As Lake Villa winter passes, time for some garage door maintenance

Winter was tough on your Lake Villa garage door and garage door opener. It’s a given. It’s simply a factor of dealing with winter in these parts, even a comparatively mild winter.

The kind of cold we experience in Lake Villa makes parts of the garage door and garage door opener brittle. Parts wear differently when they’re hardened by the cold. They’re more prone to break in this condition.

There’s also the effects of snow, ice and moisture on parts of the garage door and garage door opener. The moisture that gets into bearings and the tracks that guide the garage door displaces lubricants and cause rust. Moisture can also get into the wiring of the garage door opener.

This is the reality. And after experiencing winters year after year, the wear and tear on garage doors and garage door openers is cumulative.

It wouldn’t be so bad if people maintained their garage doors and garage door openers properly. But, overwhelmingly, that’s not the case. Many people never provide appropriate maintenance for their garage doors and openers.

Some garage doors have never had a drop of new lubrication added to their rollers, hinges, bearings and drive chains. They’ve operated for years with nothing going for them except good luck.

Garage door maintenance can go a long way toward extending the life of a garage door and garage door opener. It can reduce the likelihood of parts breaking. But it does more than that.

Garage door maintenance will keep your garage door running smoothly, efficiently and quietly. Efficiently can include a garage door that goes up and down at the speed that it did when it was new. Without that maintenance, the way a pot slowly boils, you may not notice that the garage door is going up and down slower (and louder) than it used to.

It’s not a bad idea to perform maintenance on your garage door and garage door opener before winter, ensuring that everything is adjusted properly and adequately lubricated. But it’s also a good idea to maintain them after winter passes. Before winter, it’s to prepare them for the rigors of the winter to come. After winter, it’s to help them recover from the effects of the winter that has just passed.

Lake Villa is a great place to live. But there’s no denying that winters are rough. And your garage door and garage door opener can testify to that. A little maintenance will go a long way to helping them endure the worst that winter can throw at them.

Is your Twin Lakes garage door possessed?

You push the button and your Twin Lakes garage door rises to let you in or out. You push the button again and it lowers after you’ve entered or left. Well, hopefully, that’s the case. But what if that’s not what happens?

Does your Twin Lakes garage door act as though it’s possessed?

One possibility is that your neighbor is a practical joker and has hacked into your garage door remote and is peaking out from behind the curtain snickering while you scratch your head at the trouble your garage door is having. Thankfully, most neighbors don’t have time for these kinds of shenanigans. 

A more likely answer is that there is a problem with your garage door and/or garage door opener. When your garage door is acting erratically, that’s the most likely explanation. Possession is unlikely. Of course, if it is a matter of possession, you may want to call someone from the clergy who has the expertise to provide an exorcism. 

Let’s assume that your Twin Lakes garage door and garage door opener is not possessed. What, therefore, is the specific problem with your garage door and garage door opener? There are numerous potential explanations, including:

• If the garage door opens but won’t close: You may have a problem with the garage door opener remote. Or you garage door may require limit adjustments. When it touches the floor it thinks it’s hitting someone from the family or the family dog.
• If the garage door comes off the tracks: it’s probable that your rollers are sticking. Since rollers don’t always stick evenly, the drag sticking rollers create pulls the garage door out of whack and out of the track.
• If the main spring is broken: This problem is liable to announce itself loudly. It’s extremely important that you call in a professional to deal with a broken garage door spring as replacement requires experience to avoid the possibility of serious injury.
• If you have a broken cable: you’ll probably notice that one side of the garage door is sagging.
• If the garage door won’t close: you may have dirty sensors or there is something blocking the sensors.
• If you can hear the garage door opener running but the garage door doesn’t move: a likely explanation is that the cord to disconnect the garage door opener has been pulled and you need to give it a couple tugs to reset it.
• If the garage door stops in mid travel: It’s possible that the garage door isn’t level and requires an adjustment. It’s also possible that it requires lubrication. There are different types of lubricants to use with different parts of the garage door and garage door opener. Be sure to call on a qualified garage door technician.
• If the remote doesn’t work: have you checked the batteries? If that’s not the problem, it’s likely that the remote opener needs to be synched to the garage door opener again.
• If nothing happens: First thing to check is the circuit breaker. If the circuit breaker keeps blowing, you should call in a professional. If it’s not the circuit breaker, you should also call in the pros. 

Regular garage door maintenance should keep your Twin Lakes garage door and garage door opener operating properly. But, if you do have a problem with your garage door or garage door opener, if you need help, a qualified garage door technician can put your garage door and garage door opener back in business quickly.

How can you protect your Antioch garage door from high winds?

How much wind can your garage door withstand when the winds blow hard in Antioch? That’s a good question, particularly as we are in the month of March when winds are known to blow harder. An answer, of sorts, found broadly on various blogs, is winds of 20 mph. It’s not clear where that number comes from as those using it generally fail to provide the origin of the number. The truth is that it depends on the local codes and there, it’s not measured in mph of wind speed but in psf – pounds per square foot of force.

In any case, that 20-mph figure seems ridiculously low, and is probably confused with psf, since we all know that storms will frequently bring winds of greater velocity than that. In Antioch, over the course of 2020 and 2021, the average wind per month blew no higher than 6 mph. But, in every single of those 24 months, the high wind speed, not to mention wind gusts, were higher than 20 mph. In some cases, winds and gusts were significantly higher (see chart).

Six mph is comfortably 14-mph comfortably the 20-mph maximum for most garage doors. But, in November of 2020, for instance, Antioch experienced a high wind of 51 mph with guts as high as 79 mph. Amazingly, this did not result in garage doors blown out all over town.

This does not mean that garage doors are not damaged by high winds. For instance, garage doors can suffer from wind damage, or damage from objects blown by the wind, without the garage door suffering catastrophic failure. And garage doors are ripped from their frames in some extreme weather conditions, such as with tornadoes, microbursts and hurricanes.

Of course, here in Antioch, we don’t have to worry about hurricanes too often. And tornadoes and microbursts are generally isolated enough in their impact that the odds of losing a garage door to a funnel cloud is not a widespread problem.

What we really need to know is what to do about your garage door when there are high winds.

The Doors & Access Systems Manufacturers Association International has some specific suggestions:

1. And it is not suggested that you do so when winds represent a clear and present danger, but you should keep the garage door closed in high-wind situations.
2. DO NOT back your car up to the inside of the garage door to bolster the door against high winds – winds may be as likely to yank the door out of the frame as to blow it in and could cause additional damage to your vehicle.
3. DASMAI does not recommend operation of the garage door during high winds.
4. The garage door should be kept closed when there are high winds.
5. It’s also highly recommended that you don’t add weight to the garage door unless it’s part of an integrated system to reinforce the garage door.

Qualified garage door repair and installation companies will generally install better quality garage doors that are less susceptible to high winds. For instance, Beau Bristol, the owner of Garage Doors and More, installs 2-inch-thick garage doors that are more solid in general and better able to withstand high winds. The garage doors he’s had to replace over the years from wind damage were, almost inevitably, of the 1-3/8-inch variety.

Fortunately, we live in an area where wind-rated doors are not required, such as in certain coastal regions where hurricanes are possible. Still, even in Antioch, we can see high winds and it’s good to know what to do, and what precautions to take to protect your garage door from high winds.

Have you considered putting a kennel in your garage?

Your Crystal Lake garage has the potential to serve as a multi-purpose structure. You can create a woodworking workshop in your garage. You can create a craft workshop in your garage. Or you can simply use your garage for storage, with or without enough room for the car. But there are other potential uses for your garage.

Have you considered the potential of your Crystal Lake garage as a kennel for your dog or dogs? There are considerations you should entertain before making such a move; it’s really not as simple as moving the dog crate out to the garage and then putting the dog in the crate.

One consideration is environmental. You need to consider the temperature in your garage. Is your garage heated? Do you have AC for the summer months?

A dog is probably not as susceptible to mild temperature changes. But, in the McHenry area, winters can produce dangerously cold temperatures. In the summer, the heat can threaten heatstroke for people, and dogs, if exposed to high temps for too long.

If the garage is not heated or airconditioned, you need to be conscious of that fact. Don’t leave the dog out in the garage when the temperature falls below freezing or rises above 85 degrees, for instance. You may want to check with your vet about what temperatures are best for your dog.

Another consideration is the air quality in your garage. Do you keep paints, cleaners and solvents in the garage? Even if you don’t have dogs in the garage, you want these chemical agents sealed properly so they don’t foul the air.

You also need to remember that your car produces toxic gasses that are unhealthy for your dog. You don’t want to leave the car running in the garage where those fumes will build up to the extent that they cause health concerns. Long before they might prove fatal, those gasses will cause headaches and other issues.

It’s probably not a bad idea to put a ventilation system in the garage if you’re going to put a kennel in the garage.

As long as you’re considering going here, it doesn’t hurt to look at the idea from the dog’s perspective. A crate if confining. Building a pen, or pens, in the garage offers an opportunity to provide your dog with some comfort and more.

You can give them an area that allows room to stretch their legs. You can put some bedding in there with them. You might even put a few toys in the pen that they like.

If you want to get really snazzy, if you have a pen just outside the garage, you can put doggie doors between the inside pen and the outside pen. This is ideal since it allows the dog to go outside when it wants, stay inside when the weather is inclement, and to go outside to do his or her business.

Finally, you want to make sure your Crystal Lake garage door seals properly to keep out drafts and to ensure that the garage door opener works reliably. 

Will battery backup keep your garage door working when the weather howls?

The problem with the power going out is that it has a tendency to do so during storms. Therefore, when considering a power outage that incapacitates your garage door opener, if you have to get out of the car and wrestle the garage door open, you’re liable to do that in stormy conditions. These are the times you most want a battery backup for your garage door opener.

A garage door opener is seldom more appreciated than when it’s pouring rain, the wind is howling, or sleet and snow are lashing the outdoors and everything in it. It’s not that your garage door opener has conspired with the weather to force you into adverse conditions; it’s just that storms are the common culprit when the power goes out.

Battery Backup Garage Door Opener can Weather the storm

Imagine that you’re coming home from a formal event one night. As you turn onto your street, you notice that the street lights. Closer inspection shows that none of the lights are on in the homes of your neighbors. You suddenly realize that the power is out.

As you consider how you’ll light some candles when you get into the house, it hasn’t really occurred to you that the power outage will cause a bit of inconvenience before you get there.

You push the button on your garage door opener remote control and watch expectantly as the headlights reflect off the garage door in front of you. “Any time now,” you say to the garage door as though it can hear you. Then it dawns on you; the garage door opener isn’t going to work.

Now you find yourself, in your best clothes, your hair styled. You’re comfortable, dry and warm and had no idea that would change. But you realize that, if you’re going to get the car into the garage, you can’t count on the garage door opener anymore. The power is out. It’s not going to work.

It’s not going to work unless you have a backup, such as a backup battery.

There are backup batteries for sump pumps; why not a battery backup for your garage door opener. It’s the difference between counting on your garage door opener with or without the storm.

The cost of a battery backup system is reasonably low. It’s low enough that you might consider it worth the cost to install a battery backup system with your garage door opener. On those, cold, rainy, windy days, you’ll stay dry and warm in the car all the way into the garage.

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.