you’ll not only keep your garage door working properly, but will also prevent such accidents or injuries from happening. Your family’s safety should always be kept in mind, and following safety tips will definitely go a long way in keeping your garage door safe for your family.  Read more about our local Folsom garage door services.
Here are some of the things that you should consider:
  1. Child Safety
Children can become injured when their fingers get pinched by door panels or when the garage door closes above them. The probability of children getting injured by a garage door grows higher when children spend a large amount of time playing in the garage.
Always be sure to keep your garage child-safe. Never leave the garage door remote control or the opener control button within the reach of young children.  Make sure to talk to your children about playing safe in the garage. If you have very young children or toddlers, it’s highly recommended that you install child-safe door panels that do not pinch small fingers.
  1. Emergency Preparedness
Injuries from accidents can become worse when you are not prepared to respond to such emergencies or accidents. It’s a big help if you and your family members learn beforehand how to operate the emergency release features of your garage door. Test the door’s emergency release feature and make sure that your door is properly balanced and can easily be opened and closed manually when the emergency release is used.  Check out our Granite Bay garage door repair page about a free estimate for garage door repairs.
  1. Regular Maintenance
Make it a regular monthly habit to inspect your garage door for signs of wear and malfunction. Just look closely at all door parts especially the springs, cables and pulleys. You can also prevent the accumulation of rust by regularly applying a thin coating of lubricant or oil on the door parts. If you notice anything that looks suspicious, contact a garage door repairman to check and repair your garage door. Do not attempt to repair or replace the parts on your own without first consulting a professional as the high tension in the door parts require a trained hand.
 So there we have it. By following these safety measures, you’ll be able to prevent many of the most common injuries and accidents that happen with garage doors.