2025-01-15 5 min read Sarah Williams
Your garage door is the largest and heaviest moving object in your home. While modern doors include numerous safety features, they still require respect and awareness, especially in households with children. At Garage Door Burbank, we prioritize safety in every installation and service call. Here's what every family needs to know.
A typical residential garage door weighs between 150-400 pounds. The springs that lift this weight are under tremendous tension, enough to cause serious injury if they fail unexpectedly. Moving door panels can catch fingers, hands, or even trap small bodies. Taking these risks seriously is the first step toward prevention.
Modern garage doors are required to have photo-eye sensors mounted near the bottom of the door tracks. These sensors create an invisible beam across the door opening. If anything breaks the beam while the door is closing, it automatically reverses.
Important: Test your sensors monthly. Place an object in the door's path and attempt to close it. The door should reverse immediately upon contact or when the beam is broken. If it doesn't, call for service right away.
In addition to photo-eyes, doors should have a mechanical auto-reverse feature. If the door contacts an object while closing, it should stop and reverse. Test this by placing a 2x4 board flat on the ground where the door meets the floor. The door should reverse upon contact.
The wall-mounted button should be at least 5 feet from the floor, out of reach of young children. Never allow children to play with or operate the garage door.
Establish clear rules with your children about garage door safety:
1. Never play under, near, or around a moving garage door. Teach children to wait until the door is completely stopped before entering or exiting.
2. Keep fingers and hands away from door sections. The gaps between panels can pinch severely when the door moves.
3. Never play with the garage door opener. The remote is not a toy. Store remotes out of children's reach.
4. Never try to race under a closing door. This is extremely dangerous, even if the child thinks they can make it.
5. Tell an adult immediately if anything seems wrong with the garage door.
Regular maintenance isn't just about keeping your door working, it's a safety issue. Worn springs, frayed cables, or misaligned tracks can cause unpredictable behavior or sudden failure.
Have a certified technician perform comprehensive maintenance annually. They can spot issues before they become dangerous and ensure all safety features work properly.
If your garage door or opener is more than 15-20 years old, it may lack modern safety features. Consider these upgrades:
Power outages don't have to leave you trapped. Modern openers with battery backup allow operation during blackouts.
Forgot to close the garage? Timer-to-close features automatically shut the door after a set period, ensuring you're never left unsecured.
Know when your garage door opens or closes, even when you're away. Some systems send alerts if the door has been left open.
Newer doors feature designs that minimize the gap between sections, reducing the risk of finger injuries.
Every garage door has a manual release, typically a red handle hanging from the opener track. This disconnects the door from the opener, allowing manual operation. Know where it is and how to use it.
Caution: Only use the manual release when the door is fully closed. Releasing it while open (especially with a broken spring) can cause the door to crash down.
Keep your garage door service company's number posted in the garage. In an emergency, you'll know exactly who to call.
Some signs require immediate professional attention: - The door doesn't reverse when it contacts an object, Photo-eye sensors don't stop the door, You hear snapping, popping, or grinding noises, The door moves unevenly or gets stuck, Springs appear damaged or stretched
Never attempt DIY repairs on springs, cables, or other high-tension components. The risk of serious injury is simply too high.
The most effective safety measure is awareness. Talk to your family regularly about garage door safety. Supervise children whenever the garage door is in operation. Lead by example, if you follow safety practices, your children will too.
At Garage Door Burbank, we're committed to helping families stay safe. If you have concerns about your garage door's safety features or need a professional inspection, contact us today. Your family's safety is worth it.
Schedule a safety inspection: (747) 318-4623