Performing a Quarterly Safety Check on Your Garage Door

The garage door has many different moving parts and is a complicated device that opens and closes each day. Due to the mechanisms of the product, there’s always the risk of injuries or accidents if the proper care and attention aren’t provided throughout the year. As a homeowner, it’s important to know how to perform a safety check on the feature every quarter to protect yourself and your family members when accessing the garage.

Inspect the Balance

The balance of the garage door needs to be inspected to ensure that it operates more efficiently and is safer to use when it opens and closes. Begin by disengaging the release mechanism on if it’s an automatic garage door to ensure that you can open and close it manually. Raise it about four feet off the ground and release it to determine if it stays put or crashes down. Unbalanced doors are often hard to open manually and feel stuck.

Perform a Visual Inspection

You’ll want to visually inspect all the garage door parts to identify any areas that are worn down, specifically around the pulleys and cables. All the rollers should be flush on the tracks without any blockages or objects that are in the way. Any issues that are discovered require the attention and experience of a professional who is qualified to perform Los Angeles garage repair to avoid injuring yourself while working on the door.

Test the Automatic Reverse Function

One of the main safety features on garage doors is the automatic reverse function, which prevents the feature from closing on objects or people that are in its path. Automatic doors that have been manufactured after 1993 include the feature and can be tested by opening it and placing a brick or a piece of wood on the ground where the door typically closes. The garage door should reverse immediately once detecting the item.