The overhead door can be considered as one of the most used moving apparatus in a home.
It is usually the first and last thing to be opened when entering or leaving the house.
It allows for safe-guarding valuable cars from various elements like rain, snow, and sunny weather.
Garage doors also protect cars from intruders and other unfortunate incidents that may or may not happen.
Unfortunately, overhead doors can also be the one that causes inconvenience and problems.
Most people care not to think about their overhead doors’ safety features.
When an overhead door decides to break at the wrong time, it may cause severe damage to property, or worse, to a person.
With these being said, it is essential to install some safety measures when operating an overhead door.
Here are some important safety measures to consider when getting an overhead door for one’s property.
Motion Detector
These detectors operate using laser rays to detect motion from cars, people, or any motion-enabled entities which relay the information to the overhead garage door to keep it opened, or closed, depending on the settings.
Motion detectors can be used for automatically lighting the garage for convenience.
Motion detection lights can also be utilized for safety when an intruder tries to enter the house through the garage.
Garage doors should be equipped with motion detection sensors for added safety and peace of mind of the owner of the property.
Manually-controlled Garage Door
Most overhead garage doors nowadays are controlled by a computer-controlled motor that can open and close the door by a push of a button.
On occasion, these motorized garage doors will run into some sort of trouble.
It can be because of a power outage, a broken motor, or an obstructed moving part.
These sorts of scenarios can cause significant delays and inconvenience to a person who needs his car out of the garage to go somewhere.
In these situations, it is crucial to possess a manual override system for the door where a person can open and close it by hand and not rely on the motorized system.
Auto-Reverse Feature
A few decades ago, a lot of overhead doors did not have the auto-reverse function.
This had resulted in a dozen serious injuries, a trip to the hospital, and some even resulted in deaths.
This led to having an auto-reverse feature on the overhead garage mandatory by federal law.
An auto-reverse feature on a garage door will automatically detect if something is obstructing the pathway of the door.
If the auto-reverse feature detects something, it will automatically roll back the door to its open position.
This feature will help families have peace of mind whenever their children play near the garage.
A test run of this feature is also necessary to ensure it is in proper working condition.
Place a wooden block to the overhead door’s pathway to obstruct it.
If the auto-reverse feature is operational, when trying to close it, it should revert to its open position.
If it doesn’t and would continue to close despite the obstruction, it means the auto-reverse feature is non-functional.
Should this happen, contact a garage door repair professional immediately to get it righted.
Annual Preventive Maintenance
It is understood that overhead doors also require preventive measures to keep it functioning as it should.
One of the most essential features an overhead door should have is the ability to keep all of it’s moving parts running perfectly without missing a beat every time.
These overhead doors comprise hundreds of moving parts that require proper lubrication, metals to keep rust-free, and metal sheets to keep dent-free.
Regularly performing a visual inspection for obvious small damages such as rusts, paint chipping, and metal denting, and getting it repaired right away will prevent bigger issues.
Unusual sounds like pops and crackles that the overhead door does not usually make should also be checked.
These sounds could mean a particular moving part is not performing as it should.
These damaged moving parts should be replaced as soon as possible to prevent further damages to the entire system.
If in case the garage door problems persist, professional door services are available for contact in Edmonton, Leduc, Spruce Grove, and Stony Plain.
