Will lack of garage door maintenance spoil your New Year’s Eve?

And Have a Happy 2022

You and your spouse are dressed and ready to go. Then the doorbell rings. The babysitter is here, at last. It’s time to go – time to go to the last party of the year. After the lockdown version of New Year’s Even last year, you figure you’re due for a chance to let your hair down and enjoy yourselves.

You go over the list of emergency phone numbers with the babysitter, wish her a Happy New Year and promise you’ll be back not too long after the stroke of midnight. Then you head out to the garage. 

As you slide into your seats, close the doors and start the car, you both take a deep sigh of relief. All your responsibilities are handled. Now, it’s your time. It’s time to enjoy yourselves. It’s time to enjoy New Year’s Eve.

After a smiling glance shared between you, you hit the button to open the garage door. The door goes up, the same as it has done a thousand times before. But then, and suddenly, something goes wrong.

The rollers on each side of the top panel of the garage door fall out of the track. The garage door starts falling onto the hood of your car – your new car, the car you take so much pride in, that you clean and shine so regularly.

You’re still trying to come to terms with what is happening when you realize the door is continuing to fall, one panel after another, onto your car. You hit the button to stop the door. At first, nothing happens. You hit it again and, at last, it stops.

Looking out beyond the fallen garage door and the damaged hood of your car, you see the promise of a relaxed New Year’s Eve fading into the shadows of the night. Your plans have changed.

The odds that this story describes what will happen to you this New Year’s Eve are slim. The point is that, whomever this does happen to, could have avoided the problem and the havoc it wrought. All they needed was some timely garage door maintenance.

Here’s hoping you’ve had timely garage door maintenance performed on your garage door and garage door opener. And here’s hoping you have a Happy New Year and a wonderful 2022.

Garage offers versatility for Christmas

Christmas is a hectic time of year. So much to do and so little time to do it. It helps to devise a plan to help you survive the holiday without losing your cool. You can start by making a list of all the tasks you need to complete. Also, consider all of your resources. And don’t forget the garage as one of those.

The garage can help you survive the holiday mayhem of Christmas in several ways. Consider these possible ways to use your garage to its full potential:

1. Use your garage as a storage area: Just think of all the things you can store in the garage at Christmas time. You can store the boxes from the Christmas decorations and lights in the garage. You can hide gifts in the garage until Christmas morning. You can move furniture out to the garage when you’ll need more space in the house for entertaining. You can put some of the foods prepared in advance out in the garage (assuming you protect them from hungry uninvited guests that find their way into the garage).
2. If your garage is heated, and reasonably clean, you can expand your house while entertaining. Think of it as another room for guests to mingle. It might even work as the room for those who want to smoke a cigarette or cigar (you can air it out later).
3. Decorate your garage for that Christmas party you’re holding for the kids. They can do crafts and games without messing up the house.
4. Keep the pets out in the garage while you’re entertaining.

Of course, you’ll want to ensure that the garage door is working properly. Imagine if you get the garage all setup for that kid’s party and, on a cold December day, the garage door rollers fall out of their tracks.

At Christmas time, you want to think about the holiday not your garage door. And you certainly don’t need any additional expense on the garage door when your shopping for Christmas gifts and holiday dinners.

You may want to have some timely garage door maintenance performed before the holiday. Even if you won’t use your garage for anything special, you don’t need garage door problems spoiling your holiday.

In any case, here at Garage Doors and More, we would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas.

Garage door maintenance and a very Happy Thanksgiving

You’ve made your grocery list for Thanksgiving dinner, and you head out to the garage and, without giving it a thought, you push the button to open the garage door. Of course, it will open. Its reliability is something you’ve come to take for granted.

You run out to the car to pickup the kids from their last day of school the Friday before Thanksgiving week. Once again, the garage door opens upon demand. You drive to the school, pick up your children, and drive back without giving the garage door so much as a passing thought.

It’s Saturday night and you and your spouse are heading out to meet some friends for dinner and some drinks. If it’s chilly, hopefully, the car is winterized, and it will start just fine. You may worry about that but what are the odds you’ll worry about your garage door? And why should you?

Garage doors are extremely reliable. They’re so reliable that they’re easily forgotten. Homeowners and business owners tend to let them go far-too-long between maintenance procedures. That may not seem like such a big deal, at least, not until you push the button for the garage door to open and nothing happens.

It’s also a big deal if the garage door rollers fall out of the track, possibly falling on your car – or you. It’s a big deal if the garage door opener stops midtrack and randomly reverses the direction of your garage door.

Garage door maintenance is a big deal when the condition of the garage door deteriorates to the extent that you have to spend the money for a new garage door.

Maintenance is not a big deal. Have it done once a year and you should be in good shape – your garage door and garage door opener should be in good shape. With proper and timely garage door maintenance, you should have no reason at all to think about your garage door this Thanksgiving.

Thinking about your garage door is our job. And we thank you for giving us the opportunity.

Here at Garage Doors and More, we are very thankful for, what we consider, the best customers in the world. You’re special to us because you give us the opportunity to earn your trust every time you call on us for help with your garage door and/or garage door opener.

And, so, we would like to take this moment to wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving.

Maintenance is the key to defending your garage door from another Antioch winter

A funny thing happens to water when it freezes, which is a place to start considering what winter will do to you Antioch garage door. If you heat air in a balloon, it expands. The balloon gets larger. The same is true with water, that is, until it freezes. 

As a solid, water crystals take on a different structure. While cold water contracts, frozen water expands. This is why you want to do a good job of applying weather stripping around your garage door. You want to keep the water out before it freezes, expands and puts pressure on parts of you garage door. But winter requires more than just weather stripping to protect your Antioch garage door.

There are metal parts in the composition of your garage door. It’s possible that the door is made of metal. Metal is also affected by extreme cold temperatures. Not only does the metal contract with the cold but it is often far more brittle with extremely cold temperatures.

Every time the garage door goes up and down, the rails, the hinges and other metal parts are under stress. In the case of the springs, that stress is extreme. Just imagine if the metal parts of the garage door were made of fine China. Under that kind of stress, they would shatter in no time.

Of course, metal isn’t as fragile as porcelain. But, with the cold we can expect in Antioch during the winter, that metal is significantly more brittle. They won’t shatter the first time you run the garage door up and down but, over time, it is possible that they will break.

Other materials used in the construction of garage door are also affected by frigid temperatures, some more than others. Wood and fiberglass, two other materials commonly used in the construction of garage doors, are affected by freezing temperatures.

There isn’t much you can do about the cold. If you live in Northern Illinois, you can count on it to get cold during the winter – sometimes colder than other times. But you can do something to alleviate the effects of the cold on your garage door.

The key is maintenance of your garage door. If everything is properly aligned and lubricated, there is less stress on the parts of your garage door. In other words, having your garage door maintained before the coming Antioch winter arrives can go a long way toward extending the life of your garage door while avoiding unnecessary repairs.

Even the garage door opener will benefit from proper adjustment and lubrication.

Decorating for Halloween? Don’t forget the potential of the garage

This homeowner decorated right

on out of his garage and into

the front yard. This is an example

of the possibilities that exist

for decorating your garage this

Halloween.

Some folks go all out decorating for Halloween. Some generally throw up a few spooky decorations and call it a … well, spooky night.

There’s a lot you can do with Halloween decorations. But, if you consider it’s potential, you don’t want to neglect the garage or the garage door. The garage, with the door open, can represent a frightening cavern with bats hanging from the rafters and ghouls peeking out from the corners. 

As for your garage door, you can think of it as a large palette where your most spine-chilling imagination can run rampant.

A trip to one of the Halloween outlets that pop up in empty strip-mall stores can provide you with ample material to turn your home into a ghostly experience to delight Trick-or-Treaters of all ages. If you have time for delivery yet, you can probably order decorations online.

These options may cost more than you want to spend. With some creativity and ingenuity, however, you may achieve wonderfully scary results using materials around the house.

You may provide a spooky presentation based on a random assortment of Halloween-based decorations. The overall appeal of your presentation may work out better if you come up with a theme.

The next step is to assemble some of the materials that might help: 

• Cardboard
• Sheets
• Paints
• Markers
• String
• Etc.

You may want to go online and look for ideas. You’ll probably find plenty of concepts you can use. Pinterest is probably a good place to start.

Then, let the creative juices flow. You can setup a table in the garage where you work on the project. Think of yourself as something of a Dr. Frankenstein – a mad scientist. Build a Halloween display worthy of the phrase, “IT’S ALIVE!!!”

Just remember to maximize on your home and garage’s potential. From the front yard, to the eaves extending out from the house to the garage door and garage, with a little effort, you can turn your home into horrifyingly delicious Halloween presentation.

Time to replace the weather stripping on your Antioch garage door?

Autumn is a wonderful time of year as beautiful fall colors combine with mild temperatures to make Antioch an even more fantastic place to live. But autumn won’t last forever; winter is ready to sweep in behind it with snow, blowing winds and cold. That cold and snow will make every effort to work its way around the edges of your garage door.

By all means, enjoy autumn while you can. Go apple picking. Carve pumpkins and decorate for Halloween. But even by the time Thanksgiving comes around, we’re liable to find the temperature in Antioch falling precipitously. 

How can you keep the snow and the cold from seeping into your garage from around the edges of your garage door? Weather stripping is the key.

There are different types of weather stripping to seal your garage door from the elements. And there are different types to use in different areas of the garage door.

Essentially, there are two areas around the garage door where you need to seal: around the sides and top, and across the bottom.

For the top and sides, you can use a brush type seal. The brush type adapts well to the movement of the garage door while performing well to keep out dirt, leaves, rain, snow and the cold.

Another option is a rubber, vinyl of plastic seal that is mounted on both sides of the garage door.

At the bottom of the garage door, you may have a metal threshold mounted to the floor. But you still want a seal mounted to keep the cold, wind and water out.

Weather stripping makes a tremendous difference. If you have a heated garage, it help to reduce the workload on your heater. Even if your garage isn’t heated, weather stripping is a welcome addition.

Of course, you probably have weather stripping on your existing garage door. But, after a number of years, the question is what kind of condition the weather stripping is in. 

Winter is coming to Antioch, though you still have some time. But why wait to check your weather stripping, and replace it if necessary?

Do you have to lean to make your crooked garage door look straight?

A crooked garage door faces greater wear and tear

Something seems funny, kind of out of whack, when you look at your garage door. Is it you or is it the door? If, when leaning slightly to one side, your garage door looks straighter, you may have a garage door that isn’t aligned straight in its tracks or the garage door opening. You may want to do something about this.

Assuming your garage door was aligned properly when it was new, something must have gone wrong over time. This isn’t out of the realm of possibility; wear and tear can cause garage doors to go out of alignment. Parts can break which can also result in a crooked garage door.

• Worn cables
• Broken springs
• Rusted springs
• Broken rollers
• Misaligned rollers
• More

If you never used your garage door, time will still take its toll. Parts will rust. Springs can loose their tension. But, no doubt, you do use your garage door.

Every time you raise and lower your garage door, parts grind against each other. Tension is applied to parts. There is wear and there is tear. 

If you keep your garage door properly lubricated and aligned, you reduce the amount of wear and tear. The durability of your garage door is improved. But once things start getting out of whack, additional strain is placed on your garage door and garage door opener.

The moral of the story is that you don’t have to stand leaning to one side when looking at your garage door, and it won’t help to reduce the harm caused by a misaligned and/or damaged garage door. Have it fixed promptly and you’ll spare the door all that extra wear and tear. 

In the meantime, timely garage door maintenance can help keep your garage door straight to begin with.

Time to replace your Twin Lakes garage door?

Have a little fun and choose a garage door you’ll like

The bad news is that your Twin Lakes garage door has given up the ghost. It’s weathered beyond functionality. It’s broken, bandaged and ready to be abandoned. Hopefully, your garage door opener isn’t past its prime, too. But it’s a good idea to check with a trusted garage door technician who isn’t determined to sell you whatever they can. 

Once you’ve accepted the bad news, it’s time to consider some good news. The good news is ‘You Have Choices.’

You can choose to replace your garage door with a flat, white garage door – the simplest and most straightforward choice you can make. But you’ve still made a choice. As long as you’re making a choice, one way or the other, why not have some fun with the decision.

Garage doors come in a variety of styles and materials. Some are insulated. Some aren’t. 

Insulated or not, garage doors come in the following materials:

• Metal
• Aluminum
• Fiberglass
• Vinyl
• Wood
• A Wood Composite
• PVC

Some garage doors have windows. Some have molding. Of course, they also come in different levels of quality. That’s often apparent with the price of the garage door.

In terms of quality, certainly, you want a garage door that will last. You want a garage door that will stand up to the weather. In these regards, once again, check with that trusted garage door technician. They have experience with garage doors and can, most likely, tell you which doors experience the most problems that the technicians are called upon to fix.

Beyond quality, however, you also want to consider the ambience of your new garage door. What style fits your garage and home the best? What color works best? 

With some materials, such as a vinyl garage door, the color on the surface is the color of the material throughout. In such a case, if you scratch the garage door, you won’t expose the color of the subsurface material. Scratches are less apparent.

Some garage door materials are easier to paint. They designed to be painted. You may want to take a sample of the trim color of your Twin Lakes home to the paint store and have them set you up with paint that matches precisely. 

We all hope that our garage doors will last indefinitely. Reality is that, while a good garage door will last a very long time, as a thing mechanical, we can’t expect them to last forever. As long as you’re replacing your Twin Lakes garage door, why not make the most of it?

Why is your garage door slipping or sticking?

You can hear the garage door opener working but, somehow, the garage door isn’t opening as fast as it should – as fast as it usually opens. What the heck is that all about?

There are several possible reasons that your garage door isn’t opening as expeditiously as you’re accustomed, including:

The door is binding in the tracks: With rollers, the garage door rides up and down in the tracks on either side of the door. If the tracks are out of adjustment, bent or otherwise damaged, the garage door may stick when it’s supposed to roll. Your garage door opener is working its little heart out but the garage door isn’t cooperating.

The garage door opener requires adjustment: If the sensors are not adjusted properly, it can throw the garage door opener out of whack. An adjustment is in order.

The rollers and chain require lubrication: If the rollers aren’t lubricated with an appropriate amount of frequency, the rollers can stop rolling. Before they get that bad, they will stop rolling as smoothly. The hinges between the door panels need lubrication from time to time. Even the chain and the tracks require occasional lubrication.

Foreign objects and dirt could impede the travel of your garage door: If a stick got stuck in the track of your garage door, it could very well stop or slow the travel of the door. Dirt can build up in the track. Dirt does not provide a smooth surface for travel, its buildup can affect the spacing between the rollers and the door.

The belt drive needs adjustment: There is a certain amount of tension required when your garage door opener has a belt drive. If it’s too loose, or too tight, this can affect the way the garage door opener operates.

Assuming that your garage door was installed properly (if not, the problem was probably apparent from the beginning of the operation of the garage door), problems that can affect the smooth operation of your garage door are generally rectified with a fair amount of ease. That assumes that the person rectifying the problem knows what they’re doing. 

What to do if you drive into the garage door

Probably the worst thing about backing into your garage door is explaining to your spouse how that happened. The next worst thing is the cost of repairing your garage door. After that, it’s a matter of inconvenience and security until the garage door is fixed.

One of the first things to do is to remind yourself that you’re not the first person to drive into their garage door. It’s happened before and it will happen again.

We all try to be as careful as possible but sometimes things happen. You may not have realized you were that far forward, or backward, as the case may be. Or you may have thought the car was in drive when it was in reverse, or was in reverse when you thought it was in drive.

Other times, garage doors may suffer because a driver was in a bit of a hurry and didn’t wait long enough. They pulled through the garage door opening before the garage door was completely out of the way.

Now, before you get out of the car, it’s important to ensure that it’s safe to do so. There may be sharp debris on the floor that could cut your feet or legs. When you open the door, portions of the damaged garage door can fall on you and cause injury, sometimes serious injury.

You may be better off to back out of the danger zone before exiting the vehicle. Even then, however, be careful that you haven’t dragged some of the garage door with you where it can still cause injury.

The first thing to do, once you’re safely out of the vehicle, is to call your agent for your homeowners of business insurance, depending on which applies. They may have instructions on how to proceed.

They will most likely suggest that you call a trusted garage door repair service. It’s possible that you’ll need emergency clean up of the garage door debris and boarding so you can secure the opening until repairs are completed. 

Depending on how badly you hit the garage door, it’s possible that repairs can bring the garage door back to life. This is generally the case if you’ve only bumped into the door a bit. But if you’ve hit it a solid blow, there’s a good chance you’re garage door is beyond repair.

In either case, your garage door technician will want to examine the tracks, springs and the garage door opener to ensure that they are still properly aligned or whether they require repair or replacement, too.

If you do need a new garage door, hopefully, you have time to do some shopping to find the right model. Even if you have to pay a little more than the insurance covers, this is an excellent time to get the garage door you’ve always wanted.

If a mousetrap can hurt, a garage torsion spring is frightening

Leave garage door repairs to the pros

Have you ever set a mousetrap and had the spring slip so that your fingers were caught in the trap? Hurts like heck, doesn’t it? For it’s size, the spring is a powerful little bugger. It’s only a little more than an inch long and about one-quarter inch in diameter but it will snap the trap shut with enough force to, well, leave a mark.

If a mousetrap can hurt that much, just think about what the torsion springs on your garage door can do.

A garage door can have one torsion spring or come in a set of two – a left-hand spring wound to the left and a right-hand spring wound to the right. The springs generally range from 16- to 48-inches long. They range in inside diameter from about 1-3/4-inches to 2-5/8-inches (commercial is usually anything above 2-5/8-inches and runs to 3-5/8-inches).

Those torsion springs are designed to raise garage doors that can weigh as much as half a ton. They’re rated by Inch Pounds Per Turn. Depending on the inside diameter of a spring for a residential application, and the wire comprising the spring, those springs can be loaded with as much as 50 IPPT. This refers to the inch-pounds of force from each turn of the spring.

If you multiply the IPPT by the number of turns in the spring, you should arrive at the total inch pounds of force generated by the spring. It’s possible that you’ll have 10 coils of the spring in 1-1/4 inch. 

As an example, let’s suppose you have a 30-inch spring 10 coils per 1-1/2 inches. Let’s also assume that the IPPT is 36.1. That spring has 200 coils, each packing a punch of 36.1 IPPT.

Make no mistake about it; if a mousetrap will leave a mark, a garage door torsion spring will take off a finger, an arm or something even more vital.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, close to 30,000 individuals suffer injuries each year from garage doors that include fractures, crushing, and amputations.

The point is that repairing a garage door is not a DIY type project. There are some times when you want to call in a professional. And when the garage door requires service, that’s one of the times to call a professional. And when the repair refers to garage door springs, there’s no question about it.

New garage doors can be transformative compared to that rickety old model on your Lake Villa garage

Rickety? Is that the word to describe the garage door outside your Lake Villa home? Does ‘battered’ fit its general appearance? Or maybe ‘outdated’ is the term that best describes your garage door. You don’t have to live that way!

Look around your Lake Villa neighborhood. There’s a good chance that your dilapidated garage door is not the norm. Chances are you’ll see some other garage doors that are, well, stylin’. You could have a garage door that sets a standard for vanity outside your house, too.

If your garage door is less than visually appealing, there’s a good chance your garage door isn’t in optimal condition mechanically either.

You may not have thought about it but, if you pay attention, you’ll recognize the effects of wear and tear on your garage door and garage door opener. You’re liable to notice that it takes more time going up and down. It doesn’t move as smoothly anymore. It may make a bunch of noise as it travels.

Efficient operation of your garage door is a good reason to consider maintenance or repairs; in fact, you shouldn’t wait for signs of problems before performing garage door maintenance. But the visual appeal of your garage door counts for something, too.

Better quality garage doors are available

Some garage doors aren’t just long in the tooth; their quality was suspect when they were originally manufactured to begin with.

In years gone by, some manufacturers of garage doors made garage doors that were, well, there’s no better word for it – cheap. Some were constructed of flimsy materials, whether fiberglass, metal or wood. They probably lacked insultation.

The rails were constructed with thinner-grade metal. The rollers were cheaper. The springs were brittle and lost their strength over time. Garage door openers were also subpar. But, above all, they looked cheap.

There are garage doors available today that are so visually superior that they’ll transform the look of your garage and enhance the value of your home. They still make metal, fiberglass and wooden garage doors. But if you purchase a quality garage door, the potential is tremendous.

Of course, if you’re happy with your current garage door, don’t overlook maintenance. That’s the key to keeping your garage door’s performance at the standard you expect.

Have you considered turning your garage into a recording studio?

Don’t forget the garage door

In 1960, several young men setup their equipment in their garage and hit a note that has reverberated through history. That garage was in Liverpool. And by ‘their equipment,’ we’re referring to their musical instruments. We came to know of them as the Beatles. But they’re hardly the only band to get its start in a garage.

The garage is simply a logical place to start a band. Assuming is relatively clean and organized, there’s plenty of room for drums, keyboards, amplifiers, speakers, guitars and other instruments. In the summer, you can roll up the garage door and share your music with the neighbors. In the winter, hopefully the garage is heated.

That pretty much describes how bands got started in their garages: move the instruments in and start playing. Today, however, a garage can be more than four walls and an overhead garage door – much more.

You can turn your garage into a recording studio

With a little work, you can seriously improve the acoustics of the garage. You can setup recording equipment and record your band’s musical accomplishments.

The first step is to soundproof your garage. If your garage has insulation and drywall, that’s a start. But you may still want to add some soundproofing to the walls. You may also want to soundproof the windows. And then there’s the garage door.

Does your garage door have insulation? If not, you may want a garage door that does. 

What kind of material is your garage door made of? If it’s made of metal, does the metal rattle when you’re playing music? You may have to listen closely to tell.

A wooden or fiberglass garage door is probably better. And that insulation can make a big difference.

Soundproofed, your garage will provide a setting where you’ll have less distortion when recording your music. But soundproofing does more than that. 

It’s just possible that the neighbors may not want to hear you playing your music (they may not realize they’re having a special opportunity to hear that next big band in its formative days. Soundproofing will help you to avoid calls to the police and will allow you to play later into the night. It’s the neighborly thing to do.

If you do a good enough job setting up your recording studio, you can even charge other people to use your garage. And it’s easy. Roll up the garage door and let them bring their instruments in. Then roll the garage door down again so they can start playing, and you can start recording.

Shake, Rattle and Roll – are your garage door and garage door opener in tune?

 Shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll

I said shake, rattle and roll, shake, rattle and roll

Do you remember Bill Haley and the Comets or Elvis Presley cranking out that hit from the ‘50s? A bit ahead of your time? Rolling Stone magazine lists it as one of the 500 Greatest Songs of all time. Considering, it may work as lyrics for a song but is it the number you want your garage door and garage door opener duo to sing?

When you strike up this band, you expect your garage door and garage door opener to sing an ultra-smooth harmony. You’d rather hear them do a rendition of The Platters hit Twilight Time as you open and close the door following a relaxing evening out with your spouse.

The point is that, if your garage door is keeping a beat while the garage door cranks it up or down, that could indicate a problem with your garage door equipment. And the problem is that a garage door’s shake, rattle and roll might just vibrate something else out of whack. The longer it vibrates, the longer other parts will shake until they rattle loose. 

If your garage door opener and garage door conspire to sing out of tune, you may find the culprit hiding among the symphony of parts that are supposed to play a synchronized melody. To find the problem, you may need to through the orchestra piece by piece while paying special attention to the following instruments:

• Nuts and bolts are loose
• Some of the slides and rollers require some lubrication
• A spring or another of the essential performers is broken
• The pulleys, gears or belts that carry the tune from the opener to the door need adjustment

The goal is to ensure that the orchestral performance of your garage door and garage door opener are prepared to play its well-rehearsed numbers cohesively. When everything is in tune, they’ll play those songs, up and down, with the same vigor for years to come (with due maintenance) while bridging your entry and exit from the garage whenever you call.

Don’t ignore a blinking light in your North Chicago garage door opener

You could close the doors so you don’t see the light blinking in your North Chicago garage door opener. If you don’t see it, is it really blinking. But, unlike a refrigerator, where there’s no to tell whether the light stays on when the door is closed, with your garage, you can stand inside the garage door and see if the light continues blinking when you lower the garage door.

You may be tempted to ignore the blinking light. After all, it’s annoying. Just close the doors and you can forget it. But you may want to consider ‘why’ the light on your North Chicago garage door opener is blinking.

Garage door openers are designed to provide warning signs if there’s a problem. A blinking light in the garage door opener is one of those signals. Now the trick is to figure out what your garage door opener is trying to tell you.

A blinking light in the garage door opener generally indicates one of two specific problems: either there is an issue with the lock button of a problem with a reversing sensor.

Check the lock button first

The lock button is on the remote control. If the lock button is depressed and engaged, a remote control will not open the garage door; the only way to open the door is to use the controller on the wall inside the garage.

This is a security feature designed to ensure that someone can’t hack into your garage with another remote control.

To fix the problem, hold the lock button for five seconds. The light should flash twice. When you see this, press the control button and it should fix the problem.

Not the lock button? Probably the safety reversing sensor

You’ll find these sensors near the floor on either side of the garage door. First, check to see that nothing is in the way blocking the light beam between the sensors. If that’s not the case, it’s possible that the sensors are out of alignment. 

Finally, it’s possible that the sensors or some other component of the garage door opener is malfunctioning. You may want to call a qualified garage door technician to take a look. What you don’t want to do is to ignore a blinking light on your North Chicago garage door opener.

Maximize the use of your garage to enhance your hobby or business

What are your hobbies and how does your garage help? Or maybe you have a business and your garage can fill a need. The point is that, whatever you do, whether working or with your free time, you might consider how your garage can provide useful storage and space.

Let’s suppose that you’re a quilter. You have plastic boxes filled with supplies for quilting. You may even have a 12-foot quilt frame that just takes up too much room in the basement or the backroom. Assuming the garage is heated, you could turn it into a very useful quilting cabin. And a shelving unit along the wall could handle most of your supplies. You could even color coordinate your storage.

Then again, you’re a hunter/fisher/outdoorsman. You’re not a run-of-the-mill enthusiast; you’re serious about your outdoor activities. A place to hang your fishing poles will not suffice. 

You could build a wall full of cubby holes for different lures and fishing equipment. For hunting, you may load your own ammo. You’ll have your loader table with shells, gunpowder and pellets stored in easy reach so, when you do load ammo, you can just roll your chair one way or the other to grab what you need.

If you’re hobby is woodworking, the garage is a woodshop made to order. You have plenty of room for your work bench, table saw, lathe, jigsaw, clamps, hand tools, work horses, and more.

If mechanics are your thing, you can turn your garage into a workshop to refurbish and old car or maintain your motorcycle. You may simply use your garage to store your fishing boat and/or snowmobiles. 

If you’re a tradesman, your garage can hold supplies and equipment. It’s a safe place to park your work truck or van so you less likely to have someone break in and steel your essential equipment.

Whatever purpose you find for your garage, if you set it up smartly, there’s a good chance it can double as the place to park your car. To do so takes planning. 

You’ll want to measure the space and have an idea of the dimensions of your vehicle, tools and equipment. You’ll want to consider items that you can store by suspending them from the rafters.

Done properly, you can dramatically increase the useful value of your garage. Of course, you’ll want to make sure that your valuables are protected and yet easily accessed. This is where your garage door and garage door opener come into play.

The key to ensuring that your garage door and garage door opener are assets to your garage is maintenance. Keep your garage door and garage door opener functioning properly and you can focus on your hobby or business.

Even 007 would have to troubleshoot the keypad if the garage door to MI6 won’t open

Thirty years ago, a keypad at the door was something you expected to see a secret agent use when entering their inner sanctum. Now, when entering your North Chicago garage, you use that keypad with hardly a thought. It’s second nature.

The day may come, however, when you’ll enter your secret code into the keypad, push the button to raise the door, and nothing will happen.

After a pause while you wait for your North Chicago garage door to do its thing, you suddenly realize it’s not responding. So you enter your passcode again, press the button, again, and wait, again. And, again, nothing happens.

How many times will you enter your passcode into your garage door keypad before you accept the reality that it’s not working and not going to work? That probably depends on the individual. Some will stubbornly try half a dozen times. Others, after three or four tries, will accept reality.

Accepting reality, however, doesn’t mean regressing back to the Dark Ages before keypads (or when keypads were used to keep people out of top-secret facilities). It means that the keypad needs to be fixed so that it will work again. That means troubleshooting to figure out what the problem is.

Troubleshooting goes beyond trying your passcode again and again. It includes the following steps:

• Replace the battery in the keypad. This is the first place to start and the easiest solution. Put a new battery in and give it a try. If that works, easy-peasy.
• Check the wiring inside the keypad. Are all the wires connected? Are they in good condition? If not, a fairly simple repair should have your keypad back in working order before you know it.
• Clean the keypad. Blow some compressed air inside the keypad. Consider cleaning the connections where the wires are secured. Wipe down the numbers on the keypad.
• Reset the PIN number on your keypad (if you punched your numbers in too many times, the garage door may have stopped working because you’ve done so too often).
• Reboot your garage door opener. This is a bit like starting over. You’re giving yourself a clean slate.

If none of these solutions have worked, it’s possible that you need a new keypad. If you can handle the installation yourself, you can pick up a new keypad at a box store. However, if you want a better quality keypad, you may want to go to a garage door supplier or bring in a garage door technician. 

That garage door technician can also help with troubleshooting, if you need their assistance. In any case, you’ll have that James Bond confidence back again the next time you use your keypad to open your North Chicago garage door.

Maintenance is critical to garage door longevity and reliability but beware of scams

The garage door and garage door opener are two mechanical components around the house that consistently come up short in terms of timely maintenance. If you maintain them properly, it will save you time, money and aggravation in the long run. But beware of scam artists who use your garage door and garage door opener to work their way into your pocketbook.

Proper garage door and garage door maintenance usually involves making some adjustments and applying proper lubricants in the right places and in the appropriate quantities. Con artists, however, may try to convince you that you need to spend money for repairs your garage door and garage door opener don’t need.

• One scam involves overstating the experience and expertise of a company that offers to perform maintenance, repairs or replacement of your garage door and/or garage door opener. Will they make the right adjustments and make them appropriately? Will they lubricate properly? Will they overestimate the need for replacement of parts, possibly including major components? You need to ensure that your garage door technician is actually a qualified professional who will do the job right and give you the benefit of actual experience and training.
• Another scam involves offering a Lifetime Warranty when that warranty may not be worth the paper it’s written on. It may turn out that the warranty only covers parts, or certain parts. Or it may turn out that, when you need to use the warranty, the company that installed your garage door or garage door opener has vanished into the wind and you’re left holding the bag.
• Another scam is selling you things you don’t need. Are the components of your garage door really worn out or do they just need some adjustment and lubrication? You’re probably not an expert on garage door and garage door opener maintenance and repair. How are you to know if the parts are really worn out as badly as they indicated?

The best way to protect yourself from garage door and garage door opener scams is to do some research on the company you’re thinking to hire. And, if you have any doubts about what they’re telling you, don’t hesitate to get another opinion. A quality garage door technician will understand and appreciate your caution. If they don’t like the idea, there’s probably a good reason and an equally good reason for you to toss their number in the garbage.

Why is your Huntley garage door jammed and what can you do about it?

Garage doors are made to go up and down. They go up. Then they come back down. That pretty much sums up their responsibilities (along with keeping unwanted things, animals and people out). When your Huntley garage door gets stuck, it stops going up and coming down. That’s generally not part of the plan.

The first question is ‘Why?’ Why would your Huntley garage door abandon its responsibilities so flagrantly? 

There are several possible explanations, including: 

• The cable that lifts the garage door is broken
• The garage door is off its track
• You have a broken garage door spring
• Something has jammed or is blocking the garage door from moving
• The garage door opener is broken
• The power is out and the garage door opener won’t work
• The garage door is locked

The next question is, ‘What to do about the problem?’

First a word of warning: There are parts of the garage door that could seriously injure a person or worse. It’s okay to take a look at the garage door to see if you can identify the problem but approach with caution.

For instance, if you find that a broom handle has fallen into the door’s path and has lodged in place so the door won’t operate, as long as you’re careful, you may be able to extricate the broom so the garage door can return to it’s assigned duties of going up and down.

If you notice that the garage door is locked you can unlock it. If you discover that the power is out to the garage door you can check the fuse box or circuit breakers. But be cautious here, too: there may be a short that tripped a circuit breaker and shorts can cause fires.

You may notice that the spring that runs side-to-side above the garage door is broken. This is definitely something you want to leave to the professionals. Those springs come with such force that they can take off a finger in the blink of an eye, or worse, if someone doesn’t know what they’re doing.

The same is true if the cable is broken. It’s possible you can put the garage door back in the track, if you approach it with caution, but the question is, ‘Why did it come out of the track and will it come out again?’

The garage door opener often requires the technical skills and experience of a professional. 

If there’s nothing apparently wrong with your Huntley garage door and garage door opener, you may want to call in a professional to perform some maintenance. Timely maintenance is the pound of cure that could save you from the problems listed above.

Time for Spring Cleaning? Don’t forget the Garage

Spring is only about a week away, officially speaking (Saturday, March 20). As the last couple of years have shown, this is no guarantee that we’re done with winter-like weather. But it does mean we’re on the downhill slope of this particular winter. Warmer weather is just around the corner. Well, we’ve actually had a taste of spring-like weather already.

The first official day of Spring typically puts a spring in our step, if you’ll pardon the pun. Major League Baseball starts Spring training, Robbins start chirping in the trees and flower buds poke their heads through the crusty soil. If you really want to embrace the sense that seasons are changing, get busy doing some Spring Cleaning. 

Tips for Spring Cleaning your garage

By this time of year, most garage floors are covered with the dregs of winter driving – dirt and salt carried in from the roads. The first step in getting at this layer of winter residue is to clear the deck. Move things up on the shelves, where possible, and out of the garage, and out of the way, so you can blast that filthy film away.

You want to put things that don’t do well with water out of reach, such as salt for the driveway and walkways (hopefully, you won’t need anymore until next winter anyhow). Now gather your tools:

• A hose with spray adapter
• Stiff push broom
• A mop
• A bucket
• Floor squeegee or wet vac
• Detergent (might try some vinegar, too)

Start by wetting the floor. Add warm water and detergent (vinegar) to the bucket and dip the stiff push broom into the mixture. Then start scrubbing. Once you’ve broken the salty dirt from the floor, mop up the floor and dispose of the dirty water.

Clean out your bucket and fill it with warm water. Then mop the floor with the fresh water. Once you have the floor clean enough, squeegee the water into a drain, if you have one, mop up the water or turn loose the wet vac. You may have to repeat the first step several times, but you should find yourself with a clean garage floor ready for spring and summer.

Straighten and Organize your garage

We generally use different items from the garage with greater frequency in different seasons. You use a rake more in the fall, a snow shovel in the winter, gardening tools and lawnmower in the spring and summer. 

You’ll want to move the fall and winter tools back out of the way (but keep the snow shovel handy for a little while, just in case) and bring the spring and summer tools to the forefront. Often, this means bringing the spring and summer tools to the middle shelves where they’re easily reached and putting the fall and winter tools in back, up high or down low.

It’s a good idea to coordinate your tools so that, for instance, your gardening tools are in one area, tools used in the house another set of shelves and tools for working on the car and other equipment are in another. Then you want another area for those recreational items in the garage.

Switch out your motorized equipment and ‘toys’

We’re getting closer and closer to the day where you’ll want to put the snow blower away, while parking the snow mobiles. At the same time, we’re also getting closer to the day when you’ll need the lawnmower. You’ll also want to get the jet skis ready for the season, as well as the boat.

As you put gas-driven equipment and ‘toys’ away, you want to prepare them for storage – clean them off and put some stabilizer in the fuel so that it doesn’t go bad while in storage (read the instructions carefully). Then you want to check the powered equipment you use during the summer to make sure that it all runs safely and reliably.

This is a good time for some garage door maintenance

While you’re doing your spring cleaning in the garage, it’s a good time to perform some garage door maintenance. How did your garage door and garage door opener fare over the course of the winter that is starting to slip away? Do your garage door and garage door opener need some adjustments? Is anything broken or badly worn? 

You’ll also want to lubricate your garage door. There are different types of lubricants used for different parts of the garage door. You may want to bring in a garage door technician to lubricate your garage, inspect its condition, and make any necessary adjustments to the garage door and garage door opener. Then, get ready to enjoy spring and the summer that follows.

What would Pepé Le Pew’s Valentine say about the smell of your garage?

Poor Pepé Le Pew the lovestruck skunk. All the ladies of the forest adore him until they get close enough for a good whiff. His distinctive odor is not conducive to reeling in his special Valentine. But Pepé is not the only one with odiferous difficulties. Your Valentine my turn up his or her nose when stepping into your garage.

WHAT IS THAT SMELL?!!!

There are a number of offenders who may bring less-than-pleasant odors to your garage. And different offenders bring different odors. To track down the culprit when your garage is presenting a hint of something unpleasant, cautiously give your nostrils a try (cautiously on the chance that the odor is from something unsafe).

What are some of the common odors found in garages? The smell of …

• Gasoline
• Mold & Mildew
• Oil-Based Paints
• Household cleaners
• Other chemicals
• Natural Gas
• Pests
• Etc.

If you smell gasoline, the first thing to consider is that, if that the smell of gasoline, if in a confined area can make you ill or worse. The first thing you want to do is open the door and/or a window. DON’T light a match until you’ve done something about the origin of the smell of gasoline. 

The smell of gasoline comes, logically, from gasoline. What do you have in your garage that contains gasoline? This can include your car, gas cans, garden and snow removal equipment, such as lawnmowers and snow blowers; motorcycles, snowmobiles, boats with engines and other vehicles. Rags soaked with gasoline will also emit the odor of gasoline but would dry up after a while.

Look signs of gasoline leaking from any of these items. Check that their caps are secure and not allowing gasoline vapors to escape. Once you find the culprit, you need to fix it.

The source of odors from household cleaners, oil-based paints and other chemicals are also found by tracking down the source. Many of these are toxic in a confined area and very often flammable. They can even prove explosive given the right conditions. Along with tracking down the source, you want to be very careful about what you store in your home and garage.

Natural gas will generally come from a furnace or hot water heater in your garage. If you smell natural gas, it’s probably best to call the gas company to come out, locate the leak and fix it.

Pests can build nests, bring edible items in that might decay, and use your garage as a bathroom. All of these activities can cause odors. Beyond orders, nesting pests can also cause damage to the structure of your garage.

Fortunately, it’s not likely that an odiferous garage will chase your Valentine away. Of course, if one of Pepé Le Pew’s cousins takes up residence in your garage, your Valentine may run anyhow.

How important is maintenance of your Spring Grove garage door?

There’s no denying it - winters in Spring Grove are cold and snowy. Some winters are colder and/or some bring more snow. But, if you live in this part of Northern Illinois, you just can’t hide from winter. Neither can your garage door.

Winter provides additional challenges for your garage door. The snow and ice are often invasive. They get into places in your garage door where their presence isn’t, shall we say, appreciated. 

The snow and ice can work its way in to the hinges where the garage door panels are joined. They can get into the bearings, rollers and tracks that guide the garage door up and down. In the process, they impede the ability of these parts to effectively do their jobs. They make it harder for the garage door opener to operate the garage door. At the same time, moisture from the snow and ice cause more wear and tear on the parts of your garage door and opener.

The cold is equally problematic for your Spring Grove garage door and garage door opener. Cold has a ‘funny’ effect on hardened components. It tends to make them more brittle, less flexible and less resilient in the face of hard wear that they experience during the operation of your garage door and garage door opener.

Some of the critical parts that are most affected by the cold, particularly bitter cold temperatures, include:

• Tracks
• Rollers
• Bearings
• Hinges
• Torsion Springs

Living in Spring Grove, there’s not much you can do about the snow and ice or the cold. Winter comes to the region and the cold, snow and ice come with it. But that’s not to say there's nothing you can do.

The solution is to increase your garage door’s ability to withstand the effects of the cold, ice and snow. This is achieved with 'maintenance.'

Garage door maintenance refers to adjusting the garage door, sensors and garage door opener so they operate at their maximum efficiency. Garage door maintenance also refers to applying lubricants to ward off the effects of the cold, snow and ice while you operate the garage door.

Lubricating components of the garage door begins with cleaning away rust and debris. The lubricants are applied next. Different lubricants are used in different areas. A qualified garage door technician will know how to adjust and lubricate a garage door and garage door opener so that the effects of a Spring Grove winter are minimized.

5-reasons your garage door inexplicably stops midstream

Of all the things on your mind, one that isn’t even remotely a consideration is that your garage door would stop midstream when you push the button for it to open or close. You count on your garage door to do as directed, as you direct it when you push the button on your remote, that a failure to complete its task is all-but incomprehensible. 

When it happens – when you push the garage door button and, before it reaches the top, or the bottom, the garage door stops moving, it’s perplexing. It’s frustrating. Not only do you have a potential problem to respond to, but you also have to operate the garage door without the garage door opener.

For the time being, there is a cord hanging down from the garage door opener assembly in the middle of the garage door opening. Usually, this cord is red. If you pull it, it disengages the garage door opener and you can operate the garage door the old-fashioned way – manually. But what about fixing the problem?

The first step in fixing the problem with a garage door that doesn’t close or open all the way is to determine what is causing the problem. The problem could be so simple as to make you laugh that you were worried. Or, the problem could require the assistance of a garage door professional to rectify.

The first thing to consider is your safety. Do not touch the tracks on either side of the door or the chain or belt and pulleys extending forward from the garage door opener. With that consideration in mind, take a look at the garage door assembly. Here are five things that could cause your garage door’s problem:

1. Is something obstructing the garage door? Check that nothing is getting in the way of your garage door. Could a snow shovel have slipped so the handle is pinched in the way as the garage door comes down or goes up? Anything that gets in the way can stop the garage door in its tracks.
2. Are the tracks blocked? The tracks are located on either side of the garage door. The garage door has wheel bearings that ride up and down in the tracks. While keeping your hands safely away, take a good look up and down the tracks to see if anything is getting in the way. Check that the wheel bearings are in good shape and aren’t bent and causing the problem.
3. Is the tension spring broken? It’s especially important to keep your hands away from the tension spring, which is usually mounted above the garage door. The tension in that spring is enough to be extremely dangerous. If there is a separation in the spring, there’s a good chance that it’s broken.
4. Is the chain or belt extending from the garage door opener broken or off the sprocket? The adjustment could also be so loose that the pulley isn’t gripping the belt or spring.
5. Are the sensors out of alignment and/or blocked? First look to see if anything is between the sensors that could be blocking the photo-eye method that they ‘communicate’ with each other? If they were knocked, they could be out of alignment and require adjustment.

If you find the problem and it’s not something as simple as moving a shovel so it doesn’t block the path of the garage door, you’ll probably want to call a qualified garage door repair technician to come and fix the problem. If you haven’t found the problem, it’s still a good idea to call that qualified garage door repair technician.

Is your Lake Villa garage door ready for winter?

 The snow has come to Lake Villa at last. Were you ready for it? Are you ready for the next big snowfall?

While you figure out how to remove the snow from your driveway, don’t forget that you want to avoid damaging your garage door in the process. You don’t want to bang the shovel, the snow blower or the snowplow against your Lake Villa garage door.

When it comes to plowing the snow, this includes applying caution that you’re not pushing heavy snow against the garage door. But, beyond protecting your Lake Villa garage door while removing the snow from the driveway, you also want to protect the garage door from the snow and ice in general.

When snow is pressed against the garage door it can infiltrate the seams between door panels where the moisture can cause hinges and bearings to rust. It can get under and around the garage door where it can impede the garage door’s ability to close all the way and effect the smooth operation of the garage door.

Ice and heavy snow are particularly troublesome when it comes to interfering in the operation of the garage door. They can create solid obstacles that get in the way.

If you have snow or ice under the garage door, it’s a good idea to scrape the snow or ice away so the garage door can come all the way down when you close it. Any ice or snow built up on the sides or top of the garage door or garage door opening should also be removed. But remove this snow carefully so you don’t damage the door, the gasket around the door or the garage door opening in general.

Speaking of your gasket around the garage door, is it in good condition? That gasket plays an important role in the operation of the garage door. It protects the parts of the garage door from the elements. It also keeps those elements and the cold from getting inside the garage when the garage door is closed.

Is your garage door insulated? If not, you may see frost building up on the panels when the weather is cold. When the weather warms, that frost will melt and can roll down into hinges and bearings of the garage door. If your garage door is not insulted, it’s possible you can add insulation. Or, if practical, you may want to replace the garage door with an up-to-date insulted model.

Like any other mechanical device around your home, you need to pay attention to your Lake Villa garage door’s needs. If you take care of your garage door, it will take care of you by providing years of unhindered service.