Testing the Reverse Mechanism of Your Garage Door

Testing the sensor are responding correctly near the bottom of your automatic garage door is very important to garage door safety.

June Is National Garage Door Safety Month

A garage door is the largest moving object in your house.  Many households will use their garage door more frequently than their front door.  Usage increases during the summer months as outdoor activities increases.  Bicycles are taken out from winter storage.  The lawnmower and gardening equipment see the light of day.  More frequent trips to and from the home are taken with the longer days.

  
There are a list of things that can fail on your garage door if not maintained properly.  The list includes: springs, rollers, pulleys, panels, sensors, cables, chains, and garage door openers.  Your front door has hinges, handle, lock and the door itself.  Annual maintenance is necessary for your garage door and garage door opener.  There is nothing worse than having the garage door malfunction as you are on your way to a sporting event or a road trip.

Hanson Overhead, serving Sonoma and Marin counties, offers a 44-point tune-up that includes your garage door and garage door opener.  Our trained and certified technicians will re-align, lubricate, calibrate and tighten your garage door and opener to ensure they are in proper working order.  We recommend a yearly tune-up.

June is National Garage Door Safety Month

Can you believe how quickly we are moving through Spring into Summer? Sonoma County has jumped from barely winter to instant summer and back to winter.  You just have to love Northern California.   

June is National Garage Door Safety month!  This means the Sonoma County Hanson Overhead Team is excited to share some fun facts about your garage door.  Here are some things you may not have considered regarding your garage door and garage door opener:

1. Did you know your garage door is the largest moving object in your home?  There is no other larger door or object that moves within your home.  The average weight of a garage door ranges from 150-350 pounds, depending on the door structure.


2. Do you know how many times you open your garage door each year?  The average garage door is opened around 1,500 times per year, but increases dramatically with multi-vehicle homes.  Only bathroom and refrigerator doors are used more frequently.


3. What is the average lifespan of a garage door and garage door opener?  With regular maintenance a garage door, not the parts and accessories, should last up to 30-years.  Springs, rollers and tracks will need to be replaced more frequently.  A garage door opener has a 12-year average lifespan.  The higher the quality of the product the longer the lifespan.  This is definitely a case of, you get what you pay for.


4. How often should my garage door be serviced?  Your garage door should be serviced every year.  Our garage door technicians will perform a detailed inspection and recommend part replacement or repair.  During our Signature 44-point Garage Door Tune-Up our technician will re-align, lubricate, calibrate and tighten your garage door and opener to ensure they are in proper working order.

We, at Hanson Overhead Garage Door Service, hope you have a safe start to your summer.  Give us a call and schedule your garage door service so you can have a worry-free summer!

Sonoma and Napa County Garage Door Safety After an Earthquake

On Sunday (August 24, 2014) our garage door service area was impacted by a 6.0-magnitude earthquake.  Our thoughts extend to those in our community whose homes and businesses are affected the most by this natural disaster.

Garage Door Safety is an important consideration following a strong seismic event. In 2010 the Insurance Institute for Business and Home Safety compiled a list of the Top 10 Structural Retrofits to reduce earthquake structural damage.  Bracing garage door openings was number 10 on the list. 

"Garages are particularly vulnerable to earthquake damage, and especially if there is living space above the garage. The narrow walls on either side of the garage opening must be able to support the seismic load that is transferred from the roof and additional living space above the garage (if one exists) into the foundation below. In order for these narrow walls to support this load, they must be properly braced. Bracing these walls is usually done by using steel bracing or specially detailed plywood panels as recommended by a registered professional engineer."

The complete article can be read at: https://www.disastersafety.org/blog/top-10-ways-to-reduce-the-risk-of-earthquake-damage/.  Although Hanson Overhead Garage Door Service of Santa Rosa does not perform structural retrofits, we can inspect the moving parts of your garage door system.

Garage Door Components that should be inspected following an earthquake:

• Garage Door rollers and tracks
• Garage Door Panels for structural damage
• Garage Door opener - electrical connections, chain or rails
• Garage Door opener sensors

Your garage door is the largest moving object attached to your home.  A 44-point garage door inspection can ensure the integrity of your garage door safety.

Again, we send the best regards to our Sonoma and Napa County communities!

June is Garage Door Safety Month

June is Garage Door Safety Month

Did you know your Garage Door is the largest moving object in your home? In honor of making your home safer this summer, Hanson Overhead of Santa Rosa is offering a 44-point Safety Tune-up Special.  Print the attached special and present it at the time of service.

Vaulted Garage Safety - Hanson Overhead Garage Door Service of Sonoma County

Is your Garage considered a Vault?

A Vault? You may ask… A vault is considered a closed space with only one entrance and exit. Obviously, for a garage, this would be the garage door.

Why is knowing about a Garage Vault Lock important?

If you happen to have a garage that is detached from your home, it will be very difficult for you to use your remote transmitter to open the garage door in the event there is a power outage. That’s right… Your car is trapped, and you need to get to work or take the kids to school.

What do you do with a Garage Vault Release Lock?

Aside from waiting for the power to come back on, there are two solutions to prevent this problem. The first is to have what called a ‘Vault Release Lock’ installed on your garage door. This is a cylinder lock that gets mounted to the center of the door. On the inside, there is a cable that attaches to your emergency release pull cord on your garage door opener. In the event of a power outage, or your automatic garage door opener fails, you can insert a key into the Vault Lock and pull the cord, thus disengaging the garage door from the garage door opener. Now you should be able to open the door manually.

Another option would be to have a garage door opener installed that has a Battery Backup System. Modern technology has provided us with garage door openers that use DC Motors. This not only provides a quiet, smooth operation of your garage door, but it also is what makes Battery Backup Systems possible. A typical Battery Backup will operate your door up to 10 times or hold a charge for up to 24 hours. This feature could be invaluable for those that aren't able to manually lift their garage door, or simply don’t want to bother with the inconvenience.

It is still recommended to have a Vault Release Lock installed regardless of if you have a Battery Backup Garage Door Opener. In the event, your opener should fail; you still have a means of opening your garage door.

Hanson Overhead Garage Door Service is fully equipped to handle either one of these projects for you! Ask about our Vault Release Locks and the Garage Door Openers we have to offer!

Garage Door Safety Sensor Issues | Hanson Overhead Garage Door Service-Santa Rosa

Have you ever had trouble closing your garage door?  This can be somewhat of a nuisance, yet in most cases, an easy problem to fix yourself.

 

Inevitably, the sides of our garage is where we like to store items like our golf clubs and garbage cans.  This is also where our garage door openers’ safety sensors are located.  It’s not uncommon for us to bump into them with the weekly garbage run to the street.  Once these sensors are bumped out of alignment, it sends a signal to the motor that there is an obstruction blocking the door from closing safely and will not put the door down.  Those who are persistent find out that if they hold down the button on the wall, the door will close.  (This bypasses the safety sensors)  

An easy fix is to walk over to the sensors and visually make sure they are pointed straight and directly facing each other.  Usually there are light indicators on the sensors themselves which may blink, flicker or not be lit at all until the invisible beam between the two sensors is connected.   Once the indicator light is lit solid, then your garage door is considered safe to close without obstruction.

Should this attempt to align the sensors yourself not solve the problem, please call a professional to look into this further, as there may be other issues with either the opener or the garage door itself.   Sometimes, when the garage door opener says the door is not safe to close… It’s not safe to close!

Call Hanson Overhead Garage Door Service

707-526-7800

www.HansonOverhead.com/SantaRosa

SantaRosa@HansonOverhead.com