Although it’s less often discussed, keeping your garage door safe is a big part of keeping your home safe. As an additional entryway to many homes, garage doors are sometimes used to force entry and break into residential homes. There are certain garage door defects that make it easier for unauthorized individuals to break in. By staying informed about what makes your garage door and your home vulnerable, you can take steps toward keeping everything and everyone safe.
KEEPING YOUR GARAGE DOOR SAFE
Whether you’re home or away, your garage door has a responsibility to keeping your home safe. When a garage door’s opener bar is not installed properly, it’s much easier for a garage door to be forced open from the outside.
The opener bar should form a 90-degree angle, looking like a capital letter “L.” If the door is at any angle besides a 90-degree one, the door is considered compromised, and it will be easier to force open.
In order to increase garage door safety, make sure your garage door’s opener draw bar is installed properly, like the image on the right. With the proper angle in place, forcing the garage door open from the outside is much more difficult.
GARAGE DOOR SAFETY PIN
As an added security measure, some openers come with a slide lock that automatically engages when the door is in the down position. This places a pin in the track, preventing the door from being forcibly opened.
However, this is not an addition that should be manually added to an existing garage door. With a manual bolt or slide lock, you’re responsible for remembering to remove the pin before every operation. If the opener tries to lift the door while the pin is in place, something will break or snap. If you’d like an automatically engaged pin for your garage door, please seek out a professional installer.
GARAGE DOOR MAINTENANCE
One of the benefits of routine garage door maintenance is maintaining garage door safety while your home and while you’re away. Knowing your home is safe and protected provides peace of mind