Garage doors are designed to last many long years. Products
are available to help maintain the operation and beauty of
garage entries, with a bit of annual maintenance. Many
homeowners only think to replace garage doors when something
happens that makes it necessary, such as being hit with a car
or lawnmower.
Even without accidental damage, garage doors do suffer wear
and tear over time, especially from the elements. Waiting
too long to replace worn out doors and openers can create a
serious safety hazard. Doors and openers that are worn
cease to operate properly, and accidents can occur.
Energy efficiency is yet another reason to upgrade existing
garage doors. Over time, the seals that help stop air loss
around the garage doors weaken and wear out. Once these
seals become too worn, air loss begins to occur, which
creates an expensive power concern. For old doors that do
not have insulation, replacing them with new, well insulated
doors is an investment in energy conservation that can pay
for itself in energy savings over the life of the door.
Signs to look for that a garage door is at the end of its
useful life include lack of insulation and modern safety
features, air seals that are torn and worn out, and dents
and breaks in the door. Fiberglass garage doors will often
fracture upon impact. If this happens, the door’s safety is
compromised. When the door is in the full overhead open
position, part of the door could fall off due to the
fracture and cause serious damage to nearby items, and even
more serious injury to anybody standing under or near it
when the break occurs.
Likewise, garage doors with considerable dents also pose a
safety risk as misshapen doors can interfere with the smooth
operation of automatic door openers. If any part of a metal
garage door is dented outward, or inward, in such as way
that it makes contact with the ceiling or any other object
or portion of the opener mechanism, malfunctions will occur.
In this event, the door should be fully closed then detached
fromthe automatic opener until a garage door service can
install a replacement.
Safety is an important consideration with garage doors.
Because they are heavy and are usually hung from overhead,
the risk of a door, or part of a door, falling and causing
property damage or injury to people and pets should be
carefully avoided. If an existing door’s safety features
falter, it should not be used and must be replaced. Every
garage door must have safety sensors that automatically
reverse and raise the door if anything is in the doors way
going down.
While garage doors can last many years with regular
maintenance, safety concerns are the number one reason to
replace old doors. Of course aesthetic style and energy
efficiency are also important. However, if a door shows
signs of dangerous wear and tear, getting a replacement
garage door should not be put off.
Cookson Door Sales of Arizona
