It’s not too late to turn your garage into a Haunted Garage

Tomorrow is Halloween and, if you’re like most people, you’ve put some spooky decorations out in the front yard and you’ve got a bowl of candy by the front door. Some folks, however, have found a way to add some extra scary to the occasion while getting into the spirit of the event. Some folks have turned their garage into a small haunted house and Trick-or-Treat station.

Instead of waiting for the doorbell to ring, they’re out in the garage, the garage door wide open, participating with the Trick or Treaters as they come by for treats.

The garage is rich in potential when you’re preparing for the arrival of little ghouls, princesses and any of a number of super heroes. And, the great thing is that it’s so easy to convert your garage for the ghostly season that you can easily do so if you start now.

You can start by taking a broom out to the garage and cleaning a little – but not too much. Ghosts and goblins don’t want things too clean. Rather, you can move some of the items that won’t fit with your Haunted Garage to the back of the garage. Then, hang a curtain or sheet (a black sheet, if you’ve got one) to cover up the things in the garage that you wouldn’t see in your Haunted Garage.

On the other hand, you could expand on the theme of a Haunted Garage and mix the spooky with the normal – the things you expect to see in a garage. Just be careful that there’s nothing around that would hurt any of the little Tricksters who will come by for treats. If you opt for the garage themed Haunted Garage, you can add ghosts, skeletons and other frightening decorations in among the items usually found in a garage.

You may, however, opt for a Haunted Garage where the garage is merely the stage for your spooky themed presentation. You may choose a setting from one of your favorite scary movies. But, keep in mind that many of the little monsters coming by your Haunted Garage will be a bit young for some of the scarier movies that are out these days. Your neighbors won’t appreciate it if you keep their children up with nightmares, especially when you’re already helping to keep them up with candy.

Still, even little children expect to see some spiders, ghosts and skeletal characters. Just don’t over do it. Make sure your Haunted Garage is age appropriate.

One nice thing about a Haunted Garage is that, unless you have a finished ceiling in the garage, it’s very easy to suspend monsters and such from the rafters. With a little ingenuity, you can probably rig up a monster on a string that you can let down and pull up when Trick or Treaters arrive.

If you have access, or time to get one, a good technique is to use a fog machine in the garage. Remember that black is the prevalent color for Halloween, along with minimal lighting.

Get yourself a low-wattage light or, better yet, a black light bulb. Then, get creative. Without too much work you’ll have a Haunted Garage the little monsters will look forward to year after year and with no more work required than you want to put into it.

How’s the weather stripping around your Gurnee garage door?

There’s a great-big opening at the front of your Gurnee garage. There’s a hinged assembly that opens and closes in that opening. It’s called your garage door. As winter approaches, the hope is that, when it’s closed, the garage door will provide a reasonable seal.

That’s quite a job for a garage door. Consider that a common garage door size is 16’ X 7’-8”. The outside circumference of that garage door is 47’-4”. You’ll usually find the garage door is made of four sets of panels with three sets of hinges. That’s another 48’ of joint that needs to seal. Together, that’s 95’-4” of area the garage door needs to seal.

Fortunately, the hinged panels are engineered to seal well. If the hinged joints are not sealed, you’ll need to tighten the hinges. If that doesn’t work, you may need to replace the garage door.

The real issue with sealing you Gurnee garage door is around the circumference. The solution to a windy closure of the garage door at the top and the sides are rubberized weather stripping attached to the door frame. The seal needs to be attached properly so that, while it doesn’t get in the way while the door is opening and closing, it’s close enough to seal when the garage door is closed.

At the bottom of the garage door, the rubber seal is attached to the garage door. Now, the garage door needs to be adjusted properly so that it closes tightly while taking into account the rubber at the bottom of the door.

Most garage doors come with rubber weather strip on the bottom. However, as with rubber weather stripping around the sides, the rubber will grow hard over time. This means that, even if you have weather stripping around your garage door, you may want to check the condition of the rubber. Look for cracks in the rubber. Feel the rubber to see if it’s reasonably supple yet.

Good quality weather stripping around your Gurnee garage door, properly installed, will make a world of difference sealing outside air from getting in, as well as rain and snow. With worn, improperly installed or missing weather stripping, the wind, and those other elements will come right in.

Does your Huntley garage door look crooked?

“Honey, is it me or does the garage door look a little crooked?”

If you’re asking your spouse that question about your Huntley garage door, and if the answer is yes, you have a problem with your garage door. As a rule, garage doors shouldn’t sit crooked in the garage door opening. They’re specifically designed to not sit crooked.

Any garage door installer who is worth his salt will install your garage door level. If, following the installation, you notice that the garage door is crooked, don’t let the garage door technician leave until he or she fixes the issue. Or, maybe you should insist that they leave and call a qualified garage door technician who knows how to do the job right.

Fortunately, it’s highly unlikely you’ll find a garage door technician that incompetent. From time to time you’ll run into a garage door technician working in the Huntley area who isn’t as qualified with the technical aspects of garage door installation. The process generally sorts out those who should consider other professions.

Assuming, therefore, that the garage door was installed properly to begin with, if your garage door is crooked, that’s probably a recent development.

Why would your garage door be crooked?

The problem with a crooked garage door almost always comes down to one or two problems: a spring is broken or damaged, and/or a cable is malfunctioning.

The malfunctioning cable is probably the most common culprit. The cable may have jumped off of the cable drum. This could happen because the garage door struck something on the way up or down.

If left unattended, the problem could result in the garage door falling out of the opening onto your car, yourself or someone you love. In other words, this is a problem you want fixed promptly.

The weight of a garage door is surprising to most people because the springs take up most of the weight. That means that the springs have to be strong. It makes for a dangerous combination when working on your garage door. Garage door springs can seriously injure, or even kill, someone who doesn’t know their way around garage doors. This is why, if your Huntley garage door is crooked, it’s best that you call a qualified garage door technician to fix the problem.