Factors to consider when heating your Antioch garage this winter

Need to work on the car? Have a project you’re trying to complete? Just want a place to sit down with a beer or a cup of coffee and relax? The garage can work extremely well for these activities. But the garage isn’t nearly as hospitable when the Antioch winter temperatures drop to and below the freezing mark.

Of course, if you’re garage is heated, that’s an entirely different story. On the other hand, if you want to put some heat in your Antioch garage, you can create that hospitable environment where the garage is an extension of the house.

There are several questions to consider when heating your garage, including:

• What type of heater you’ll use?
• Insulating your garage?
• Ensuring that the garage door and garage door opener operate properly?

When it comes to the type of heater, considerations include:

• Gas?
• Electric?
• Portable?
• Suspended?
• In-wall or Roof-top installation?

An essential factor to consider with the type of heater is safety. This could move the idea of a portable heater down several notches on your list. But, even if you’re installing a more permanent heater, you want to ensure that it’s installed properly so that there is nothing that would make its operation unsafe.

You may also want to consider a cooling aspect with the unit you install. In other words, do you want to provide air conditioning in your garage to keep it cool during the next Antioch summer and summers to come.

When installing a heating unit in your garage, as well as with a unit that has a cooling capacity, efficiency is dramatically affected by the amount and quality of insulation you have in the garage. You’ll want to insulate the walls and the roof or ceiling. But, do a proper job of insulating so that you don’t have problems with condensation. 

Think about your garage door, in terms of insulation, too. An insulated garage door will make a world of difference. And, whether the garage door is insulated or not, you’ll want to have a proper seal around your garage door – top, bottom and on the sides.

Finally, if your garage door doesn’t open efficiently, how much of that heat will you let out while it creeps up or down. For that matter, if your garage door gets stuck, there’s nothing to stop the cold of this Antioch winter from stealing your cozy garage away from you.

Kid’s toy challenges garage door security?

Last thing at bedtime, you check the doors of your Crystal Lake home. Once you’re certain all the doors are locked – from front door to back including the garage door, and confident that you and the family are safe – you turn off the lights and head to bed. But are those doors as secure as you assume?

Imagine, just for something outlandish, that a child’s toy could open your garage door? Of course, that’s ridiculous. No child’s toy can override the security built into your garage door opener. It’s simply absurd.

That kid’s toy CAN open garage doors 

As demonstrated in an online podcast, a kid’s toy can, in fact, be modified to open many garage doors – to activate the garage door openers.

The toy used in the demonstration is the IM-ME device from Mattel. With a little knowledge of data codes, some relatively tech savvy individuals can open many of the electric garage door openers around the world, including those in your Crystal Lake neighborhood.

Some hackers discovered that the IM-ME will do the work to determine the codes for garage door openers. And it doesn’t take long.

Many garage door openers use 8-bit codes. With an 8-bit code, there are 256 variations of possible code combinations. It takes about 32 milliseconds to send one variant of the code. That means that it would take about 8 seconds for the toy to send all 256 variations. If your garage door has an 8-bit code, and no other lines of defense, that toy is going to open your garage door.

Fortunately, today, many garage door openers have 12-digit codes. That’ll slow ‘em down a little. 

With a 12-digit code, there are 4,096 variations of codes. That should mean that it will take 128 seconds. In other words, someone will have to work for just over two minutes to get in through your garage. But, it turns out, neither is the case.

It turns out that the codes are read in an overlapping fashion. This means that, if you have a string of all variations of the code, the garage door opener starts at the beginning. When that code fails, it drops the first digit and tries again. Then the next digit and so on. This condenses the codes dramatically. 

Instead of 8 seconds, it takes about 1 second for the toy to crack the code to your garage door, if you have an 8-digit code. If you have a 12-digit code, it might slow them down to 16 seconds. 

This is bad news for those counting on garage door openers to provide security from the garage. The good news is that the manufacturers of garage door openers have caught on to these ‘little loopholes’ in the security they provide. 

New garage doors are built to block the hackers, whether they use a toy or something more sophisticated. 

‘Resolve’ to maintain your garage door and garage door opener in 2022

2022 is here; have you made your New Year’s Resolutions? If you’re searching your brain for ideas of what Resolutions to make, have you considered your garage door and garage door opener?

SAY WHAT?!!!

Yes, resolve to maintain your garage door and garage door opener in 2022. If you’re like most people, it’s not something you did a real good job of in 2021. And it’s something you might want to do a better job of this year.

If you’re thinking to yourself, “I have enough to do already,” that’s understandable. But, fortunately, you don’t have to overburden yourself with maintaining your garage door and garage door opener. That’s especially true if you call in a professional to do the job for you.

Calling in a professional is a great idea when it comes to maintaining your garage door and garage door opener. They know all about garage doors and garage door openers. Most of us don’t know so much about garage doors and openers. And that’s okay. That’s not a level of knowledge that is probably worth our time attaining. But quality garage door technicians have spent the time learning all about the equipment they repair, maintain and replace.

The good news is that garage door technicians don’t have to replace garage doors and garage door openers as often when they are properly maintained.

Maintenance of a garage door and garage door opener is really an annual event that takes about an hour. The technician will check the alignment and condition of the garage door and opener. Keep in mind that, if there is one part that is having trouble it may cause strain on other parts of your garage door system.

The garage door technician will also lubricate where lubrication is required. Since they don’t use the same lubricant in all areas of your garage door system, it’s important to know which lubricants to use and where.

In the long run, garage door and garage door maintenance are money savers. It doesn’t cost much to do but can save a lot of money in the long run. In the meantime, maintenance of your garage door system will ensure that it runs smoother and quieter throughout the year.

Maintaining your garage door and garage door opener offers another benefit that makes it well worth a New Year’s Resolution; it will give you peace of mind this year that you don’t have to worry about your garage door or garage door opener in 2022.

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.