Garage Doors & Child Safety: 3 Tips You Need to Know

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How to Keep your Children Safe Around Garage Doors

We love the adventurous side of our children, from roaming across their swing set to cruising through the park on their bike. That sense of adventure, however, can lead to trouble. And while your child may interact with your garage door each day, such as by watching you use the garage door opener, it’s essential to learn how to keep your children safe around garage doors.

How can you ensure your child’s safety around garage doors? With these three garage door tips:

1. Schedule Regular Maintenance for Your Garage Door

We often underestimate the load our garage doors handle, as well as how hard they work. Like our cars, they require regular maintenance. That’s why it’s essential to invest in preventative maintenance for your garage door, providing your family the opportunity to catch issues before they develop into life-threatening ones, such as a weak spring that eventually fails.

In most cases, you’ll want to schedule an annual check-up for your garage door, unless you or your family notice the following symptoms:

  • Abnormal noises
  • Uneven door
  • Manual opening difficulties

If your door’s damaged in any way, such as a dent from a delivery person, you should also request repairs as exterior damages can impact your door’s balance.

2. Check Your Garage Door’s Safety Features

A vital tip for keeping children safe around garage doors is reviewing your garage door’s manual and safety features. Following your door’s installation by a professional, it’s tempting to tuck the manual away in a drawer, but reading and testing those safety features is a must-follow garage door safety tip.

What features should you test first? A universal one — the reversing mechanism. This mechanism is familiar to everyone, and you’ve likely seen it in action too. If you recall a time when you dropped an item and went to close your garage door with your opener, only to watch it stop and return to its open position, then you’re familiar with the reversing mechanism.

Test your door’s reversing mechanism by grabbing a small household object, such as a roll of paper towels or toilet paper. Lay it down across your door’s threshold, or where it rests when closed. Press your garage door opener and wait for the reversing mechanism. If your garage door does not stop and instead lowers onto your test object, check to see if your automatic sensor is off — if it is, contact a garage door professional right away.

3. Choose a Reliable, Quality Garage Door for Your Home

Another critical tip for garage doors and child safety is the type of door you choose for your home. From start to finish, you need to prioritize quality. Work with a reputable garage door company in your area, ensuring they provide honest advice that’s unmotivated by sales quotas. You’ll also want to make sure the company installing your garage door maintains a qualified team of technicians.

By incorporating a reliable and quality garage door into your home, you’re building on your plan to keep your children safe around your garage doors.

Choose King Door Door Company, Inc.

King Door Company, Inc. has been performing safe garage door installations in Bakersfield, CA for more than 30 years. In the three decades since our start, we’ve continued to deliver on our values of honest, quality care that goes above and beyond for your family. That’s why we offer affordable preventative maintenance programs that can ensure the proper operation of your door and minimize the risk of injury to your children and family. 

Contact us for more door safety tips or to schedule a convenient service appointment today.

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