Real Estate Topics

Real Estate Topics
AUTOMATIC GARAGE DOOR OPENERS

According to the U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission, an average of 20,000 people each year (since 1990) have been treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to garage doors. These range from finger injuries, amputations, crushing injuries and fractures. In 1996, 1,150 injuries were associated with garage door springs.

Children accounted for approximately 15 percent of 22,431 garage door related injuries reported from January 1982 to December 1985, and sixty children (under the age of 14) have been trapped and killed under automatic garage doors since March 1982.

The garage door industry has been working diligently with Underwriters Labs and the CPSC to reduce the chance of death or injury from its products. Modern equipment contains the following safety features:

Automatic reversal when hitting an obstruction.

Automatic time-out if door moves for a longer time than necessary to reach the end of its path.

Photo-cell sensors a few inches above floor level to detect children or pets.

These features “evolved” over time. If you are purchasing an older home, determine which safety devices are present in the existing opener. If it is one of the earlier units, consider replacing it with one which meets today’s standards. If an older unit does not meet minimum safety requirements, it is illegal to service it in New York, Minnesota, or California. However, North Carolina has no such law.

Genie recommends that if the machine does not have the minimum reversing systems, they should not be serviced. Genie has stopped supporting parts to the field which are unique to that machine. However, many parts are interchangeable with present units and still are available.

TO AVOID DEATH OR SERIOUS INJURY, ONLY A PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED SERVICE PERSON SHOULD RELIVE A SPRING MECHANISM OF ANY TENSION.