Automated Garage Door Safety

Automated garage doors are convenient after a long day at the office or in bad weather, but heavy doors controlled electronically can pose a safety threat to family members. Use these tips for keep garage doors safe to avoid personal injury or damage to a home when using an automated garage door.

Test the reverse feature of the door.

Modern automated garage doors are equipped with a safety feature that causes the door to reverse direction if an object is in the way of the door. This feature can be valuable in keeping pets and children safe if the door is accidentally closed when an animal or person is standing in the path of the closing door.

In order to ensure that the reverse feature is working correctly, place a soft, flexible item that will not break or cause a mess in the doorway when the door is open. A roll of paper towels works well for this test. Close the garage door on the roll of towels, and observe whether the door reverses as soon as it hits the roll.

The timing of the reverse will depend on the age of the garage door. Newer doors are equipped with an electronic eye that enables the door to reverse well before contact with the object even takes place. Older models that are equipped with a reverse feature will not reverse direction until making contact with the object. Professional repairs will be necessary if the door does not reverse direction.

Keep up with basic maintenance to improve safety.

The tracks on automated garage doors must be thoroughly cleaned and oiled periodically in order to keep the door in working condition. Tracks that collect dirt could result in a blocked door that may pose a safety hazard.

Check manufacturer’s suggestions in order to determine how often the tracks should be cleaned. Some manufacturers recommend cleaning as frequently as once a month. While this amount of maintenance may seem overwhelming, the cleaning process is relatively quick and can prolong the life of a garage door.

Understand how to manually open a garage door.

In case of emergency, a garage door may need to be opened without the use of the automatic opening feature. While most homeowners with garages know how to open a garage door manually, this is not necessarily true for all occupants of a home.

Review the steps to be taken to open a garage door manually with anyone who may be spending time in the garage. Manually opening a garage door can be beneficial during a power outage or when the automatic opener simply malfunctions.

Keeping family members safe around an automated garage door is a matter of testing safety features, maintaining the door and educating occupants of a home about using a garage door. Remember to keep controls out of the reach of children, and consider installing a keypad that can open the door if openers are misplaced. Automated garage doors are convenient and add to personal comfort, but understanding safety around these doors is a must.

James Reynolds is a Toronto blogger who has recently converted to automated garage doors. He suggests using Automated Garage Doors Mississauga to install and repair garage doors.