The garage is a practical and versatile feature in your home that can be used to park your car or store extra stuff. Useful as it is, it can also be a safety hazard for your kids and family. How do you ensure that you keep enjoying your garage without risking your kids' safety?

Educate Your Kids

Educate your children on the hazards of the garage door. Let them know that this is not a toy. Teach them to keep away from the garage door and related gadgets such as the remote or the opener. Let them know that only adults are allowed to touch these.

Keep Control Gadgets Safe

Place the control button in the garage out of the reach of children. Ideally it should be fitted at least five feet high. Keep the garage door remote or opener away from children.

Safety Mechanisms

Ensure that your garage door is fitted with safety mechanisms. The auto-reverse mechanism uses safety sensors that detect the presence of objects in the doors paths. When there's an object in its path, the door automatically reverses.

You can test your garage door for this function by placing an object at the bottom of the door. If the mechanism is working properly, the door will reverse.

The motion detector mechanism makes it impossible for the door to close if an object crosses its path during closing. You should test this regularly as well.

Modern garage doors come fitted with a non pinch feature. This ensures that your children are safe from having their fingers pinched, in case they get caught in the garage door.

You also need to be conversant with emergency features of your garage door. Read your operator's manual thoroughly so that you know what to do in case of an emergency.

Maintenance

Watch for wear and tear of your garage door. Check your garage door for noises, rust and functionality. It is more practical to keep a proper maintenance schedule with a local garage door repair company, such as Duncan Door Service Inc, to ensure your garage door stays in top shape.

Conclusion

The first step to ensuring your garage door is safe is to educate your children on safety precautions. Second, but more importantly, make sure it is fitted with the best safety features and third, have a proper door maintenance schedule. If need be, change your garage door. Your children's safety may well depend on it.