Is Your Garage Door Secure?

Unfortunately, there are people in the world that will try to enter your home and steal your belongings if the opportunity arises. If you have an attached garage, potential intruders may look for weaknesses in your garage door security to gain access to your home. It is important to ensure that your garage door and opener are offering the best defense against intruders and thieves – here are a few tips to keep your garage doors secure.

  • Remote lock. Does your garage door opener allow you to lock your door remotely? While the door should lock automatically when closed, you want the ability to control locking and security features. Newer garage door openers offer smartphone apps that help you manage your garage door security, even when you are not home.
  • Revolving security codes. If you have an older garage door remote, it may not have revolving codes that protect you from invasion. Talk to your local garage door service company – they can check to make sure your opener has rolling or revolving security codes that are difficult to duplicate.
  • Battery backup. Don’t let a power outage put you at risk. Get battery backup for your garage door opener to ensure your security stays tight when there is a storm or other causes of power outages. This also ensures you have easy access in and out of your garage when there is no power to your home.

Modern garage door openers have incredible features to help keep your home and garage secure. Talk to your local garage door repair company about upgrading your opener to give you more options to keep your home and family safe.

Posted on behalf of: 
Habpro Garage Doors
Snellville, GA
770-985-3355

Troubleshooting a Garage Door That Does Not Close

One of the most common and frustrating problems with automated garage doors is when they refuse to close. This usually happens at the worst possible time, when you are already running late for work or have an important appointment. You cannot leave your home with your garage door wide open, so what do you do? Here are a few of the most common causes of this frustrating issue, so the next time it happens you can troubleshoot the problem.

  • Sensors. As a safety feature, automated garage doors use photo-sensors to ensure nothing is under the door before it closes. However, if these sensors get dirty or are not aligned, they can prevent the door from closing when no obstacles are present. These sensors are located on either side of the garage door. If you don’t have time to fix the issue when it occurs, you can usually override this feature by using the wall unit, holding the button until the door closes.
  • Vacation or lock-out mode. Many garage door openers have a vacation or lock-out mode that can accidentally be triggered. These switches will disable the remote, meant to keep out intruders. If this is the problem, you should be able to close the door by using the wall unit. The vacation or lock-out option should also be located on the wall unit and can be turned off to allow the remote to work.
  • Remote issue. A faulty garage door remote is another common culprit when doors refuse to close. The batteries may need to be replaced, or you could be facing another remote-related issue. Once again, you should still be able to use the wall unit until the remote can be evaluated and repaired.

These are a few of the most common reasons a garage door will not close. If the problem is not resolved, you may need to call your local garage door service company to inspect your garage door and opener to find and repair the issue.

Posted on behalf of Habpro
Dacula, GA 30019
(770) 985-3355

 

Straining Garage Door Opener

If your notice that your garage door opener seems to be straining to open the door, you need to investigate a little further to find the source of the problem. It could be the opener wearing out or a problem with the door, but whatever it is you should have it fixed.  Otherwise, at a minimum your opener could wear out prematurely but more importantly, you may have a broken spring and the door could potentially come crashing down on someone or on your car.

The first think to check is whether the door operates properly when opened manually.  With the door in the down position, disconnect the door from the opener by pulling on the red handle.  Don’t do it with the door open – if the springs are broken the door could come crashing down.

Garage doors are much heavier than most people realize – typically 200 to 400 pounds.  That’s why they use springs to help lift the load so the door can be opened manually and to take the strain off of your opener.  If the springs are properly adjusted, the door should open easily by hand and should stay in any position.

If the door seems very heavy, you probably have a broken spring and you need to call a professional garage door technician with experience in garage door repairs.  Never try to remove or adjust the springs or disconnect the cable that attaches the spring to the door.  The springs are under a lot of pressure and can cause serious injury or death.

If the door doesn’t seem too heavy, but sticks or is difficult to open and close, the tracks should be adjusted and the rollers lubricated until the door opens easily.  You may be able to make some simple adjustments yourself or call in the pros.

Finally, if the door operates easily by hand, it’s probably time for a new opener.  If in doubt, have the door check out by a good garage door technician.

Garage Door Maintenance Tips

You rely on your garage door to operate properly day in and day out.  When you push the garage door opener button, you expect the door to either open or close without any problems.  Fortunately, most garage doors will operate reliably for years with only a little bit of simple maintenance.  Here are a few tips to keep your garage door working great and avoiding costly garage door repairs.

Lubricate the hinges, rollers, and latches with a little bit of light oil.  Make sure each roller and hinge moves freely.  If any of the rollers or hinges are bound up, they should be replaced.  Tighten any loose bolts or screws.

With the door in the closed position, disconnect the garage door opener and see if the door opens easily by hand.  If not, the spring tension probably needs to be adjusted.  Misadjusted springs will cause your garage door opener to work too hard and it will wear out prematurely.  If the springs need to be adjusted, you should let a professional garage door service handle it.  The springs are under a lot of pressure and can easily cause an injury if improperly handled.

If your opener is a chain or screw type system, lubricate the chain or screw according to the manufacturers specifications.  If you no longer have the service manual, use a little light grease on the screw and light oil on the chain.  Make sure to wipe off any residue before parking your car under it.

Check the weather stripping around the door and under the bottom edge.  Replace any torn or loose weather stripping and make note of any worn areas that indicate where the door rubs against the frame.  Adjust the track as needed to eliminate any binding or rubbing.