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Garage Door Safety

30,000 people annually are injured by faulty garage door systems

Garage doors can weigh over 400 pounds, and can be potentially lethal. Your garage door is essentially a movable wall and when combined with an automatic garage door opener, it is the largest and perhaps the most dangerous moving object in your home. Reports from the U. S. Consumer Product Safety Commission indicate that over 30,000 people are injured by faulty garage door systems every year. It’s also important to note that these statistics count only those injuries that required medical attention while many other injuries go unreported.

The proper installation, maintenance and testing of these two pieces of equipment are necessary to provide you with safe, trouble-free operation. An improperly adjusted garage door or automatic opener can exert deadly force when the door closes. This could lead to serious injury or death from being hit by a closing garage door or from being trapped under the door.

Take a few minutes to inspect and test your garage door system and make that inspection and testing a part of your regular routine. Safety is everyone's business. If anything is suspected to be unsafe or in need of attention, contact your Precision Garage Door Service professional ASAP.

Testing and Maintainenance

Review your garage door owner's manual. It will provide you with important information on your doors’ specific needs. If you do not have a manual, look for the manufacturer's name and model number on the back of the door or the lock handle. Request a manual from the manufacturer. You should perform routine maintenance steps once a month.

Check our resources area for several owner's manuals you can download for free.

Visual Inspection

  • Look at the garage door springs, cables, rollers, pulleys and other door hardware for signs of wear. Call us today, if you suspect any problems.
  • Garage door springs and cables are under very high tension. If handled improperly, they can cause serious injury and death. Only a certified technician should adjust them. Do not attempt to repair or adjust springs yourself.
  • A safety cable should be installed on all extension springs (the springs mounted above the track) to help contain a spring if it breaks.
  • Never remove, adjust or loosen the screws on the bottom brackets of the door. These brackets are connected to the spring system by the lift cable and are under extreme tension.

garage door line drawing Lubrication

  • Like all mechanical systems, garage doors need regular lubrication.
  • Lubricate the moving parts of the door with a silicon based spray only. However, do not lubricate plastic rollers and plastic bearings. Consult the garage door owner's manual for the manufacturer's recommendations

Door Balance

Periodically test the balance of your garage door.

  • Start with the door closed
  • If you have a garage door opener, use the release mechanism so you can operate the door by hand when doing this test.
  • You should be able to lift the door smoothly and with little resistance. It should stay open around three or four feet above the floor. If it does not, it is out of adjustment. Have it adjusted by a certified technician

If you suspect any problem with your garage door, contact Precision Garage Door Service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week..

Garage Door Opener Testing and Maintainenance

There are routine safety and maintenance steps you should follow once a month. Review your owner's manual for the door opener. If you don't have the owner's manual, look for the opener model number on the back of the power unit and request a manual from the manufacturer.

Reversal test

Make sure your opener has a reversing feature. Garage door openers without this feature need to be replaced. Garage door openers manufactured after January 1, 1993 are required by federal law to have advanced safety features which comply with the latest U.I. 325 standards: Contact us for additional information.

Test the reversing feature every month

  • First, test the balance of the door (see Garage Door testing above). If the door is properly balanced then proceed.
  • With the door fully open, place a roll of paper towels on the floor in the center of the door.
  • Push the remote control or wall button to close the door. The door must reverse when it strikes the roll of paper towels. (Note that the bottom part of 'one piece doors' must be rigid so that the door will not close without reversing).
  • If the door does not reverse, have a certified technician adjust, repair or replace the opener or door.

Force setting test

  • Test the force setting of your garage door opener by holding the bottom of the door as it closes. If the door does not reverse readily, the force may be excessive and need adjusting. See your owners' manual for details on how to make the adjustment. Test the reversing feature after any adjustment.

Call Precision Garage Door Service with additional questions or for information concerning the maintenance of your garage door and your garage door opener. Ask us about the Precision Warranty Maintenance Program.