Are you putting off your garage door repairs? A broken garage door is a major safety hazard, which could lead to more costly damage. Read on to learn more.
Every year, thousands of Americans receive injuries that are caused by issues with their garage doors.
Crushing and pinching injuries are highly common among individuals with broken garage doors, as are lacerations.
There’s a lot that can go wrong if your garage door is old, broken, or was not installed properly the first time around.
Read on to learn more about the hazards associated with a broken garage door and how you can avoid them.
Door Lowering Onto Someone
Perhaps the most common hazard you have to address if you have a broken garage door is the potential for that door to fall on someone when they’re trying to open it.
If your garage door does not open properly, or if there’s an issue with the sensor, you or someone you love could end up getting crushed by the door when they’re trying to enter to exit the garage.
If you’ve noticed that your garage door doesn’t always stay open, or if the sensor doesn’t seem to work as it should, you ought to call a professional right away.
Pinched Fingers
In addition to the risk of being crushed by the garage door, there’s also the potential that someone could pinch their fingers in between the door and the ground when they’re trying to open or close it by hand.
This injury affects children most often, but adults may experience it, too, especially if they’re trying to help a child open the garage door.
If your garage door has a tendency to get stuck, this could increase the likelihood that you or someone in your family might need to use their hands to try and open it. This, in turn, increases their risk of dealing with pinched, broken, or possibly even severed fingers.
Lock-ins
Finally, if your garage door is broken and doesn’t open and close when it’s supposed to, there’s a greater risk that someone may end up getting locked inside.
This often happens when there’s a problem with your garage door springs — for example, if they’re cracked, rusted, or loosened in some way.
If there’s not an alternate way out of your garage (which is often the case with older structures) and you can’t get the door open, you could end up stuck inside for quite some time waiting for someone to come and rescue you.
Lacerations
Lacerations are a less common injury associated with broken garage doors. They can happen, though, especially if your garage door has glass windows.
If the glass breaks while the door is opening or closing, someone could end up getting cut.
There is more of a risk of this happening if you have an older garage door with glass windows. Modern garage doors use shatter-resistant glass, but that’s not always true of older models.
Fix Your Broken Garage Door Today
As you can see, a broken garage door is a serious issue.
It puts you and your family at risk of injury, and leaving it unaddressed could result in more expensive damage later on.
If you’ve been putting off getting your garage door fixed, now is the time to take action.
Contact us today to learn more about our garage door repair services or to schedule an appointment for someone to come out and take a look.
