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Garage Door Springs
Before I start I'd like to give a warning: when working with garage springs, be sure to hire a professional. Garage door springs are extremely dangerous and if you do not know what you are doing the garage door can collapse on you causing serious bodily injury and in many instances, death. Many homeowners have been hurt or killed by garage door springs and I strongly suggest that you only allow garage door springs to be adjusted by certified and experienced individuals.
Garage doors may not seem very dangerous; however, if you consider that they often weigh 300 - 400 pounds and are held up by few springs and cables, you may want to stop for a second and recognize the dangers posed by your garage doors. Although it is a great convenience to have garage door springs that open and close the garage door for you, garage door springs need to be properly maintained and replaced. When your garage door is closed, the springs are very tightly stretched, and believe it or not, are in a very dangerous state. The enormous tension that the cables and springs are under stores a large amount of potential energy. This can prove to be very dangerous if that potential energy is suddenly converted to kinetic (moving) energy. In other words, don't loosen anything that may be attached to any springs or cables, even if the garage door is in a closed state. There is still a high risk for danger.
Many homeowners will spend hours and hundreds or even thousands of pounds upgrading their bathroom and living rooms or buying new furniture for their homes; however, few of them realize that their garage doors require maintenance too and have to be adjusted or even replaced from time to time. Every time you open and close your garage, all of its components go through wear and tear and sometimes work themselves loose and many people let their garage doors go for years or even decades without being properly maintained. I doubt you would let your car go 100,000 miles without any oil changes or tune-ups and that same principle should apply to your garage door. Simple routine maintenance can prevent any potential accident and thus save your life or the lives of any of your loved ones.
Something extra I'd like to mention: Even if you are a handy-man or woman, and know how to install an automatic garage door, I'd still recommend you call in a professional, especially for insurance and warranty purposes. If you don't, it can't be difficult to claim damages if something had to go wrong. Also, children often like to play with garage door openers so it is smart to put them out of the reach of small children and hide all remote garage door openers. Finally, once you have everything installed, be sure to test the garage door and make sure everything works. Many new garage doors come with sensors that detect if something or someone is in its pathway and immediately reverses direction. Be sure to test that this works as it is one of the most important safety parts of the garage door. You do not want the door to close on someone or something accidentally - it can cause a lot of damage.
About the Author: David A. Howarth has been working in the home restoration and improvement business in the UK for over 20 years now, and enjoys writing about home improvement features such as garage doors and double glazing.
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