The Ups and Downs of Garage Doors

By Deborah Rutter

Garage doors are on my mind a lot lately. A lot of this year’s transactions with my buyers and sellers have had issues with garage doors and their operation (or lack thereof). If the devil is in the details, garage doors have more details than you might think. Pictured below is a custom garage by Nest builder partner Smith and Robertson.

First, garage doors are likely the biggest moving object at your property…think about it.  They weigh hundreds of pounds, and are often in motion.  That makes a garage door a potential problem area, especially during inspections.  If you are a seller and have garage doors, be sure they are working.  If you’re a buyer, your inspection should include a survey to confirm that the latest safety features are in place, especially if you have kids, pets or use your doors all the time.

So what are the safety features that make garage doors safer?

First, garage doors should be self-supporting.  That means that no matter how open or closed they are, the door shouldn’t come slamming down.  It should stay suspended on its track at any partially-open location.  This goes for garage doors without automatic openers, too.  If the door is not self-supporting, a local garage door installer should adjust the spring tension.  This is very dangerous to do if you don’t have the right tools or training since the springs are under tremendous tension.  Call a professional, period.

Next, if your garage door has an automatic opener, there are four safety features it should have (older garage door openers may just have some of these features).  It should have an emergency opening handle to allow the door to be opened in the event of loss of power.  This is usually in the form of a cord that hangs down from the track on the inside of the garage.  And an obvious, but often overlooked detail…be sure the length of the cord is long enough for the shortest person in the house.  If the door opener is equipped with a handle, but it can’t be reached, it’s not ideal.  If you’re a buyer, be sure it’s long enough to reach.

Older garage door openers used to have one electronic sensor along one side of the door track, near the bottom.  These should be within six inches of the floor and prevent the door from coming down if the electronic eye beam is broken during descent.  This prevents kids, animals or stuff from getting crushed.  Newer openers have two electronic eyes; one on each side of the door tracks.  Be sure they are only six inches off the garage floor.

Garage doors with openers should also have a reverse-sensing device that allows the garage door to go up automatically if it meets any resistance.  This prevents items from getting crushed that might not have broken the electronic beam.  Many inspectors use a block of wood to test this out.

The Overhead Door Company has a great safety page:  Check it out.  http://www.overheaddoor.com/Pages/safety-information.aspx

Maintenance is key, not just for operation, but also for safety.  Whether you’re buying or selling, be sure it works smoothly.  If you’re buying a house without automatic openers and want to have them installed, there are a lot of choices, and all of the new ones will have all the latest safety features, in addition to likely being faster and quieter than older versions.

Garage doors don’t get a lot of consideration until they are damaged or stop working correctly. Help your purchasing or selling transaction go smoothly by paying attention to the garage doors now!