For most families, a garage serves a two-part purpose: it’s a place you can store belongings and/or a vehicle, and it’s an easy way to enter your home. And those aren’t the only uses of a garage door. Some people have turned theirs into a home repair shop or office. And some have even completely renovated their garage into something else, like a gym or a bedroom.
No matter where you land on this spectrum of garage owners, there’s one thing in common – we tend to take our garage door for granted. We’re all guilty of it. After all, it’s always been there and we use it all the time without a thought. It’s easy to not think much of it at all.
But what if your garage door suddenly broke? Could you imagine how inconvenient that would be? What a nightmare! And the reality is that a little regular TLC can often prevent those big nightmarish breakdowns. And it’s not that hard; a simple inspection and tune-up every so often will ensure that your garage door stays in best working order.
7 Fun Garage Door Facts by SACS
As a company that specializes in all-things garage door – installation, repair, maintenance, and more – we’ve put together a list of 7 interesting facts about garage doors.
1) A Garage Door Can Rip Your Roof Off
Okay – this first fact probably couldn’t be considered fun, but we just had to include it. Did you know if your garage door gets blown off in the event of a wind storm or hurricane, it could rip off the entire roof of your home? This is caused by sudden pressure changes in the large opening of your garage. The takeaway? If you live in an area prone to heavy winds, fortify your garage door.
2) Installing a New Garage Door Increases Home Value
A new garage door can significantly increase your home’s curb appeal and value. In fact, statistics would argue that the cost of replacing your garage door is offset nearly 1:1 by increase in home value.
The great thing about curb appeal projects like having a new garage door put in is that, often, it spurs neighbors to improve their homes’ curb appeal as well, giving the neighborhood a facelift and increasing everyone’s home value.
3) A Dilapidated Garage Door is the Biggest Weak Spot in Your Home’s Security
Your overhead garage door is the biggest entrance to your home. This may be obvious to some, but that means your garage door can be the weakest or strongest feature of your home’s security, not to mention energy-efficiency.
A poorly insulated garage door can result in the same temperature impact as leaving most of your home’s windows open! Worse, a neglected garage door that needs repairs can make it pretty simple for a clever burglar to breach.
4) A Garage Door Cycles 1000+ Times Per Year
Think about it – you use your garage door even 4x/day and you’re already well over 1000 times. That’s a lot to go without anybody checking on the state of the garage door. Some regular cleaning of the tracks, lubrication of the rollers and hinges, and the occasional tune up by a garage door repair company can make sure the 1000th cycle of the year is as smooth and balanced as the 1st.
5) Garage Doors Come With Different Types of Springs
Did you know there’s more than one kind of garage door spring? Most garage doors operate with torsion springs, located at the center top of the inner side of the door header – at the end of the trolley track. These are industry standard.
If you have an older and/or manual garage door, you may have extension springs, which are long springs at either side of the garage door. These are less durable and more unsafe than torsion springs. There are also specialized springs like high-cycle, which are made for particularly heavy use and/or heavy, large garage doors.
6) The Garage Door Opener Can Make or Break Home Safety & Security
If you have an older garage door opener, you can have the best garage door in the world installed and still have a garage that’s easy to break into. Old opener keypads are super easy to hack without a lot of technological knowledge. Plus, old door openers don’t have power backups for emergency operation.
New garage door openers have smart technology that allows for 24/7 monitoring, remote use, use notifications, rolling codes, and authorized access from anywhere. New openers also come with battery backup units for power outages. As well, these garage security systems can easily be integrated with wi-fi cameras and your home’s security system.
7) More Than Half of Homeowners Use Their Garage as the Main Entrance
It’s just way more convenient than the front door at the end of the walkway – you pull in, get out, go inside, and there you are! That’s why anywhere from 2/3 to 3/4 of homeowners report using their garage as the main entrance to their home. That kind of makes your garage door your front door, which is just another great reason to keep it in tip-top shape.
Have You Shown Your Garage Door Appreciation Today?
It may sound a little silly, but showing your garage door a little love occasionally can help ensure it continues to run smoothly for years to come. And by love, we mean keeping it properly maintained, inspected and lubricated a few times a year. Check out our blog for garage door repair guides that are safe to do on your own, tutorials on different garage door parts, and advice on when it’s time to give the pros at SACS a call.
By spending a bit of time and money on getting your garage door proper care, you avoid costly door part repairs, or even worse, a broken garage door that needs replaced. If you’re too busy to stay on top of it, consider hiring a garage door installation and repair company like us instead. Tune-ups are incredibly affordable and super beneficial for your door in the long run!