Most families use their garage about three to four times a day. This means that their garage door will go up and down about 1,000 to 1,500 times throughout the course of a year. That is a lot of opportunities for an accident to happen. If not taken care of properly, garage doors can quickly become a huge safety concern. In fact, the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) reports that emergency rooms treat over 15,000 people suffering from garage door injuries every year. Avoid becoming another statistic by using these proven garage door tips to keep your entire family safe.
Check the Safety Sensors
You can find the safety sensors for the garage door about six inches off the ground attached to the rails where the garage door goes up and down. The main job of these safety sensors is to prevent the garage door from closing if it senses a person or animal walking underneath it. Test your garage door safety sensors by first pushing the button to close the garage door, and then placing an object in front of one of the sensors before the door closes. Properly working safety sensors should stop immediately and reverse once the beam is blocked. If this does not happen, call a qualified garage door repair company in Florida to schedule an appointment for any needed repairs.
Watch Your Fingers
Over 7,500 injuries from fingers getting stuck in between garage doors are reported yearly by NEISS. While some newer garage doors come with “pinch protection” that greatly reduces the risk of these injuries, it is still important to teach kids to not stick their hands in between the panels of a garage door when it is closing.
Give Your Garage Door a Monthly Inspection
Garage door springs need to be strong enough to lift the door and hold it up so that it does not fall down. Look them over about once a month in order to make sure the springs are not rusted. If they look like they are in poor condition, schedule a garage door broken spring replacement. You should also check how the pulley system is holding up at least once a month. This will help prevent a garage door spring from accidentally snapping and causing a serious injury. Keep in mind that the main garage door springs are under a ton of tension, and should only be adjusted by a licensed and trained garage door repair technician.
Hire a Garage Door Professional
At the end of the day, you want your garage door to be safe and reliable. Here at 24 Garage Doors, we want the same thing. We have highly skilled professionals that are licensed in garage door services, have all the latest garage door safety training, and are up to date with all the new products when it comes to garage door repairs.
If you are concerned about the safety of your garage door, our technicians are more than happy to come perform an inspection and make any necessary repairs. Give us a call at (888) 266-2870.
