Basic Garage Door Safety Tips
Particularly if you have children or pets in the home, the garage door is an area where safety is very important. As one of the largest and heaviest pieces of hardware in the home, plus one that moves on a regular basis, it’s important that everyone in the house knows how to be safe around the garage area.
At Price’s Guaranteed Doors, we can help you with this and much more as part of our residential garage door service. We’ll go over all the basic parts of your door, from the garage spring to hinges, tracks and the all-important opener to make sure you’re fully informed on how your door works and precautions to take around it. On top of that, here are some additional tips we can offer for ensuring everyone is safe around your garage door.
Visibility and Area Check
Anytime you need to open the garage door, particularly when coming home in the car, make sure you can see the door before you push the opener button. Your remote will often work even when you can’t see the door, but you should first check for things like pets, children, other cars or any other objects that might be in the way – or that the door might close on if it’s already sitting open. This kind of safety check is more important than saving a few seconds on how long it takes to get inside the garage.
While in Motion
Remind everyone in the home never to walk under a garage door while it’s in motion, no matter how quickly or safely you think you’re doing so. If you have pets who cannot stop running under the garage as it moves, either train them out of this or consider not allowing them near the garage. If you ever have to close the garage from inside, never do so and then run to escape the garage as it closes – rather, close the garage and then use another doorway in the house to leave through.
Manual Doors
If you have a garage door with no motor that requires manual lifting and closing, take extra care here. Children should never be allowed to operate this door under any circumstances. Always watch your fingers and use the handle that’s on the door, and always be sure to lock it properly after closing.
Not Toys
With children or their friends, regular reminders might be needed that the garage is not a toy. This extends to items like the garage opener or any other elements they can reach or touch. Kids should never be allowed to play with wall buttons or keypads. And as we noted above, pets should either be trained to deal with the garage or kept away from it.
Regular Inspections
Regularly do a visual inspection on your garage to make sure nothing is clearly broken, plus spend some time listening to it to discern if anything sounds different. If you’re unsure whether a given area has a problem, contact our pros for help.
For more on staying safe around the garage door, or to learn about any of our garage door repair or other services, speak to the pros at Price’s Guaranteed Doors today.