Extra Ceiling Space

Make your garage more of a fully three-dimensional storage space by installing ledges on the ceiling that can hold storage boxes. The ledges look like I-beams, and can hold more room than you would’ve thought possible; this really declutters a house when done correctly.

Erect a Do It Yourself Work Bench on the Wall

This can be embedded right in the wall, so that you never need search for your tools again, more or less. This idea of making use of the preexisting wall can be extended to a place for all of your garden tools, as well. You’ve got at least three walls to work with, after all. Turn one entire wall into a storage space by nailing ledges to it.

Turn It Into an Extra Work Room

If you don’t need to park your vehicles in the garage, then it’s large enough to convert into an ample-sized office. Put in carpeting and build desks and cabinets into the wall. Just in case you already have an adequate office in the main house, then your garage can make a very nice home gym.

Change the Lights

Most garages have fluorescent lighting; but if you are upgrading it into an office or work room, then you should replace these with LEDs. they last a lot longer and are more efficient; plus, the right colors simulate natural light much better.

These are some of the top upgrades you’ll find in most garages; there are others, but they depend on specific uses you might have for in your particular case.

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You Don’t Have a Safety Reversal Feature

Since 1993, all garage door openers are required to have a safety reversal feature. This mechanism relies on a beam between two sensors located about six inches above the floor on either side of the door. If anything breaks this beam while the garage door is lowering, the door immediately reverses. If your garage door opener doesn’t have this feature, consider buying a new model.

Your Garage Door Opener is Too Loud

Any device with moving parts is bound to make at least a little noise, but modern garage door openers are designed to be as quiet as possible. If your current garage door opener is making too much noise when it works, invest in a screw drive or belt drive model as these will be a lot quieter than the older chain drive models.

You Don’t Have a Rolling Code for Your Garage Door Opener

The remote controls of older garage door openers functioned with fixed codes that could be cracked by savvy thieves, making them major security risks. Newer models utilize a rolling code that changes every time your remote control is used. Since they’re so much harder to duplicate, they’re much safer than older models.

You Don’t Have a Battery Backup

Older garage door openers were all but impossible to use if there was a power outage. Homeowners were completely blocked from using their garages when they didn’t have power, but modern garage door openers have a battery backup system that will let you at least open your garage door and drive somewhere else if you lost power.

Contact Bailey Garage Doors today for all of your garage door opener and garage door needs.

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Garage doors are opened daily, and, unlike the rest of our home, when the garage door is opened anyone with a view from the street is aware of the things we keep in the garage. People often forget to close the garage door when they leave, or maybe they have a forgetful teenager to blame, either way, keeping that door closed is paramount to prevent any crimes of opportunity from taking place. Your garage door technician can install a timer that will close your garage door for you after a predetermined amount of time. This will not forgo the safety mechanism put in place on the garage door like the garage door safety sensors, which prevent any accidental closure on people or objects (assuming that the safety sensors are working correctly). The timer has an override option if you wish for the door to remain open while you work, clean, etc.

When you are going on vacation, you should unplug your garage door opener. And, with the opener unplugged, you can put a padlock on the latch or run a metal bolt through a hole in the track to ensure that the door will not be opened from the outside.

Another thing that many people forget about is the garage door opener on the visor of their vehicle. That opener is hidden behind just a pane of glass. Remember to take the opener in the house with you, especially removing it from the vehicle if you are on vacation and the vehicle is going to be parked outside of the home.

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First of all, it’s important to give the garage door a look and listen test.  When you open and close the door are there any strange sounds?  Does the door move smoothly in its track?  If the door’s making a rubbing sound, try to locate the sound—eyes only, don’t put hands anywhere near the moving parts of a garage door!  Also, if the door comes jarringly up the track, check the track when the door is in a down position.  Both sides of the garage door’s moving parts—springs, cables, and pulleys—should look symmetrical.

It’s a common problem for a garage door to have problems with the springs.  Springs are under intense pressures and often, because of this, the springs can wear out or break over time.  A worn spring could cause the garage door to stick in its track, or open and close jarringly.  To check the springs, disable the garage door opener, and lift the garage door halfway up into its track.  If the door balances there, the springs are in good condition.  If the door doesn’t balance, it’s often the springs, and, because springs are a notoriously dangerous component to fix, it is important to call a professional.

It’s also important to keep the garage door and the moving components lubricated.  There should never be any lubricant applied to the track.  This can do more harm than it would do good.  The track can be wiped clean, but lubricant could cause the door to slip in its track.  Lubricants can be applied to all the moving parts of the garage door.  For Garage door opener models, like Screw and Chain Drive models, it is also important to lubricate this component.

Also, make sure that all of the safety components are working properly.  The safety sensors should be working appropriately: the sensors are lit with green lights and the door can be closed by pressing the garage door opener.

Visit Bailey Garage Doors for all of your garage door needs.

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A Garage Door’s spring is a mechanical component to the garage door, and because of the pressures placed upon it to both raise and lower the door, the springs will eventually go bad. The problem with garage door springs is that it’s not the easiest component to fix. As we’ve talked about here before, because of the pressures behind those springs, for the amateur, or even professional for that matter, those springs can represent serious bodily pain, loss of limb or maybe even life. It’s best to call a professional if you don’t have either the knowledge or practice replacing these springs.

When a spring does break, it could be at the worst possible time—when you are hoping to leave for work, school, etc. You will know a spring has broken when the garage door wont open or close—this could also be a sign of other problems such as a faulty garage door opener, etc., and the list of ways in which to troubleshoot a stuck garage door can be found in February’s blog post. If you’ve determined that the spring is at fault, call a professional technician at Bailey’s Garage Door. If you continue to try and engage the spring by continuing to try to open and close the garage door, it could do severe damage to the door.

So, how do you prevent this moment in time in which you’re stuck with a broken garage door, hoping that a Garage Door Technician is available soon! There may have been warning signs before the door became stuck, warning signs that you could have caught early, and avoided the stuck disaster. Unfortunately, however, garage door springs wont break in standard ways, but often it might provide clues as to its wear. Firstly, if your garage door is stopping as it’s opening or closing this could be a sign of a damaged spring. Check the springs when the door is fully closed, and look for any noticeable damage or wear to the spring. Another clue is how the door is situated in the opening. Is the door crooked? Does it seem to be off its track? These could be definite clues that point to a faulty spring. Also, there’s the standard practice of if it looks broke then fix it! If there’s noticeable wear, or if you’ve had a simple accident such as backing into the door, or clipping the door with your car as you passed underneath, this would be a definite time to have the springs checked, and, possibly, replaced. You don’t want to find yourself with your car stuck in or just outside the garage at a time of emergency.

For all of your garage doors needs, please contact Bailey Doors today!

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Today’s real estate market is steady: it’s rising—for now anyway—and potential sellers are faced with considerable inventory still backlogged from a time when people struggled to sell homes for bottom-barrel prices. So, it’s important that a potential home stand out from the rest. A quality garage door from Bailey Garage Doors, grinning bright and new like a bright-white smile, greeting potential buyers, would seem to go far in today’s market. And, it may also set a home apart on price.

Also, is the door opener functioning properly? Are the safety measures such as the safety sensors functioning properly? This is important to new buyers: most buyers don’t want to buy a home they’ll have to invest considerable extra money for repairs. Check the safety sensors. The lights on the sensors should be green. Place an object in the way of the sensors and try to close the door. If the sensors are in working condition, the door wont be able to close properly on the object. Make sure to keep your hand on the opener switch, however, if the sensors are out of alignment, and the door closes without activating its sensors. Also, make sure that the door both recedes back up into the track and descends back into a closed position smoothly. If there’s a mechanical issue with the door, give a professional a call. Many garage door parts like a broken spring are best fixed by someone with the knowledge to do so, because the components are under such pressures that if mishandled it could cause serious injury or even death.  Call Bailey Doors today for all of your garage door needs! (406) 656-2905

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The cold weather of winter is here. The snow is on the ground, people are out shopping in stores that play jingle bells on continuous, others tether bright flashing lights from their rain gutters and plant a big light up Santa with Reindeer in the yard. The beginning of winter means the cheery holiday season, but it can also have far less cheery connotations for your home’s garage doors. Cold weather is a likely culprit for garage door failure. Cold temperatures—below 35 degrees—can cause the oil that lubricates the garage door motor to thicken and the motor could seize. Also, cold weather could cause the metal parts that make a garage door function—leaf springs, screws, tracks, and other metal components—seize up, because the cold air cause the metal parts to contract. Also, a Garage doors springs have a good likelihood of breaking during the cold months.

Another common issue in winter is the possible fogging of the Garage Door sensors (sensors that project a beam of light, that, when broken, stalls out the descent of the garage door to prevent accidental closure on a person or things). Make sure that the sensors are fog free and also that everything is out of the path of the sensors. Often, people have a tendency to keep items like the snow shovel near the front of the garage for easy access.

Also, when the weather is warmer during the day and the snow and ice melt, water can get under the garage door and refreeze as soon as the temperatures drop back down. This can freeze the garage door down onto the pavement. The door may still open when the opener is pressed, but the ice may tear away the seal at the bottom of the door. This component can be replaced and, or, if its undamaged, put back into place. Make sure before you open the door that the door is not frozen down. you wouldn’t want to be caught in the predicament of having to leave an open, damaged garage door.  If you are experiencing garage door problems this winter, please contact Bailey Garage Doors today!

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Garage workshops can be as simple as two sawhorses and a crosscut hand saw to a full mechanical and electrical woodworking shop. Either way, the tools within that shop will need to be protected. An intensive home woodworking shop may have everything from expensive motor driven saws to air circulation and dust collection. The garage door is all that stands between all of that expensive equipment and the outside. If the garage door is broken, or if the garage door isn’t equipped with the necessary safety features, those tools could be at risk.

Modern Garage door openers have helped to prevent break-ins from thieves. In the past, thieves could drive down a street pressing the button on a garage door opener, and if they drove past someone with the same garage door opener as they had, the door would open. Now, garage door transmitters are built for the opener. When the button on the transmitter is pressed, a code is sent to the garage door opener. There are over a billion codes that relay between the transmitter and the opener, so it is a low risk that someone could easily determine what code to use to open the door.

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The springs are still dangerous for a professional garage door technician to replace. When a technician replaces the broken springs, he has to assume that the tension springs will break when he unwinds them. He will need to wear a set of safety glasses and keep his clothes and body parts well away from the springs. A component of the garage door called the winding cone keeps the tension spring in place. These cones can slip or even explode into many pieces and great care should be taken to prevent possible injury.

Extension springs, are built differently then tension springs, because these springs are held into place by safety cables. These cables help to control the broken spring, but even though it is in place for a safety precaution, the springs are still held up under a tremendous amount of pressure and a professional technician should probably be called in the event that one breaks.

Diagnosing a garage door spring problem is simple: does the door open and close smoothly? If the door is not operating smoothly, it is likely the tension springs. If the door is making noise, turn off the garage door opener and try open the garage door manually. If the garage door still makes noise the problem is likely the springs. It is also possible that a noisy garage door may just need some lubricant to be applied to the springs. The average home can easily diagnose and fix these simple problems with a garage doors springs, but even the most seasoned DIY’er should probably allow a garage door technician to fix the garage door spring when it breaks..

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