Maintenance and Safety Tips
- Before you purchase a garage door opener, be sure that your garage ceiling has enough clearance. 12 inches of clearance is required between the top of the door jamb & the ceiling.
- Never try to replace or adjust a garage door spring on your own. Serious injury or even death may occur.
- When measuring your garage door, measure the door from door jamb to door jamb, across & top to bottom.
- In order to install a new garage door on your home, your garage does not have to be clean. However, when the door is in the upward position, the area underneath should be free of all hazards - from the driveway to the back of the tracks. This ensures the safety of your belongings, as well as the safety of the installer.
- Lubricate your springs annually. By spraying a gel lubricant across the spring each year, you will reduce the friction on the spring and prevent premature breakage.
- Springs are more likely to break during the change of seasons. This is due
to the contraction of the metal. When the springs are suddenly cold and contracted, they will break more easily when the door is in motion.
- Disconnect your garage door from the garage door opener periodically. If the door does not operate smoothly or falls back down (whether it is a few inches or feet), you may need tension added to the springs in order to prevent premature operator wear. Call for service and have a professional adjust this.
- Slide locks on a garage door with an opener are not a good idea. By having both, you risk someone locking the door with the slide lock and not disengaging the opener. If the opener attempts to lift the door while locked this will cause breakage of the opener or door or both.
- Never hang bicycles or lawn and garden equipment from your garage ceiling where it may interfere with the operation of the door or repair of a door.
- When considering adding additional storage cabinets in your garage, be sure to leave plenty of room between the top of the cabinets & the garage door tracks. If your tracks ever need replaced in the future, permanent storage cabinets may cause obstruction. Just because there is room for the track doesn't mean there is room for tools.
- Do a visual inspection of your door and hardware each year. If you suspect problems have a qualified technician make adjustments or repairs.
- Teach children not to walk, stand, or run under a moving door. Even with all of today's safety features, children may be injured.
