Real Estate

Garage doors: brief tutorial on garage door security and installation

As an expert door witness, I am called many times a year to assess garage door injuries. Garage doors come in many shapes and sizes. Their functions range from basic area security to cosmetic concealment. Most doors can be divided into a few basic styles or categories. Typical modern garage doors for residential applications tend to be predominantly of the upper sectional variety. That style of door comes in many configurations, materials, insulation levels, and a wide range of appearance possibilities. They are available as a pre-fabricated kit or built as a custom design to complement any building’s décor. Commercial warehouse type installations often impose higher security requirements. A good option for this type of security door is the “roll-up” style which resembles the type of door on a roll-up desk. This door can be made from a variety of materials that can be just as strong as the adjacent walls, making forced entry through this opening difficult. Other common commercial installations include lightweight aluminum sectional or single panel doors. These gates work more to close off an already secured area than to ensure the security of the point.

In the past, the biggest concern when operating a tilting garage door was the potential hazards associated with the springs used to balance the weight of the door. Previous garage door installations in the mid-1960s generally relied on a pair of stretched (tensioned) springs to aid the operation of the pivoting garage door hinges. These springs were charged (tensed) when the door was moved to the closed position. The discharge (release) of the stored spring energy occurred when the door was opened to the horizontal position overhead. One of the most dangerous aspects of these spring systems was that after a period of time, often without any maintenance or inspection, the attachment points of these springs would rust or weaken. This weakening of springs or attachment points would often lead to an inadvertent explosive failure by throwing broken spring components through the garage, embedding the spring or steel components in garage walls, cars, or other items in the path of the garage. trip. Unfortunately, people sometimes got in the way of these explosive events. Because these springs failed, as a safeguard attempt, some manufacturers devised a “cage” system for the springs. These cages were adapted to stretched springs in an attempt to capture the parts that would be released if a failure occurred. While these caged devices were helpful, they weren’t completely effective. Some of these spring devices are still in use today. Whenever this condition exists or the quality of garage components is questionable, a qualified professional service technician should be consulted.

In response to the inherently dangerous problems of old style garage springs, as mentioned above, a newer and safer system was created for opening the garage door. The idea was to transfer the load or weight of the door through a cable and pulley system to a vertical rod now fitted with a torsion (twisted) spring. This type of spring is installed with special hardware and is screwed to a fixed plate at one end, while the entire spring is installed around a horizontal pipe. This load balancing device is typically installed directly over the head of the garage opening. Using appropriate cables, connectors, and pulleys, the weight of the garage door is transferred to the torsion spring system. The difference between the old style stretched spring and the newer torsion spring is the way the spring energy is stored. With the old style stretched spring, energy is stored and released by pulling the spring or returning the spring to its unstretched condition. With one type of torsion spring, energy is imparted or removed by rotating the spring clockwise or counterclockwise, depending on the direction of use. With a professional installation, the full load of the torsion spring is controlled by the garage installer and is determined by the weight and size of the garage door you are operating. When this type of torsion spring fails, it remains attached and intact to the location on the horizontal control rod where it was mounted. I have not heard or seen any torsion springs fly through a garage, creating injuries from faulty components as with stretched old-style garage door springs. This is not to say that torsion style spring injuries have not occurred. Installation of this type of spring is generally safe when left to a trained garage door installation professional. Serious and serious injuries have occurred when untrained and unqualified persons have attempted to install or repair this type of spring. In most installations, a warning tag is left next to the torsion spring when the garage door is installed. This label warns of the danger associated with the stored energy of this spring and warns untrained persons not to attempt to repair, adjust, or even touch the spring and associated hardware. When the label to be attached to this spring is damaged, removed, or tampered with, it is important that a new warning label be replaced immediately to show the dangers of this spring tension.

Garage doors can be operated manually (by hand), as well as automatically (by power assisted). In both cases, proper garage door operation is determined by proper balance of garage door weight, springs, and related components. A power-assisted automatic motor cannot overcome a poorly balanced garage door. The weight of all garage doors is often misleading. Due to the fact that a properly functioning door appears easy to open and close, many users do not realize the total combined weight until the springs do not assist the door in its operation. In all cases, regardless of the type of garage door, the entire hinge, rail, hardware and door opener system works as a team. Misalignment, shifting, or jamming problems can cause a door to malfunction. Counter forces imparted to a garage door, not engineered into the components, can cause injury. Improper maintenance or lack of maintenance has resulted in serious personal injury. Forcing a garage door to operate, when one or more components have been damaged or broken, has resulted in serious bodily injury. In all cases, maintenance is a crucial and important aspect of the proper operation of all door systems.

Unlike a type of overhead garage door, be it sectional or single panel, roll-up doors have a totally different type of operating system. When these doors are used, they can be hidden in an upper or lower feeder. These doors function similar to a roll-top desk door, except for how they store when not in the closed position. They typically roll up when retracted and require significant gear trains to reduce the effort required to move these doors up and down into position. Often times, the forces required to move these roll-up doors require a type of reduction drive that allows a very heavy door to be operated effortlessly. These doors can be operated manually or automated by electric motors. Roll-up doors require more frequent evaluation and service than a standard up and over garage door. Rails that are mounted vertically on either side of the garage opening need more frequent maintenance and cleaning and are often blocked by foreign obstructions or damaged by some kind of collision. These roll-up doors are often held open by some type of ratcheting action. The proper balance of these doors is usually more important than a type of overhead door, since the weight of this type of doors is usually much greater than that of an overhead door.

I have been involved in numerous garage door lawsuits where many different reasons for an injury have occurred. Having been hired as an expert witness for both the plaintiff and the defense, several common factors have been observed. In many cases, unqualified people have attempted to repair or install garage doors. They have lacked the knowledge, skills, or even the basic tools necessary to do the job safely and properly. Garage door manufacturers and installers hired me as an expert to defend claims that they are not responsible for alleged product defects. In most cases, components that failed failed as a result of abuse or improper installation by the end user. As stated above, the installation of many garage doors is not appropriate for an untrained person. An exception to this relates to do-it-yourself garage door kits sold at local home centers. A homeowner could install the door because these kits do not come with a professional quality hardware package that should or would require special knowledge for installation. These kits do not typically employ torsion springs that require special knowledge, proper tools, and job skills to install. The doors are typically for light duty use. Professional installation services are often available through a home center to assist the homeowner in need of specialized installation. As with most specific business tasks, years of experience working as a professional installer qualify traders for their hiring license. The average homeowner who watches some TV shows that give rough explanations on how to install garage doors is generally not qualified to install their own door. These “how-to” television shows are not a substitute for the many skills acquired after working in the field.

The previous article is a very brief description of some types of garage doors. I have not provided any specific details regarding proper business conduct nor have I listed any information regarding the potential for serious bodily injury.

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