From outlet covers to corner protectors to stove guards, you have probably spent quite some time child-proofing your home. But what about child-proofing your garage door?
Having a garage door at home is undoubtedly a convenient addition to your property. However, it’s important to note that it’s also one of the items that require the most attention to safety, especially if you have children. To minimize the risk of accidents or injuries, it’s crucial to maintain and use your garage door properly.
This blog post is your comprehensive garage safety guide. We’ll go through the most essential tips to ensure garage door safety for your family.
Check the Motion Sensors and Automatic Reversal
Garage doors include several safety features, and ensuring they’re always working correctly is crucial. Motion sensors, for instance, are designed to sense objects, people, or pets in the path to avoid closing on them. Evidently, they’re an essential feature to prevent garage door accidents involving children. So, if they’re malfunctioning or not aligned correctly, you should address the problem as soon as possible.
You can do a few things to check your garage door’s motion sensors. Start by ensuring they’re clean and free of any dirt or dust that can cause obstructions. Examine both the emitter and receiver sensors and clean them with a soft, dry cloth if necessary. You can also check their alignment. The sensors should face each other, and the infrared beam should pass between them continuously.
Additionally, your garage door has an automatic reversal system, which immediately stops the closing door and reverses its movement if it senses an object in the way. You can test if it’s functioning properly by placing an object, such as a bucket or box, in the door’s path and setting it to close. If the door starts to move down and reverses when it senses the object, the auto-reverse feature is working. If it doesn’t, or if you suspect there’s any issue with the motion sensors, contact a professional garage door service like Blue Chip Garage Doors.
Keep Lock Controls Away From Your Kids
Garage door lock controls are designed to enhance garage safety and prevent the door from opening manually. There are different types of locks, and the way they work can vary, but their purpose is essentially the same. Smart lock controls use a motorized unit to hold the door in place when you drive in and lock it when you close it, preventing it from opening manually.
That’s exactly why keeping them as far away from your children as possible is crucial to child-proofing your garage door. Kids love anything with buttons, and a remote control may be very attractive to a child who doesn’t understand what it’s for. Make sure the lock controls are out of reach, and when they’re old enough to understand, explain to them how the system works. As they get older, you can teach them the proper way and time to use the controls.
Educate Your Children About Garage Door Safety
Educating children is a fundamental part of garage door safety for families. Although supervising your young kids when playing in or around the garage is non-negotiable, they’ll eventually be old enough to play without constant supervision. When the time comes, start teaching them about garage door safety and emphasize the potential dangers of not following your instructions. Here are some lessons you can walk them through to help them understand how they can prevent accidents or injuries:
- Never hang on to the garage door while it’s opening.
- Stay away from the garage door while it’s moving.
- Don’t play with the garage door lock controls.
- Don’t touch the sensors, since this can affect the door’s safety features.
- Don’t leave any objects under the garage door’s path.
- Make sure no pets are in the way of the garage door’s path.
- Ask for help if you want to open or close the garage door.
Aside from these lessons, you can also practice safety drills with your kids or have them watch when you perform a safety test on the auto-reverse feature. Ultimately, setting a good example is key when educating your children about any topic.
As stressful as it can be to keep your children safe from every little (or big and heavy) thing, this comprehensive garage safety guide will hopefully make it easier. Even if you test your garage door and check that its safety features are working, we also recommend scheduling routine checks to prevent more significant issues. Reach out to us today to schedule a service appointment and have our team of experts help you maintain a safe and reliable garage door.
