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Tag Archives: garage door security

Garage Door Security for the Holidays

This can be a hectic time of year, and if you’re planning to go away for the holidays, it’s all too easy to overlook crisis prevention.

While dashing around packing presents and suitcases, be conscious of any and all safety measures you should take before you start your travels. One of the more valuable tips for avoiding trouble while you’re away is about securing your garage door.

You must treat the door from your garage into your home as seriously as you do your front and back doors. It’s often the preferred door for a burglar to break in because after they get in your garage they can close the garage door and then break into your house from inside your garage without being seen by neighbors.

Having a second car parked in the driveway is always a good idea. Keeping the garage door opener in the vehicle while you’re gone is not. Be sure to remove the garage door opener and lock the door that connects the garage to the house before you leave.

Your garage door can and should be monitored by your security alarm just like your other doors are. With the holiday season coming up fast, keeping burglars out of [more]

Time for a Garage Door Opener

If you’re tired of jumping out of the car to heave your garage door open on those cold, rainy, snowy days, then it’s time to consider purchasing an automatic garage door opener. Or if your opener dates from before the 1990’s, then you should consider replacing it to ensure that your opener meets current safety and security standards. Consider the following factors when choosing your next garage door opener.

Power

Automatic garage door openers vary in power. The amount you need depends on the type of door you have. For most residential applications the ½ hp is more than adequate and it is the most common motor you will find. Some jobs such, as custom-made wood doors can weigh several hundred lbs more than usual and could require a ¾ hp motor.

Drive Type

The automatic opener pulls your garage door using one of three different types of drives. A chain drive can be used on all types of doors, and resembles the chain drive on a bicycle. They’re the most affordable, but can be noisy if not properly adjusted, and require lubrication and service every couple of years.

Belt drives are made of sturdy rubber, so they offer the quietest operation and the [more]

Hiring a Professional Garage Door Repairing Service

Doors are always considered as a significant part of our house and always keep things secure and safe. Likewise, garage doors are no exception. They are essential parts of your property that protect your cars from intruders and thieves. The door of a garage is a big moving object and it is operated by the electric door openers most often. Therefore, proper testing, installation, maintenance and operation of the door and the automatic opener are really necessary to ensure the trouble-free and safe operation. Improperly adjusted garage doors can lead to serious injuries. So choosing the correct garage door repair service helps with the repair needs as well as save the users from any unexpected injuries.

The actual problem starts when the garage door does not work properly. If it is not fixed immediately, the broken garage door makes it very easy for the undesirables and thieves to enter in your home. For this purpose, you need to hire a garage door repair service for fixing the garage door problems as soon as you can. Most people are of the opinion that they are able to perform this job on their own. They might end up doing a lot more harm [more]

Breaking the Code

A key point of entry into your home for thieves is the garage, and if you own an older type garage door opener, your home could be vulnerable.

The weakness of these units is the frequencies that operate them, using something called “fixed codes”. Fixed codes were initially developed years ago to combat a shared frequency problem. If a homeowner wanted to change the frequency, all he or she had to do was preset a digital code by switching eight to 12 “Dip Switches” on the receiver and transmitter. Whatever number sequence selected for the receiver (garage door motor) had to be the same for the transmitter (remote).

Multi-Code System

With this multi-code system, garages were secure again. Or were they?

Now a new problem developed. Burglars were scanning these frequencies with something called a “code grabber”. Criminals were able to defeat the multi-code system by grabbing codes from homeowners who were leaving their homes. There were basically two types of scanners. The first type scooped up the code when the homeowner pushed the garage door to either open or close it.

Once displayed on a screen, the criminal could immediately re-transmit the signal to open the door. The second type of scanner would [more]

Have Your Cake and Eat It Too!

Did you ever think that a new garage door could almost pay for itself?

Garage door replacement ranked No. 2 in “cost recouped” on a list of 35 common home remodeling projects in Remodeling Magazine’s 24th annual Cost vs. Value Report.

The average midrange garage door replacement cost was estimated at $1,291. Resale value of the project averaged $1,083 – an 83.9 percent return on investment (ROI) at resale. In some cities, such as Charleston, W. Va., Honolulu, Providence, R.I., and San Francisco, the ROI for a new garage door was more than 100 percent.

Upscale garage door replacements were estimated to provide a 69.8 percent ROI – No. 4 among the upscale projects listed in the survey.

What does that mean to homeowners? You can have your cake and eat it, too. A new garage door can add to the beauty of your home as you live in it and enjoy it today, while also providing a high level of payback – nearly 84 cents of every dollar spent on the garage door replacement – when it’s time to sell.

What’s more, garage door replacement was one of the least expensive projects listed in the survey. That means a new garage door may be [more]

Easier Way to Access Your Garage

Garage door keypads are used as an easier way to access the opening and closing of your garage door. It’s easily mounted, usually near the door, to be there whenever you will need it. But don’t worry, not everyone will be able to use it. Only those that know 4 digit security code can enter garage. Garage door keypad can be changed anytime as you want. Some garage door keypads have room for more security codes, so everyone in your household can have his own unique security code.

The best garage door keypads even have a function that will allow you to set a temporary security code that can be used only for certain numbers of time or for certain period time. You can use this temporary code for your repairman or any other one who need to enter your garage while you are not at home.

If you want to add garage door keypad to your opener or your old keypad doesn’t work anymore and you need replacement, you should think about getting an universal garage door keypad. Universal garage door keypads were made to work with most of mayor garage door opener brands. But not all universal keypads will work [more]

Why Didn’t It Close?

Everyone’s finally dressed and ready to leave. You back the car out, hit the remote, and you’re off. Until you realize the garage door hasn’t gone down. You reluctantly pull back into the driveway, brow furrowing in frustration. It happens to everyone. Many homeowners don’t even realize they left it open until they return home.

Why didn’t it close? Garage doors usually fail to close as a result of the safety sensors being blocked. They’re located on each side of the opening, no more than a foot or so off the ground. Typically, each will have a small light that stays lit when everything is going well. If either of the lights are out, simply move whatever is blocking the sensor (sometimes even cobwebs/small debris can cause safety sensors to malfunction) or adjust them so that they are pointing at each other again. You can move these around by hand if they’ve been knocked out of alignment.

If you’re still stuck at home, make sure nothing is blocking the path of the door. This can be a common cause for service calls on garage doors. Always use caution when operating your door, but be extra cautious when it’s not working correctly. It’s [more]

Is Your Garage Door a Soft Target?

As the economy tanks, crime is going up. The bad guys will be looking for soft targets and your garage – especially if you leave it open – is one of the softest.

What can you do to reduce the odds you’ll be victimized?

Don’t flash what you have

Try to avoid leaving your garage door open so that everyone who drives or walks by has a full view of your stuff. Even if you’re working in the garage, it’s best to leave the doors down. Try to keep what you have under wraps – and keep a low profile.

Keep the door locked

This is just common sense – but it’s a fact that many thieves never have to break into anything. They just walk right on in – and walk away (or drive away) with your stuff. Use a high quality door lock, plus a deadbolt. If you have an outside electric keypad opener, don’t use an obvious code or tell too many people what the code is.

If your garage has doors with windows, consider replacing them with solid doors

As nice as it is to have a door with an upper glass section to let the sun shine in, glass allows a would-be [more]