How to Prevent Garage Door Impact Accidents

Are you aware of how heavy your garage door actually is? Of course, the exact amount of weight will vary from door to door, due to differences in size, thickness and material. That said however, the majority of garage doors tend to weigh over 180kg- and that’s around the average weight of an adult male lion!

Now that we’ve put that into perspective for you, imagine what it would be like to have a fully grown lion falling on top of your vehicle, or worse, you or another family member. No doubt, automatic garage doors inject a whole lot of convenience into our everyday lives. However, their advanced safety features are what makes these hefty pieces of machinery suitable for use in our own homes. Without the proper safety features, garage doors would carry a lot more risk than they do today. Moreover, having improperly installed or malfunctioning garage doors could also pose as a bit of a risk towards our safety.

As stated by the Australian Garage Door Association, Garage doors are the largest and heaviest moving item in your house with the potential to cause serious harm if neglected. So, if you want to prevent garage door impact accidents and maintain your garage door as a safely functioning structure, it’s important for you to take note of the following tips:

Have Your Garage Door Professionally Installed

A DIY approach can be excellent for a lot of things; home renovations, garden projects, furniture building, the list goes on. But when it comes to getting your garage door installed, a DIY approach is never encouraged. This is due to the fact that a full garage door installation is different to simply performing minor repairs. There are specific tools required for the job that generally only professionals will already have on their hands. Consequently, you would be forced to fork out a hefty sum of money just to get your hands on some tools that you would only be using for that one occasion. Since it’s unlikely that you’d have any prior experience, it could also lead to confusion, delays, and mistakes that may jeopardise your entire installation altogether. Going for professional garage door installation is the best thing you can do to ensure your garage door is installed safely, quickly, and properly.

Test the Safety Features

It’s always a good idea to test your door’s safety features from time to time, to ensure that they’re working in the right way. One of the most popular types of safety features used in modern doors is the reverse mechanism, which forces the door to retract if an object is detected underneath the garage door. To test this mechanism, all you have to do is place an object beneath the door and wait and see if it will stop and reverse. In addition to this, you may also have a Photo Eye installed, which would allow your garage door to reverse even if its sensor light beam was damaged by an obstruction. To test this feature, simply wave your arms beneath the door where the Photo Eye’s beam is located. If you suspect either feature is damaged, you should contact a garage door technician pronto.

Inspect Your Door Monthly

Inspecting your garage door from time to time is a great way to identify any minor issues before they have the chance to develop into costly repairs or replacements. You should inspect your garage door springs, cables, rollers, and other hardware for rust and corrosion at least every month, as leaving this undealt with can compromise on your garage door’s safety level. If one of these integral components were to malfunction, it could affect your garage door’s ability to open or close safely and properly when you need it to do so.

At Professional Garage Door Services, we provide 24/7 emergency services to address all your urgent garage door needs, including maintenance and repair, as well as providing prompt and reliable garage door installation services. So, if you’re ever in need of a fast solution at an inconvenient time, be sure to contact the experts at Professional Garage Door Services today!