Safety Tips for Garage Doors | Easy Flip Garage Doors

Garage Door Safety Tips

Here are some helpful safety tips. 

This list is not intended to be a comprehensive list of every safety precaution. 

Always consult your manufacturer’s installation or instruction manual for safety information about your model.

1. REPLACE OLD SPRINGS

Your garage door’s springs are arguably the most important and most dangerous part of your door. Springs wear out. 

 

When they break, injury can result. If you have an older garage door, have your springs inspected by a professional technician and replaced if needed. 

 

If your door has two springs, replace both, even if one is not broken. 

 

This will not only prevent any damage caused by the breaking of the second spring, but also keep your door working efficiently.

Garage Door Spring Repair

2. CHECK YOUR CABLES

 

Visually inspect the cables that attach the spring system to the bottom brackets on both sides of the door. 
If these cables are frayed or worn, they are in danger of breaking, which can cause injury. 
Due to the dangers associated with high spring tension, these cables should be replaced only by a trained technician.
Frayed Garage Door Cables

3. SQUEAKY SPRING

Springs can squeak and be noisy. 

 

This is caused by normal use and does not necessarily indicate a problem.

 

Before calling a professional service technician, use a spray-on lubricant (recommended especially for garage doors). 

 

If the noise persists, call a professional garage door installer for service.

Squeaky springs garage doors

4. DO-IT-YOURSELFER, EH?

 

Installing a garage door can be very dangerous and is not recommended for a novice. 
DASMA (Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association) recommends that trained door systems technicians install garage doors. 
If you attempt the installation by yourself, be sure to follow the manufacturer’s installation instructions carefully.

5. SAFETY CABLES

If your garage door has extension springs, you need a safety cable that runs through the spring and secures to the wall or ceiling at each end. 

 

When your garage door is down, extension springs are under high tension. 

 

If the spring breaks, it may cause injury. 

 

A safety cable can keep that broken spring contained. 

 

If you have extension springs but do not have a safety cable, call your local dealer for a safety inspection.

garage door safety cable replacement toronto

6. STRUGGLING DOOR?

 

If your door does not go up and down smoothly, you may have an unsafe condition. 
Even older door systems should operate smoothly.
If the awkward operation continues when the door is manually operated, you may have a spring system that is out of balance. 
This can cause premature wear and tear on other important door components.
Spring systems are dangerous and should be repaired only by trained professionals.
struggling garage door repair fix

7. WATCH YOUR FINGERS!

Every year, many unsuspecting homeowners injure their fingers by placing them between the door sections to pull down on the door. 

 

According to DASMA Standard 116, if your door lacks pinch-resistant joints, you should have lift handles or suitable gripping points on the inside and outside of the door. 

 

Even if your door has an opener, the door must occasionally be operated manually. 

 

Never place your fingers between the door sections. 

 

If you manually open or close the door, use the handles or the safe gripping points!

struggling garage door repair fix

8. TAMPER RESISTANT BRACKETS

 

Since the bottom brackets on a garage door are connected to the door’s springs, these brackets are under extreme tension. 
They should be adjusted or loosened only by a trained door systems technician.
Many manufacturers now include tamper resistant hardware that prevents loosening of the brackets by a novice.
garage door tamper resistant brackets
garage door track repair toronto

9. USE OLD TRACKS?

 

When buying a replacement garage door, some homeowners are tempted to save a few dollars by putting the new door on the old track. 
However, your old track may not fit with your new door, depending on the thickness of your sections, the weight of the door, the headroom required, the location of the garage door opener, and other considerations. 
The track and sections work together as a system. 
For maximum performance and long life, you should use the track that is designed for your specific door.

10. REGULAR MAINTENANCE SERVICE

 

Your garage door is probably the largest moving part in your home and is typically used every day. 
Over time, parts can wear out and break, creating potential safety problems. Although you should provide monthly safety checks and maintenance to your garage door system, an annual visit from a trained door systems technician can keep your door operating safely and smoothly for a long time.
garage door track repair toronto
garage door manual

11. MAN THE MANUAL

 

Keep the owner’s manuals for your door and opener hanging near the door for easy reference. 
Every model of door and opener has specific safety instructions unique to that model. 
Where is your manual?

SHARING OUR KNOWLEDGE

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GARAGE DOOR PROBLEMS

✓ Broken Springs

✓ Broken Drums 

✓ Broken Cables 

✓ Broken Rollers 

✓ Rusted Bottom Brackets 

✓ Damaged Section 

✓ Broken Torsion Tube 

✓ Crooked Door 

✓ Need Strut

GARAGE DOOR OPENER PROBLEMS

✓ Chain came off 

✓ Opener not working 

✓ Remote not working 

✓ Keypad not working 

✓ Opener wont open or close 

✓ Safety eyes problem 

✓ Broken sprocket Stripped gear

broken or loose cables

BROKEN OR LOOSE CABLES

 

It is through the cables that we find the high-pressure work of the spring getting transferred to lift the door. 

 

Cables bear the weight of the door when the door gets closed. 

 

The cable can break or come off of its spool.

SYMPTOM(S)

The door opens or closes unevenly or shows visible signs of cables fraying or becoming loose, or disconnected. 

 

REMEDY

Call us right now and one of our experienced technicians will fix the problem. Get to the root of the cause to prevent the problem from happening again.

broken garage door springs

BROKEN GARAGE DOOR SPRINGS

 

The most common issue that you will face with your garage is broken spring and this can lead the door to stop working. 

 

The torsion springs actually are the main component in the garage door opener and the hardest working part of the whole Garage door system.

 

The opener does only a fraction of the actual lifting that is necessary to move your garage door. 

 

Therefore, if the torsion spring stretches and breaks, the garage door opener will not be able to function and open the door. 

SYMPTOM(S) 

The symptoms of trouble with broken garage door springs include the door operating. 

 

There are 2 kinds of springs: 

 

1) Torsion Spring -These springs are placed just above the garage door and can expand or contract as the door raises or is lowered. It looks like firmly coiled springs. 

 

2) Extension Spring -These springs are positioned on the right and left sides of the garage doors and can stretch out and expand as the garage door lowers and contracts when opening. 

 

REMEDY

Do not try to operate the door as this is a safety hazard. Damaged springs can cause the garage door to crash down or injure someone. 

 

 

Get in touch with us who will fix the issue within the same day or within 24 hours.

garage door rollers need to be reset or replaced

GARAGE DOOR ROLLERS NEED TO BE RESET OR REPLACED

 

The garage door rollers are responsible for the smooth operation of the doors. 

 

These rollers are held in position with the help of brackets that are fixed to your garage and to the track. 

 

Those garage doors over a decade old have faced several environmental factors and build up from dust, lubricants, and oil. All these factors can start to take their toll and wear out those rollers. 

 

The quality of the rollers gets hampered and they can slip off the track from time to time.

SYMPTOM(S)

You find your garage door making an excessive amount of noise when opening and closing and does not ride up and down smoothly. It might also seem to shake. 

 

REMEDY 

 

Call our expert and well-trained technicians right now to fix the issue and act immediately for safety aspects and other reasons.

safety sensor malfunction or miss-alignment

SAFETY SENSOR MALFUNCTION OR MISS-ALIGNMENT

 

 

Another common issue with a garage door is that it stops and then reverses if you want to close it. 

 

It also makes some clicking noise, accompanied by the opener light flashing. 

 

This clearly means that the safety sensors are out of alignment and the garage door will not close. 

 

As one side of the track acts as the receiving eye sensor and the other side sends the signal, if any one of these sensors are knocked out of alignment, the receiving end will not get the signal. 

 

This triggers the door to turn around.

SYMPTOM(S)

The door goes back up when you hit the wall button in order to close the door. You have to press the button down until the door shuts.  

 

REMEDY

 

It is essential to keep the red lights on the sensors are on. 

 

Make manual adjustments if you see a flicker until lights are lit. 

 

If you still face the problem persists, it is essential to call us, the experts as there could be a bigger issue with the opener, for example, a circuit board problem. 

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