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GARAGE DOOR INSPECTIONS
By Al Virtue
A garage door is the largest moving object in the home. An older wood double door can weigh from 250 to 450 pounds. This weight, coupled with older hardware, makes older doors frequent causes of accidents in the home. Many people enter and exit their home through the garage door far more often than they use the front door.
According to the Consumer Product Safety Council (CPSC), an average of 20,000 people each year, since 1990, have been treated in hospital emergency rooms for injuries related to garage doors. From 1988 to 1995, an estimated 68,380 finger injuries associated with garage doors were treated, an average of 8,550 finger injuries per year. In addition to the finger injuries, 62 incidents were attributed to the sudden release of energy stored in counterbalance springs, resulting in serious injuries.
In 1996, the estimated 8,550 finger injuries associated with garage doors included 190 amputations, 1,000 crushing injuries and 1,400 fractures. Also, in 1996, an estimated 1,150 injuries were associated with garage door springs. Sixty children have been trapped and killed under automatic garage doors since 1983.
Children have been known to play with the remotes and other door controls. I recently caught my nephews playing with the opener. One would operate the button and the other would grab the door on the upward path for a free ride.
A close inspection of the garage door safety features is vital part of any home inspection. The door should operate evenly without jumping or buckling at the supports. The hardware should not have uneven wear. The springs should be safety springs. This type of spring has a rod down the center. The rod is designed, incase of the spring breaks, to prevent the spring from becoming a projectile. Often times, older doors will have worn and old hardware.
The safety reverse function of a garage door opener is one of the most important segments of an inspection. An inspector has to be very careful, especially with roll doors. Many times the connection at the door is light duty and can break. Most inspectors test doors by catching the door in the middle of the downward path. The door, if adjusted properly, will reverse.
As early as the 1970s, door manufactures began to equip openers with auto reverse functions, but these were volunteer improvements and were not consistent throughout the industry. The auto reverse mechanism became standard throughout the industry, but was not mandatory. CPSC said units manufactured before 1982 did not have the safety features incorporated into the voluntary standard. Some old openers were equipped with a device that only stops the closing door and does not reverse when it strikes an object. Other pre-1982 openers included a device intended to cause the closing door to reverse when it struck an object, but for reasons mostly related to age, installation and maintenance, they may not be safe enough to prevent child deaths. The devices cannot be adjusted or repaired to provide the safety available in garage door openers manufactured in 1982 or later.
In 1991, Congress passed the Consumer Products Safety Act, which required auto reverse mechanisms. Further legislation in 1993 required electric eye devices to activate the auto reverse mechanism.
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