Secure Garage Door Openers

If you own an older radio controlled opener, you can have a problem. A high tech thief will sit and copy your code. You leave to go to work and he simply retransmits the code! If you purchase an opener from one of the companies below, every time you press your radio controlled garage door opener it can randomly change the code to one of 4.3 billion different combinations! That will keep the thieves away from your house.

Garage Door Manufacturers - All Types

The following categories list the major manufacturers of each type of garage door. As you would expect, each manufacturer makes several different types of doors. There is a lot of cross-over. Because models, features and options change, I suggest that you look for the following information on each web site:

• installation suggestions and guidelines once you have narrowed your choice.
• warranty information.
• the closest distributor to you so that you might arrange to see the door(s) in person.

The installation information is very important. If you take 10 to 15 minutes to read this documentation, you will be able to identify how well your installer is following the manufacturer's instructions.

Fiberglass Garage Doors:

Hardboard Panel Doors

Metal & Wood Garage Doors

• Clopay
• General American Door
• Holmes Garage Doors
• Overhead Door Corp.
• Raynor Garage Doors
• Wayne Dalton Corp.
• Sections, Inc.
• 1st United Door Technologies
• Designer Doors
• Everite Door Company
• Taylor Door
• Summit Door

Old-Fashioned Swing Doors

Do you have an old Victorian or Tudor home with the side-hinged garage doors on your detached garage? Would you like to keep that look but convert to an overhead door? Guess what? It is possible!

Several companies make overhead doors that will fool anyone who looks at them. They look like they are 100 years old! I suggest you look at the web sites of the following companies. You will not be disappointed!

• Amarr Garage Doors
• Bob Timberlake Millwork
• Designer Doors, Inc.
• Don Reese Builders
• C.H.I. Overhead Doors
• Windsor Door
• Designer Doors
• Sections, Inc.

Garage Door Associations

The following organization can provide you with some specialized information about garage doors and their components:

• Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association International (www.dasma.com)

Springs

Probably the most important part of a garage door are the springs. These beasts are the muscles that are actually supposed to do 95 percent of all the work to lift an overhead garage door. If you have to struggle to lift your door, then the springs are out of adjustment or possible worn out. You can check your springs fairly easily. If the door is well lubricated and the door is not in a bind within the tracks, it should stay suspended in a halfway open or closed position. If it opens, the springs might be too tight. If the door proceeds to close on its own and slams to the ground, the springs are too loose or worn out.

Do NOT attempt to adjust the springs yourself. It is very dangerous and must only be done by a trained professional.

Cables, Levers, Hinges, Rollers, etc.

Every six months, take a look at the hardware parts that make up the garage door. Look for worn metal, loose connections, etc. If you spot them, call a professional. Every year, homeowners get seriously injured when they fiddle around with garage door hardware. Some crazy homeowners who paint their doors try to remove hardware to paint behind it. More than one homeowner has been KILLED when they removed the bottom bracket that is attached to the cables or springs!

Remember, when a garage door is down in the closed position, the springs are like cocked guns. The springs are loaded with hundreds of pounds of potential energy just waiting to be released. If you unbolt a nut and the spring rips the bracket from your door, it can take your head with it. I have witnessed springs that have failed and shot across a garage like a cannon ball. Don't mess with the hardware. Leave it to a pro!

For further information on garage door safety and maintenance, go to the web site of the International Door Association (www.door.org) and read their article on "Automatic Garage Door Opener and Garage Door Safety & Maintenance Guide."

Periodic Lubrication

You can lubricate your door's moving parts. Always use a lightweight oil to coat the rollers, hinge pins, track, etc. Never use a heavy oil or grease.

Up until a few years ago, garage door design possibilities were very limited. Today, you can select a magnificent fiberglass garage door that looks like it is a beautiful walnut, oak, cherry or poplar door! The wood graining, color, and texture are so real it will definitely impress anyone who drives up to your home.

Changing Trends

Consumers respond to change. People like new things. Manufacturers know this and take advantage of this fact. Smart manufacturers respond to market demands by making high quality, efficient, good looking products that offer value. Garage door manufacturers have refined this principle with the new generation of garage doors.

Energy issues, needs for maintenance free living, safety concerns and durability have all been addressed. The most exciting advance in garage doors at this time has to be the insulated fiberglass garage door. Couple this with a radio controlled opener that randomly changes its code to foil thieves and you have a real asset to enhance your home.

Energy Issues

Do you have a living space above your garage? If so, it possibly is cooler than the rest of the home. New garage doors are available that offer up to an R-value of 9.2. This is a huge advancement over older doors that offered virtually no insulating capability.

However, insulated doors alone can't keep your house or garage comfortable. You need to pay attention to weather-stripping details around the entire edge of the door, the spaces between the door panels and the bottom door seal. Air infiltration will cancel all of the great insulating qualities of even the best door. Certain doors, such as those made by Clopay, actually offer a unique weather-stripping bead between the panels of sectional overhead doors. These gaskets create a very weathertight seal.

A DIY Job?

Are you thinking of replacing your garage door? If so, forget about doing it yourself. This is one job that must be left to the professional. Garage doors are the largest mechanical object in your home. Sixteen foot wide doors can weigh in excess of 350 lbs when assembled! You surely don't want that door and track to come crashing down on top of your new car or yourself, do you?

Steel Doors a Strong #2

Perhaps a fiberglass garage door is not in your budget. Don't despair! Give a serious look to the steel insulated doors. These doors offer all of the same features of the top quality doors. Because of special finishing processes, the finish of the steel doors can last for many years. Special zinc coated steel and rust inhibitive paints allow manufacturers to offer strong warranties.

Hardware Improvements

Garage door hardware has also seen improvements. Plastic has begun to replace certain steel parts. Nylon rollers and suspension systems are becoming more common. These materials offer superior precision that allow doors to operate smoothly and with less noise. If you see this nylon on your new door, don't think that the manufacturer has cut a corner. In fact, they have made it easier for your son or daughter to sneak into the house late at night!

Maintenance Free?

If you purchase a new door, don't think that you are getting out of all future painting and staining duties. This is especially true of the new fiberglass doors. These doors rely on special stains and clear coatings to create that wonderful look of wood. However, every few years this finish requires a rejuvenation.

The paint on steel doors, good as it is, will also succumb to the elements. It is not uncommon that these doors need a fresh coat of paint every 10 years or so.

A squirt of an oil can will also go a long way. If you lubricate all of the moving parts according to the suggestions of the manufacturer, your door might very well last 30 years or more.

Don't be like the average homeowner who neglects things. Inspect your garage door every six months so that you can maximize this big investment. If the door needs work, call a professional. You can save your money doing something else.

With proper care, you may only have to call a professional every 10 years or so. That is a small price to pay to ensure that your door will operate smoothly during a fierce rainstorm, a howling dust storm or a blizzard.

Power Can Be Destructive

A garage door opener has lots of power. In fact, if you don't have it adjusted right, it can actually break the top portion of the door. In cold climates garage doors can actually freeze to a slab. When the opener tries to open the door it can actually rip the top rail of the door off in extreme cases. An opener that is not adjusted properly can sometimes deflect the top of the door when it closes.

The point is, be aware of these problems. This doesn't mean that you should buy a low powered opener. It means that you should make sure the top of your garage door is reinforced. Most doors are from the factory. If you are in doubt about the stability of your door, ask a professional door company.

Taking the Fall

Garage door openers often get blamed for things that are not their fault. If your door jerks as it opens or makes noise or rattles, check all door hardware first. Missing hinge bolts, loose or broken rollers, or a loose spring may be the cause of the problem. Inspect the door hardware and look for problems.

Watch the Springs

Garage doors are very heavy. Some larger ones can weigh in excess of 300 pounds. The openers do NOT lift the doors. They simply start the process. The massive springs that you often overlook do 95 percent of the lifting. Before you install an opener you need to make sure the springs are adjusted perfectly. If you have to strain and grunt to lift your door, then the springs are way out of adjustment. If you don't adjust the springs, you will burn up or shorten the life of the opener.

NEVER attempt to adjust the springs yourself. They are highly dangerous. NEVER tamper with hardware that connects the door to the springs. For example, doors equipped with overhead springs often have a thin cable that runs from the spring down to a steel bracket at the base of the door. NEVER take off this bracket or loosen the bolts! The springs can rip the bracket out of the door and cut your head off as it violently retracts up to the ceiling of the garage. Working on springs is a job for a professional. Trust me on this one.

Periodic Maintenance

Most garage door openers require little, if any, maintenance. When you get your new opener, simply look at the owner's manual and see what it says about lubrication. Some moving parts may need periodic attention. The other thing you want to do is to take a zip lock freezer bag and store the owner's manual and all other literature. Secure the bag with twist ties or string to the angle iron that supports the garage door track. Be sure the bag is not close to any moving parts. This paperwork is important and if you store it someplace, it will get lost for sure. Leaving it out in the open is a constant reminder of its location.

The Wall Switch

Openers come with an inside switch. Most instructions say to mount this high on a wall - about 5 feet or more. There is a reason for this. While you are away from the door, your kids or a neighbor child may decide to use your door as a Medieval guillotine. Switches placed high on a wall make them work for this dangerous thrill.

Almost all openers contain microchips and as such they are susceptible to malfunctions caused by power surges. If your opener suddenly malfunctions, it could have been a surge. Keep that in mind. The following garage door opener selection tips are courtesy of the Genie Company. They make swell openers. I know, as I have two 15-year-old models that work just great each and every day.

Drive System

Screw Drive is probably the most popular and reliable. Since it is direct drive, there are fewer moving parts. It is also quieter and smoother.

Chain Drive openers are still available. The old ones had exposed chains and were sometimes guilty of popping off the sprockets. Newer designs have eliminated this problem.

Warranty

Pay attention here. Some openers come with a full lifetime warranty. In fact, some openers come with an In-Home Service clause where the manufacturer sends out a service person to your home! That is ideal.

Door Opening Speed

The common openers open and close at a rate of about 6 to 7 inches per second. If you are a type A personality, then consider getting a model that opens and closes twice as fast. Genie happens to have one that moves at 14 inches per second.

Safety Beam

Federal law mandates that openers be equipped with this device. There are optical sensors that are mounted on the door track that sense when someone walks across the path. Do NOT deviate from the directions with respect to the placement of these sensors!

Contact Reversing System

This is very important. My kids constantly park their bikes in the garage door path. Without this feature, they would be ruined. Be sure to check the adjustment of this feature regularly. If it loses sensitivity, a loved one or pet could be crushed by the door!

Timed Reversing System

Some openers will open the door if the door does not completely shut within 30 seconds. This is a great feature in case you forget to check the sensitivity I just mentioned!

Manual Emergency Release

This is a chord with a handle that detaches the door from the opening system. It allows you to operate the door by hand in case of a power outage, or if the safety features fail and something is trapped under the door.

Transmitter Security Codes

Make sure that the opener is equipped with a remote control that has rolling code technology. This offers the highest degree of security.

Multi Button Transmitters

This allows you to operate multiple garage doors with one transmitter.

Wireless Keypad

This accessory mounts outside the house and allows a person to operate the door if they know the numerical security code. These are great.

Hi-Tech Indoor Wall Control

Get an opener that allows you to turn the opener light on and off separately and one that has a vacation lock switch. These are handy features!

Easy Installation

Some openers are not user friendly. Look at the box and see if you can understand the instructions.

Onboard Diagnostics

Some openers come with sophisticated LED lights that communicate to you. They will tell you what is wrong with the opener. What a cool feature!

Power Cord

Most units come with a short electric cord for safety reasons. Don't be upset when you see the short pigtail chord. Do not use an extension chord to power your unit! Always extend a proper electric outlet to the opener.

Garage Ceiling Headroom

Pay attention to models that are engineered to fit in tight spaces. Not all openers will work in all conditions. Don't buy the wrong one or alter one to fit your space.

Mechanical Monsters

Virtually everyone I know has a misconception about garage doors. They fail to realize how big and heavy these doors really are. This is due to the fact that almost every overhead door is counterbalanced by some form of springs. These springs make the door feel lighter than it actually is.

Overhead garage doors are almost always the largest mechanical device in a residential home. Two car garage doors which usually measure 16 feet wide by seven feet tall can weigh close to 400 pounds! Think of that when you walk beneath the open door as you walk across your garage on your way to get the lawn mower or as you watch your son or daughter run for their bicycle. Garage doors require a healthy respect.

Automatic Openers

A large majority of overhead garage doors are equipped with automatic garage door openers. I myself have two of these wonderful machines. I believe these machines are responsible for much of the complacency we have about garage door maintenance.

Before automatic openers were popular, you would have to lift the door yourself to open it. If the springs were out of adjustment or the door needed lubrication, you (or your back) would know about it right away. Openers have changed all of that. They have literally put us 'out of touch' with our garage doors.

For this reason, it is important to periodically disengage the automatic opener and open and close the door manually. Overhead garage doors that are functioning properly are easy to open and move along the tracks smoothly. No matter how big your door is, it should take very little effort to lift the door from the closed position. Remember, the springs are the things that should do virtually all of the work in opening the door. They simply need a little help from you to get the job started.

Safety Issues

Automatic openers are very convenient items. However this convenience comes with a very high safety price tag. When automatic openers were first developed, they rarely had any safety features. If something was in the path of a closing door, it would simply get crushed.

It didn't take too long for the manufacturers of these devices to realize that they should equip the doors with an automatic function that reverses the door should it strike an object while closing. However, this safety feature requires periodic adjustment. The sensor, which makes the door reverse, has different levels of sensitivity. Over time, the sensor can get out of adjustment. Small children and animals have been crushed to death, even though the automatic opener was equipped with this safety feature!

Within the past few years, the automatic openers have added another safety feature. Virtually every new automatic opener is now sold with an infrared beam transmitter and receiver. These devices are installed near the floor of your garage. A transmitting unit is attached to the bottom of one of the garage door tracks, while the receiving unit is attached to the bottom of the other track. An invisible infrared beam is projected across the floor between these two units. If anything breaks this beam, even for a moment, while the door is closing, the door will reverse and go back to the open position. These are wonderful devices. However, if you have an automatic opener manufactured prior to 1993, there is a good chance that you can not have these safety devices added to your existing opener. You will have to buy a new opener to get this extra level of protection.

Remember, overhead garage doors and automatic openers are great things to have around the house, but they require periodic inspections and maintenance to keep them in tip-top shape. Failure to maintain a garage door can lead to serious injury or damage to cars and property. Don't hesitate, after reading this Bulletin completely, to check your overhead garage door and automatic opener for safe and smooth operation. Good luck on your next job!

Garage Door Manufacturers

The Wayne-Dalton Corporation offers a free Garage Door Safety Kit. The Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association International publishes a pamphlet titled Automatic Garage Door & Opener Safety & Maintenance Guide.

• Allstar Corporation
• Amarr Garage Doors
• The Chamberlain Group
• Clopay Building Products Corporation
• 1st United Door Technologies
• General American Door Company 
• The Genie Company
• Howell-Dor
• Jeld-Wen Windows & Doors
• Martin Door Manufacturing
• Overhead Door Corporation
• Raynor Garage Doors
• Sections Incorporated
• Summit Door Inc.
• Taylor Door
• Wayne-Dalton Garage Door Systems
• Windsor Door

Associations

• Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association International (www.dasma.com)
• International Door Association (www.doors.org)

Maintenance

If you have just purchased a new home or had a new door installed, take some time and read the owner's manual. You might be surprised at some of the things you learn. For example, if the door is wooden, virtually every manufacturer has strict guidelines as to how soon the door must receive a finish coat of paint or protective stain. Often people will paint the outside of the door and neglect the inside. This is a mistake and often voids the warranty!

Be sure to read your manual to find out just what you are supposed to do. Never remove any hardware when painting the door! If you are a fanatic about painting the entire door, arrange to paint the door sections prior to installation. Some door companies may deliver or let you pick up the sections of the door. You can then easily paint the sections of the door on saw horses. The door would then only require touch up work after it has been installed.

Once installed, you should periodically lubricate all moving parts. Use a silicone spray or lightweight oil on metal parts only. Do not lubricate plastic rollers and plastic idler bearings.

On a monthly basis, simply look at the garage door hardware (hinges, pulley, cables, etc.) Look for loose nuts and bolts. See if the cables are beginning to fray. Check the rollers for signs of wear. Never make any repairs or adjustments yourself, unless you are a trained garage door service person.

Check the door for proper balance. This is very easy to do. If you have an automatic opener, disengage it temporarily. With the door in the closed position, begin to slowly open it. When the bottom of the door is waist high, it should not move in either direction. It should be able to remain suspended in this position without anyone or anything touching it. If the door will not stay still, the springs are out of adjustment. Absolutely do not try to adjust the springs yourself!

If you have an automatic door opener, periodically check its safety mechanisms. The first test is to place a piece of 2x4 under the path of the door. Close the door on top of the 2x4. The door should hit the 2x4 and begin to reverse back to the open position. After this test, perform a second test. As the door is beginning to close the second time, stand in front of the door and hold on to the bottom of the door. You should not have to exert excessive force to stop the door from closing. If you can not stop the door, immediately step away from the door and let it strike the 2x4 again. Perform the necessary adjustments to the opener so that you can stop it from closing by using little force. If you don't know how to make the adjustment, contact a professional!

Safety Tips

Never stand or walk beneath a moving door. Do not set a bad example for your children. Never play "beat the door". A famous movie featuring a daring archaeologist rolling beneath a large stone door has lead to the deaths of children who were trying to mimic this movie stunt. Don't let it happen with your children!

Always try to hide or disguise the remote transmitters so that small children can't find them. They love to play with these devices. The wall-mounted push button which controls the door should always be mounted at least five feet off of the garage floor. Children love to play with garage doors. Please do not tempt them.

Never try to service the door or opener yourself, unless you are a trained person. The springs that open the door have killed people. This is a fact. Don't underestimate the force that these springs exert. Remember, the springs are in their most dangerous state when the door is closed. They are like loaded weapons. Please be careful!