Garage door safety

A garage door is often the heaviest moving item in a house. To avoid garage door injuries review these tips from the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

To see if your garage door’s springs and cables are working properly, close the door and engage the automatic opener’s release mechanism or emergency disconnect. You’ll know your door is balanced if it opens and closes easily by hand and stays 3 to 4 feet above the floor when you let go. Consult a professional if you don’t feel comfortable doing this yourself.
Periodically examine the garage door’s screws, rollers, hinges, and other moving parts for wear, rust or other structurally compromising damage. Giving the parts an occasional coat of lightweight oil will help prevent rust. Avoid using thicker oils and grease.
If your garage-door opener was made after 1993, it likely has an auto-reverse safety function. In most cases, this is a sensor beam that stops and reverses the door if the beam is disrupted while the door is moving. If your opener doesn’t have this feature, it’s best to replace it. If your opener does have an auto-reverse mechanism, test it by placing a 2×4 in the door’s path before closing it. If the door doesn’t stop and reverse upon sensing the object, the opener needs repair.