Must Have Safety Features When Installing a New Garage Door

New garage doors come with a wide range of benefits, but they won’t matter much if the door is not safe and secure. Garage door safety should be of utmost importance when installing a new one. You should feel confident when using your new door without the worries of anything going wrong and potentially causing injury to yourself or a family member. Here are the must-have safety features your new garage door should have.

Safety Reverse

All automatic garage doors should have a safety reverse feature. This activates when a closing garage door is obstructed. If the door touches something on its way down, it will automatically re-open. This is something that should regularly be tested as the mechanisms involved can deteriorate over time without proper care. You can read more about how to test this important safety feature here.

Motion Detectors

An infrared motion detector is a safety feature that will stop the garage door completely. An infrared beam of light stretches across the garage door frame about six inches off the ground. If anything breaks this beam while the door is in motion, then it will automatically stop. This is an important feature for families with young children and pets. It needs tested regularly to ensure the beam is working properly as well as other aspects of the door’s operation.

Manual Controls

Having an automatic, motorised garage door is a bit of a luxury. With the push of a button, we can enter and leave our garage without having to get out of the car to open or close it. However, it is important that all automatic doors have manual controls as well. If power were to go out, you need to make sure you can open the door still. Don’t wait until something goes wrong to operate the manual controls. Familiarise yourself with how to operate it. A red handle should be located no more than six feet off the ground, so it can be reached easily. Pull this handle to test the manual function of your door. After a new door is installed, have the installation team show you so you feel confident in operating it.

Regular Maintenance is Key

The best way to ensure your door stays safe is to have a regular maintenance. Most people don’t realise all the mechanisms that are used to open and close heavy garage doors, not to mention how many times a day or year they work. If a door malfunctions, it can compromise the safety of it. Without proper maintenance, safety features can stop working. Parts can break or even fall off, and motors can overheat and stop working altogether too. This is very easily prevented with regular maintenance. A skilled technician will take a look at all the parts, making sure they are in good working order and making minor fixes if needed including the lubrication of tracks so that there is less of a chance of anything malfunctioning later. It also saves you from the stress that comes with a major repair that could have been prevented.

Doors Direct brings reassurance to our customers with garage doors that include all of these safety features. You can also depend on us to do your maintenance and service to keep your door in safe working order. No matter which one of our door varieties you go for, it will be made with high-quality materials complete with the latest safety features, and we never leave an installation until we are sure these features are working as they should be.

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