Garage Doors for Every Taste
December 27, 2012
Prepare Your Home and Family for Power Outages
I first posted this over two years ago - and thought it was still relevant and timely...
Happy New Year!!
A recent study conducted by Zoomerang found that 93 percent of homeowners reported having experienced a power outage this year alone, with some outages lasting hours or even days. Every family should prepare an emergency kit for storms and power outages and keep it in a central location. The kit should include:
• Flashlights, extra batteries, matches and candles
• A battery-operated weather radio
• A fully charged cell phone battery
• First aid supplies
• Bottled water and nonperishable packaged or canned foods and snacks
• Blankets, towels and pillows
Don’t Forget the Garage
Today, more than half of homeowners (55 percent) use the garage door as the primary entrance to their home, relying on an automatic garage door opener to gain access. However, during a power outage, homeowners are faced with having to manually lift the garage door, creating security, safety and convenience concerns. Make sure you have backup options when the power goes out.
• Know how to manually open and close your garage door during a power failure. Test your ability to ensure you can physically lift your garage door, your home’s heaviest and largest moving object.
• To avoid being blocked from entering and exiting your garage during an outage, check out a garage door opener with a battery backup system that continues to supply power to open and close your garage door for up to two days when the power has failed. These are available on selected Chamberlain and professionally installed LiftMaster garage door openers.
Precision Garage Door Service can provide you professional guidance for all your Garage Door needs. Seattle - Salt Lake - Spokane - San Diego
December 10, 2012
Why You Should Replace You Old Tilt-Up Garage Door
For years the standard of quality in garage doors was the wooden one-piece tilt-up door. These doors were particularly popular on homes built in the 1960's and 70's and, while many continue to operate well, they should be replaced with a modern sectional door.
Here are some things to consider.
Space: Old tilt up doors swing outward away from the door frame and reduce space and/or can hit objects (like your car) in the driveway. Sectional garage doors roll straight up.
Springs: Tilt-up garage doors typically use two very large springs mounted on the sides of the door frame. This type of spring can be very dangerous when they become worn. Modern sectional doors utilize safe torsion spring systems mounted above the door.
Safety: Tilt-up doors are most often wood and can weigh upwards of 300 lbs each. If/when springs fail that weight will swing down and damage objects or injure you or your children if in the way. Modern sectional doors are most often light weight insulated steel construction and weight between 1& 2 hundred pounds.
Insulation: Wooden tilt-up doors have no additional insulating features. Modern sectional doors can be ordered with various types of built in insulation up to R-19 Value.
Connection to the track: Tilt up doors typically have just 2 connection points and rollers - while modern sectional doors have 8-10 connection points. Modern rollers also are ball bearing and are much quieter.
Weather: Because of the tilt up/out design older doors make it difficult to create a good weather barrier/seal. Modern sectional doors are designed to seal out weather much more efficiently.
Security: Older tilt-up doors are significantly easier to break into when compared with modern sectional doors.
Curb appeal: When you consider that the garage door my be the most dominant curbside feature people see when approaching your home - a modern stylish garage door will add curb appeal to any home.
Maintenance: Older tilt-up wooden doors weather and require painting to keep in top condition. Modern sectional doors are most often a backed enamel finish on steel and require no painting.
Repairs: Many garage door companies no longer service these older style doors.
So, bottom line - the modern sectional garage door made from steel are easier to maintain - are safer, work better in weather, provide better insulation - last longer - and because they look great, will increase your curb appeal. If you have an older tilt-up door - consider upgrading soon.
Seattle, Salt Lake, Spokane, San Diego
Here are some things to consider.
Space: Old tilt up doors swing outward away from the door frame and reduce space and/or can hit objects (like your car) in the driveway. Sectional garage doors roll straight up.
Springs: Tilt-up garage doors typically use two very large springs mounted on the sides of the door frame. This type of spring can be very dangerous when they become worn. Modern sectional doors utilize safe torsion spring systems mounted above the door.
Safety: Tilt-up doors are most often wood and can weigh upwards of 300 lbs each. If/when springs fail that weight will swing down and damage objects or injure you or your children if in the way. Modern sectional doors are most often light weight insulated steel construction and weight between 1& 2 hundred pounds.
Insulation: Wooden tilt-up doors have no additional insulating features. Modern sectional doors can be ordered with various types of built in insulation up to R-19 Value.
Connection to the track: Tilt up doors typically have just 2 connection points and rollers - while modern sectional doors have 8-10 connection points. Modern rollers also are ball bearing and are much quieter.
Weather: Because of the tilt up/out design older doors make it difficult to create a good weather barrier/seal. Modern sectional doors are designed to seal out weather much more efficiently.
Security: Older tilt-up doors are significantly easier to break into when compared with modern sectional doors.
Curb appeal: When you consider that the garage door my be the most dominant curbside feature people see when approaching your home - a modern stylish garage door will add curb appeal to any home.
Maintenance: Older tilt-up wooden doors weather and require painting to keep in top condition. Modern sectional doors are most often a backed enamel finish on steel and require no painting.
Repairs: Many garage door companies no longer service these older style doors.
So, bottom line - the modern sectional garage door made from steel are easier to maintain - are safer, work better in weather, provide better insulation - last longer - and because they look great, will increase your curb appeal. If you have an older tilt-up door - consider upgrading soon.
Seattle, Salt Lake, Spokane, San Diego
December 6, 2012
10 Garage Door Safety and Security Tips
Garages are great for a whole range of reasons—storage, home projects, play—but, for all of those reasons, they can also pose safety and security challenges. Through the International Door Association (IDA) and the Door and Access Systems Manufacturers Association (DASMA), the Overhead Door Corporation has prepared this list of tips for keeping everyone and everything safe and secure.
1. Make sure the garage door opener control button is out of the reach of small children. It should be located 4-5ft above the ground.
2. Do not let children play with garage door remote controls. Hundreds of injuries each year can be avoided.
3. Consult the owner’s manual and learn how to use the garage door’s emergency release feature. (It's usually a red cord and handle).
4. Visually inspect the garage door each month. Look at springs, cables, rollers and pulleys for signs of wear. Do not attempt to remove, adjust or repair these parts or anything attached to them. A trained door repairman must make adjustments to these parts, which are under high tension.
5. Test the garage door opener’s reversing mechanism monthly by placing a 2 x 4 board or a roll of paper towels in the door’s path. If the door does not reverse after contacting the object, call a qualified garage door professional for repair. If the opener has not been replaced since 1993, seriously consider a new one with auto-reverse as a standard feature.
6. Never place fingers between door sections and explain the dangers to children. If you have small children, consider a door with panels that can’t pinch.
7. Do not leave the garage door partially open. When activated again, it may travel downward and come in contact with an object in its path. This also impacts your home’s security as well.
8. While on vacation, unplug the garage door opener unit or use a vacation lock console security switch, which renders remotes unusable and is an optional accessory to most openers.
9. If the opener does not have rolling-code technology, which changes the access codes each time the opener is used to prevent code grabbing, be sure to change the manufacturer’s standard access codes on the opener and remote control, or consider investing in a newer model with more safety and security features that are now standard.
10. A new trend in home invasion is gaining access to the home by stealing the opener or car. Never leave the remote control in the car or with a parking attendant. Consider using a key chain remote and always lock the entry to the inside of your home – especially if your opener is programmed to your vehicle. It is a small inconvenience for safety and security.
Precision Door of San Diego is a Proud member of IDA
1. Make sure the garage door opener control button is out of the reach of small children. It should be located 4-5ft above the ground.
2. Do not let children play with garage door remote controls. Hundreds of injuries each year can be avoided.
3. Consult the owner’s manual and learn how to use the garage door’s emergency release feature. (It's usually a red cord and handle).
4. Visually inspect the garage door each month. Look at springs, cables, rollers and pulleys for signs of wear. Do not attempt to remove, adjust or repair these parts or anything attached to them. A trained door repairman must make adjustments to these parts, which are under high tension.
5. Test the garage door opener’s reversing mechanism monthly by placing a 2 x 4 board or a roll of paper towels in the door’s path. If the door does not reverse after contacting the object, call a qualified garage door professional for repair. If the opener has not been replaced since 1993, seriously consider a new one with auto-reverse as a standard feature.
6. Never place fingers between door sections and explain the dangers to children. If you have small children, consider a door with panels that can’t pinch.
7. Do not leave the garage door partially open. When activated again, it may travel downward and come in contact with an object in its path. This also impacts your home’s security as well.
8. While on vacation, unplug the garage door opener unit or use a vacation lock console security switch, which renders remotes unusable and is an optional accessory to most openers.
9. If the opener does not have rolling-code technology, which changes the access codes each time the opener is used to prevent code grabbing, be sure to change the manufacturer’s standard access codes on the opener and remote control, or consider investing in a newer model with more safety and security features that are now standard.
10. A new trend in home invasion is gaining access to the home by stealing the opener or car. Never leave the remote control in the car or with a parking attendant. Consider using a key chain remote and always lock the entry to the inside of your home – especially if your opener is programmed to your vehicle. It is a small inconvenience for safety and security.
Precision Door of San Diego is a Proud member of IDA
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