How to Prevent Garage Door Injury Mishaps
Written by: Superior Garage Doors
One overlooked area of a home is the garage. Worn, or malfunctioning, garage doors have killed and injured many homeowners. A simple inspection or garage door repair in Duluth, GA can guarantee that you will have a longer lasting, and safe, overhead door to keep you and your family safe.
Safety Concerns
Many injuries occur, especially to children, when a closing garage door fails to stop and reverse direction when it comes into contact with something in the way. Typically, this is because the down force of the garage setting is too high. The setting that controls the down force is on the back of the opener that usually has a numerical adjustment rate that the repair specialist sets, based on your preference – typically a number ranging from one to ten. However, you should always keep in mind that not every device that opens and closes the garage door is necessarily safe. Some of the older models are fitted with a type of mechanism that only stops the door from closing when it comes into contact with an object, not reversing the door afterwards. If you happen to run into this problem, contact a company that does garage door repair in Kennesaw, GA. By doing so, you could potentially be saving yourself, or your family, from serious harm.
Down Force Testing
A simple test can be done to check the proper down force. Start out with the garage door fully open, as well as attached to the opener. Under the middle of the door, place a thick piece of wood, or a block, flat on the floor. Electric garage door openers should function in a way that the door reverses upon hitting the wood with only a minimal amount of pressure. If the door does not reverse, decrease the amount of down force by turning the control counter clockwise – be sure that you pay attention to the numbers as you turn the control. After each adjustment, be sure that you run the opener through a complete cycle for safety purposes. Also, be sure that you do not increase the total force beyond the minimum amount required to close the door. This can cause the garage door system to malfunction, and you may end up having to invest in hiring a garage door service in Atlanta, GA.
