Saturday, May 20, 2017

The Serious Dangers of DIY Garage Door Repair

Here’s Why You Should Never Attempt DIY Garage Door Repairs

Everyone has a little bit of a DIY spirit in them. So, when you first experience issues with your garage door, your inclination may be to self-diagnose the problem, watch a couple of YouTube videos, and get to work. And while it may seem easy enough, DIY garage door repairs come with some pretty grave risks.

7 Reasons Why DIY Garage Door Repair Isn’t Smart

When the kitchen faucet drips, you can typically head to the local home store and get the parts you need to fix the issue. When there’s a hole in the drywall, all you have to do is purchase a couple of items and you’re ready to patch, sand, and paint. When there’s a problem with your washing machine, you can do some research and solve the issue within a matter of hours. However, when there’s a problem with your garage door, your first reaction should be to call a professional. Here are a few reasons why:

1. Torsion Springs Can be Seriously Dangerous

There are two types of garage door spring systems: extension systems and torsion systems. The latter – while reliable and commonly used – are very dangerous from a maintenance and repair perspective.

“Torsion springs are normally mounted horizontally above the opening of your garage door,” one expert notes. “When you pull the door down, cables attached to the bottom corners actually force the springs to wind up, in turn energizing the system. When you open the door, the springs then unwind and their energy transfers to the door, helping it to lift up and making it easier to open.”

Sounds simple enough right? Well, once these springs become compromised, they can become dangerous – or even deadly in extreme circumstances. The springs store mechanical energy when they’re tightened. If a spring breaks, the tightly wound coils quickly convert that energy and unwind in a violent and unpredictable manner. If you’re nearby, the springs could hit you in the face, eyes, arms, or chest.

2. You Can Make the Problem Worse

When you embark on a DIY garage door repair, you have all the right intentions. You’re probably trying to save some time and money. However, you may actually make the situation worse. Should you mess something up – which is quite likely – you could cause additional damage to the door. It’s also possible that you could trigger damage to the garage itself or any of the items inside the garage – your car included.

3. Falls are Dangerous and Deadly

Each year, thousands of people are injured or killed in home-related accidents. And, almost without exception, the number one leading cause is always falls. The Home Safety Council says falls account for roughly 6,000 deaths annually.

While you’re always susceptible to a fall, you should do everything you possibly can to avoid situations where falls are particularly dangerous. This includes climbing ladders to fix garage door issues.

4. Improper Use of Tools

Nobody wants to drive to the local home store, just to buy a tool that may only be used once for a specific job. Unfortunately, many garage door repairs require very specific tools. This means homeowners often try to get by with the wrong tools, which results in unsafe work conditions.

Not only does the risk of using the wrong tools increase your chances of further damaging your garage door system, but it could also damage the tools themselves. Furthermore, when it comes to power tools, one wrong move could lead to injury.

5. falling garage door

Did you know that steel garage doors commonly weigh more than 100 pounds and wooden garage doors can weight several hundreds of pounds? In other words, this isn’t something you want to lose control over. Should the door come crashing down, it could damage (a) the door itself, (b) the floor beneath the door, and (c) anything standing in between the door and the floor. That last item could include you, your car, a pet, or just about anything else.

While it may seem unlikely that you’d do something to cause your garage door to suddenly come crashing down, this is actually quite common in DIY repairs. Improper disconnection of the door restraints is a huge risk that shouldn’t be overlooked.

6. Using the Wrong Parts

Every garage door has its own individual nuances. Some have very specific requirements in terms of parts and materials that can be used. As a DIY repairman, you may not be aware of this. As a result, you’ll probably end up purchasing whatever replacement parts you can find.

At first, everything may seem good. The door goes up and down. However, days, weeks, or months down the road, shoddy repairs can come back to haunt you. This could result in additional damage or even injury.

7. Fixing the Wrong Thing

Garage doors are fairly simple mechanisms, but the average person needs to spend some time studying how they work. If you’re attempting to fix a problem without doing any research in advance, you may actually end up addressing the wrong issue.

Much like human illnesses, there are often “referred symptoms” with garage doors. If you aren’t careful, you could end up fixing the symptoms as opposed to the problem itself. This is a waste of money and may make your problem even worse.

Source: http://ift.tt/2qIfhZg




from Englewood Garage Door Repair http://ift.tt/2qIfQ5n
via IFTTT

No comments:

Post a Comment