Garage Door Safety: Essential Tips Every Family Should Know

Taking Garage Door Safety Seriously

The garage door is the largest and heaviest moving object in most homes. A standard two-car garage door weighs between 150 and 250 pounds, and the springs that counterbalance it store enormous amounts of energy. While modern garage doors are equipped with important safety features, they can still cause serious injuries if safety practices aren't followed.

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, garage doors are involved in an estimated 20,000 to 30,000 injuries each year. Many of these are preventable with proper awareness and maintenance.

Teach Children About Garage Door Safety

Children are the most vulnerable to garage door injuries. Here are essential rules to establish and reinforce:

• The garage door is not a toy. Never let children play with the wall button, remote controls, or the door itself.
• Keep hands and fingers away from door sections. When the door is moving, the spaces between panels can pinch or crush fingers. Modern doors have pinch-resistant panel designs, but older doors may not.
• Never run under a moving door. Teach children to wait until the door is completely open or closed before walking through.
• Keep the remote out of reach. Treat garage door remotes like any other potentially dangerous household item — keep them away from young children.
• Never hang on the door or tracks. The weight and mechanism of a garage door are not designed for climbing or hanging.

Essential Safety Features to Have and Test

Auto-reverse mechanism: Federal law has required all garage door openers sold since 1993 to include an auto-reverse feature. When the door contacts an object while closing, it should immediately reverse direction. Test this monthly by placing a 2x4 board flat on the ground in the door's path.

Photo-eye sensors: Required since 1993, these sensors project an invisible beam across the bottom of the door opening. If anything breaks the beam while the door is closing, the door reverses. Test these monthly by waving an object (like a broom handle) through the beam while the door is closing.

Manual release: Every automatic opener has a manual release mechanism (usually a red cord). Know where it is and how to use it. In an emergency — such as a power outage or if someone is trapped — you need to be able to disconnect the door from the opener quickly.

Pinch-resistant panels: Modern garage doors are designed with panel joints that reduce the risk of finger pinching. If your door is older and doesn't have this feature, consider upgrading.

Maintenance Practices That Prevent Accidents

• Inspect springs and cables regularly. Look for signs of wear, fraying, or rust. Never attempt to repair or adjust springs yourself — they're under extreme tension.
• Keep the door balanced. An unbalanced door puts excessive strain on the opener and can behave unpredictably. Test balance by disconnecting the opener and lifting the door manually to the halfway point. It should stay in place.
• Replace worn rollers and hinges. Worn components can cause the door to operate erratically or come off the tracks.
• Don't leave the door partially open. A partially open door is unstable and can fall unexpectedly, especially if the springs are weakened.

Security Best Practices

• Lock the door when away for extended periods. Most garage doors have a manual slide lock on the inside. Use it when traveling.
• Secure the emergency release. Burglars have been known to use a coat hanger through the top of the door to pull the emergency release cord. A simple zip tie on the release mechanism prevents this while still allowing you to pull it with force in a genuine emergency.
• Cover windows. If your garage door has windows, consider frosted film to prevent people from seeing what's inside — especially if you store valuables.
• Use a smart opener. Smart openers send alerts to your phone when the door opens or closes, and many can automatically close the door after a set time.

Get a Safety Inspection

If your garage door is more than a few years old, or if you've never had it professionally inspected, a safety check is a smart investment. Sears Garage Doors technicians will evaluate every component, test all safety features, and make recommendations for any upgrades needed to keep your family safe. Schedule your free estimate today.