Garage Door Safety Tips

You may have bought and installed a garage door recently and thought, 'That's one thing I can cross off my list for 10 years.' In some ways you're right, but garage doors are used every day and there are plenty of ways to make sure they’re in safe and working order. Check out our tips for ensuring your garage door is in top shape!

1. Complete a Visual Inspection: One of the easiest and most effective ways of catching some obvious issues with your garage door is by inspecting the door itself once per month. Look at the springs, door itself, cables and pulleys! If anything looks out of order, make sure to call a garage door professional in to take a second look.
2. Test the Reversing Mechanism on Your Garage Door: Place a board in the door's path and close the garage door. If your door doesn't reverse after contacting the object, make sure to call an expert to inspect the door.
3. Never Leave Your Garage Door Partially Open: This may seem like a no-brainer, but don't leave your garage door partially open. In addition to being a security risk, when re-activating that door, it could come in contact with any objects underneath or in its path!
4. Look at the Manual: When most people purchase a garage door, they overlook the manual! However, you can learn lots of ways to maintain your garage door's safety and security through the manual. Additionally, you can learn how to use the emergency release mechanism. If your power is out and you need to leave your home, your doors can be changed to automatic with the emergency release. The manual can be extremely useful in a lot of situations.
5. Keep Your Remote Up and Away From Children: Remember to keep the controller away from small children and explain that these controls are not toys!
6. Stay Away from Broken Springs: These springs are under high tension and require special tools to replace!

Our seasoned garage door professionals here at Overhead Door Co. of Lansing can make sure that your garage door remains efficient and safe! Contact us today for service!

Your Garage Door Can Save You Money on Your Heating Bills

Selecting a garage door that is right for your home might also be right for your heating bills! Purchasing an insulated garage door is a smart investment for your home. This purchase can save you years of aggravation and money spent on maintenance and astronomically high heating bills.

Basic garage doors run the risk of leaving your garage either extremely hot in the summer months or unbearably cold in the winter. This, unfortunately, raises your energy bills! The wall that separates your home and your garage allows the hot or cold air from outside to infiltrate your home, which, in turn, causes your HVAC system to kick into overdrive, working harder to counteract the temperature fluctuations. Insulating your garage could save you hundreds of dollars per year in energy costs.

You may be thinking that it's a lot of money to insulate your garage and it may be a major investment you're not ready for. One thing that you can do is 'weatherize' your door. Weather-stripping and/or caulking your garage doors could help! You should never make your garage air-tight (you want exhaust fumes to escape outside of your home), but you do want to make sure that you can seal the cracks and gaps between your garage and home.

Insulating your garage door could save you hundreds of dollars per year in energy costs and the investment would eventually pay for itself! If you're unsure whether or not an insulated garage door would make a large difference in your energy costs, just ask your Overhead Door professionals!