How to Maximize Home Security Revolving Around Your Garage Door

For homes with an attached garage, the space becomes a large portion of the home itself. While it should be standard to visually inspect your garage door every once in a while to make sure it is in good condition, you can invest in other methods to maximize home security regarding your garage and garage door.

Invest in a Deadbolt Lock for the Door Entering Your Home

With an attached garage, you will have a door that goes from the garage to inside your home. Although you might think that your garage provides you with enough of a safety net to prevent break-ins, you cannot be overly safe. It is best to invest in a deadbolt lock for this door, which you can use to minimize the chance that a criminal is able to get through your garage and into your home successfully.

Hide Your Garage Door Opener in Your Vehicle

It is not uncommon for homeowners to keep their garage door opener in their car, especially out in the open. While it might be easy to have it attached to the visor in the driver seat, you should think about safety first, which means the greatest solution is to hide it where it is not easily found.

Check the Garage Door Before Going to Sleep

Whether you live by yourself or have a family, you should make sure that your garage door is closed before going to sleep. It is a process that takes only a few seconds and it can drastically improve the safety of your home. One of your family members may have forgotten to close the door when they left or after coming inside, and you can prevent this from being an issue with a nightly inspection.

Maximizing security with your garage does not have to be a tough task. If you ever have any questions about your garage or garage door, give our experts a call at (517) 332-1133. Or visit our website!

Garage Door Service Experts Discuss Safety Tips for Parents of Younger Children

The garage door is probably the largest moving piece of your home. Even though your child spends time with you inside or in the backyard, there are times when the youngster will be around when the door opens or closes. Our garage door service experts offer you some tips that help keep the kids safe.

• Talk about garage door safety. You would be surprised to learn how many parents do not tell their children to stand away from the door when it opens or closes. Show the child how the door operates and point out areas where touching may cause pinched fingers. 
• Repair broken down doors quickly. If your door works with coil springs, fix any broken pieces quickly; these doors are hefty without functioning springs and may cause severe injuries. Automatic doors with iffy openers can also create problems. As soon as you notice a hitch, call an expert to handle the repairs. 
• Lead by example. Show your child how to enter and exit the garage safely. We always recommend waiting until an automatic door has come to a complete stop. Then enter or exit. When your child sees you doing so, s/he is much more likely to comply. 
• Keep openers away from children. Because garage door openers are so easy to operate, children delight in making a door go up and down. We suggest putting the garage door openers out of reach of young children. Train older children how to use the opener and to follow your rules of garage access. 

Contact the Overhead Door Company of Lansing today for answers to additional questions about child safety procedures around garage doors or to schedule a repair appointment to fix broken parts.

Discover How a New Garage Door Increases a Home's Sale Price

In the past, we have written about how a new garage door increases curb appeal when selling your home. In a competitive real estate market, you want your home to stand out in the crowd. Buyers have a lot of homes to choose from and even something like an old garage door will have buyers moving on. The question many homeowners have is, "Is the cost of a new garage door worth the investment?"

We all know we must make repairs, improvements and upgrades for the purpose of maintaining our home. We also know many of these projects don't really increase the value. Nonetheless, if you take the time to educate yourself, you will find there are some projects worth doing before placing your home on the market. Two separate reports identify a new garage door as one of the top projects for creating value, increasing a home's resale price.

The first is the Remodeling Impact Report created by the National Association of the Remodeling Industry and the National Association of Realtors. The study ranked a new garage door No. 3 for both exterior projects adding value to a home at resale, and No. 3 for having the most appeal to buyers. They report that with an estimated job cost of $2,300, a new garage door recovers $2,000 at the time of a sale. This is an 87 percent return on investment.

Moreover, Remodeling magazine's 2016 Cost vs. Value report discovered similar results. This study is more focused on the cost of the project rather than the increase in home sale price. However, they found a "midscale garage door replacement" received a 91.5 percent return on investment, and ranked it as their No. 3 overall home improvement for cost vs. value. They also ranked an "upscale garage door" at No. 5 with a 90.1 percent cost vs. value ratio.

Overall, a new garage door is a small investment with a big return. This is especially true if your old one is causing buyers to take a pass. If you would like to talk more about a new garage door, or would like a free estimate, give us a call today! 

New Construction? A Garage Door Contractor Can Get the Project Done!

Building a new house is exciting! As well as scary, stressful, overwhelming, and a lot more emotions than you ever thought possible. After choosing all the finishes for the house, being in constant communication with the general contractor, dealing with delays and roadblocks, most homeowners get to a point where they just can't wait to get the project done. That's understandable, so if you're looking for someone to finish off the garage, a garage door contractor can get the job done quickly.

If you're feeling overwhelmed with all the decisions for the house, take a minute to focus on the garage. While it can be tempting to just choose a boring, inexpensive door, you may regret it in the long run. Your garage door is usually the first thing people see from the street, and it says a lot about the character of your house. So take some time and find a door you love. Maybe it's a standard panel door, or maybe you want to go old school with a solid wood door. You can choose doors made of aluminum, steel, or vinyl too. If you really want to convey a classy and unique look, some carriage doors might be in order.

The good news, is, once you choose your doors, you don't have to think about it again. Installation will be done by professionals who are experts in the field. We can add automatic openers so once you start moving in, you can easily access your garage with the touch of a button.

When you're building a house, it feels like it takes forever, but you will look back and be glad you took the time to pick out garage doors that fit the look of your house, and add to its character.

As a reputable, professional garage door contractor, Overhead Door Co. of Lansing can handle the installation so it's one less thing you have to think about as you finish your dream home. Contact us today to learn about our garage door options and schedule an appointment!

3 Items You Need to Maintain on Your Overhead Doors

Overhead doors are a great addition to any business or home. Not only are they aesthetically appealing, but they are extremely functional as well. For homeowners, they allow them to enter and exit their garage without having to get out of their vehicle. Business owners use them as an entry point for trucks coming into the facility needing to load and unload. They have a whole host of benefits to them. However, you need to make sure your doors are properly maintained to prevent any major disaster from occurring. Here are three items you need to check on a regular basis to prevent any injuries from occurring.

Springs

The springs are what helps the door to bounce up and close down. They guide it along the way by not allowing it to come slamming down to the ground at full force. Without those springs, it would be like a giant weight crashing down with no way to stop it. You need to make sure the springs are working properly at all times. You don't want to end up having the springs break on you and injure someone when the door comes crashing down.

Sensors

The sensor is on the ground on either side of the door. It lets the door know that something is in the way and not to shut down. If they aren't working properly, the door will simply end up closing without caring about what might be in its path. Even though it won't be able to close down all the way, it will definitely try to do so. Cleaning them on a regular basis will help prevent dust and other contaminants from obstructing their view.

Rails

The rails are responsible for keeping the overhead door on track. If they become damaged or worn, you could end up having your door slip off its track and fall to the ground. This could be quite disastrous for anyone in the vicinity. Rails can get damaged from someone hitting into them, worn springs causing too much strain on them and so on. Periodically checking for signs of damage can go a long way in keeping everyone safe.

By taking the time to check the three things above, you can prevent any major disaster from coming your way. These are large items that require a certain amount of components to move and operate. Without those components being in good working order, you could wind up seriously injured. If you are ever in doubt about a component on your overhead door, give us a call! We'd be happy inspect your garage door to ensure that it is working properly and perform any necessary maintenance.

Why Garage Doors Fall off Their Tracks

Is one side of your garage door out of horizontal alignment? If so, don't just shrug it off. One day you may find it lying flat on the garage floor or on top of your car. It's a serious situation, especially if your door is heavy. Even house inspectors are reluctant to get near them. The Internet is full of web pages about people whose garage doors fell and landed on top of their cars which were parked inside the garage.

The Internet is also full of advice such as clamping a door so that it's horizontally level and then adjusting the cables so that they have equal tension. Or if the door has partially popped out of its track, they'll tell you how to pop it back in again.

The problem with both of the above pieces of advice is that they fail to address the underlying cause of the problem. Without doing this, the problem will simply return and possibly hurt someone the next time around. Five of these underlying causes are explained below:

• A broken garage door spring. A door left with a single good spring means that only one side is being held. Opening or closing a door that is cocked like this can cause the door to drop out of its track. This can also happen when one spring is significantly weaker than another. 

• A damaged lift cable. Old lift cables can wear over time and start to break a few strands at a time. This causes the cable to stretch which then causes your door to become misaligned. This continues until the cable breaks while the door is moving. 

• A buckled door panel. This can happen when backing your car out of the garage without first opening the garage door. This is a common mistake made by countless tired or distracted people. The buckled panel warps the door so that it fails to properly move in the tracks. 

• A damaged or warped track. When one of the tracks is damaged or warped, the door hangs up on the side of the bad track. This cocks the door and may pop it off its track. 

• Bad rollers. Rollers can wear out, drop out of the track, or seize up. Worn out or missing rollers mean that the door isn't attached to the track at those points. A seized roller can cause the door to hang up. 

Remember that a horizontally misaligned door won't stay that way forever when the door is in use. It will fail in some way. Hopefully the door will simply get stuck rather than drop off on top of your car or worse. Don't wait for that day to come. Contact Overhead Door Co of Lansing to schedule your garage door maintenance and avoid an emergency situation!

3 Questions to Ask Your Garage Door Contractor

Whether you are looking to install a new garage door or simply need your existing one repaired, chances are you will sooner or later start looking for a garage door contractor. And that's a great choice: with professional help, you can be sure that your installation goes just right, and your repair is done up to standards.

But going with a professional is not the only decision you need to make. Next comes a question that is just as important: how do you pick the right one for your needs? Here are 3 questions you can ask to make sure that's the case:

1) Do You Have a License?

The most important question to ask is related to the credibility of your potential contractor. Do they have any accreditation or memberships that hold them to an acceptable standard? Any contractor call themselves a professional, but only accredited ones can actually get the work done reliably.

2) What's Your Timeline?

Next, find out just how long the project would take. You may have a different idea than your contractor, simply because they know the scope of work better than you do. Especially if you are deciding between different contractors, this question can help you decide which one best suits your needs.

3) How About the Budget?

Finally, you should determine the cost of a contractor. The cheapest option is not always the best, but you also don't want to choose one that will charge twice as much to get you a new garage door as their competitors would. Always try to get a free estimate, which tries to help you plan your own budget better.

Choosing the best garage door contractor for your needs is a crucial part to getting the job done right. Fortunately, the above three questions can help you accomplish just that, getting you one step closer to that perfectly functioning, great looking garage door.

Overhead Door Company of Lansing is licensed and insured, and a member of many professional associations. Give us a call today to learn more about our services and how we can help you with your next garage door project!