June is Garage Door Safety Month

June is Garage Door Safety Month


Do you know what the largest moving object in your home is? It is your garage door. It is something you use more likely than not everyday. Some people have even come to use their garage doors as their daily entry doors. Is that you?

Now, let me ask you something else, when was the last time you had your garage door inspected by a professional? A month ago, a year ago? Probably more. Did you know that the average home owner has never had their garage door looked at? And that is a potential accident waiting to happen.

June is Garage Door Safety Month. Now that June is again upon us, I can't but help to try to make Garage Door Safety an issue for homeowners. Don't just wait until something goes wrong. Would you wait to have your oil or brakes changed if you knew something might happen? I doubt that you would. But people just wait until their garage breaks before having it looked at by a professional.

You should have your garage door serviced at least once a year to make sure that everything is in proper working order. Their are some steps you can take on your own to make sure that your garage door continues to work, but being in the industry, I would highly recommend you have your doors serviced at least once a year by a professionally trained garage door service man.

Some of the things you could do on your own would be:
1. Lubricate the door with something such as WD-40.
2. READ the owner's manual! I can't stress this one enough
3. DO NOT let children play with the garage door remote or interior buttons.
4. If you have not replaced your garage door opener since 1993, seriously consider replacing with a new one that has auto-reverse as a standard feature.
5. Visually inspect the garage door each month looking for signs of wear.

Keep your largest moving item in your home in tip top condition.

Remote Range

Okay, so you've come home from a hard day at work and all week you've been able to open your garage door from down the street so that it is open when you pull in the driveway; but today is different, all of a sudden you have to be almost right on top of your door to open.

Well, we've learned that there are a few different things that may be causing the interference and we're going to share them with you. While we all want to go "green" to help save the environment sometimes those things don't work. For example, we've learned that the compact flourescent light bulbs (squiggly light bulbs) are causing interference with your garage door opener. Can you believe that? And it's not just light bulbs either. Other things that have been known to cause interference with your garage door opener are the following:

1. Wireless Internet Connections
2. Constant Texting with cell phones
3. Games for the DS

We are sure there are many other wireless options that could be causing your garage door opener interference. These are just a few of the things we have come across that can be causing you the range issue of your remotes. We will report more on the others as they become available to us.

Till next time.

New England Weather New England Doors

Imagine a garage door that won't break, rot, dent, rust or fall apart. A door that is made in New England for the New England weather. Whether it is the sweltering summer heat or the cold blustery winters; your New England Classic Collection Overhead garage door will keep the weather out where it belongs.

Any shape, color, or size you need. Garage door openers that are sized properly. No more stripped gears on garage door openers. We manufacture our own doors. No middle-men involved. Why be aggravated at the big box store? Call a team member at New England Overhead Door for all your garage door needs.

Nobody does garage doors better!

ENERGY TAX CREDIT--BAILOUT INCLUDES GARAGE DOORS

BAIL OUT INCLUDES GARAGE DOORS!

Wow, it's just come to our attention that the $700 Billion Dollar Bailout includes garage doors! How cool is that to know?

Here are some key points you need to know: Tax credits in 2008 are available for insulated garage door purchases.

• The extension is part of the Energy Improvement a Extension Act of 2008, signed into law by President Bush on October 3, 2008. (H.R. 1424)
• Applies to an insulated garage door installed on an insulated garage qualifies for the energy tax credit, as long as it is part of the taxpayer's principal residence, has a U-factor equal to or less than 0.35, and has a means to control air filtration at the door perimeter. (Same criteria as previous.)
• The maximum amount that a tax payer may claim from all of these tax credits combined is $500 over the lifetime of the tax credt (2006, 2007, & 2009). (If a taxpayer already claimed the full $500 credit in 2006-2007, no further tax credits are available.)
• Manufactures should be encouraged to provide a Manufacturer's Certification Statement (or its equivalent) that proves the product is eligible.

(Above information collected from Door & Access Systems Manufacturerers Association DASMA)

The Invention of Garage Doors

C.G. Johnson

(Inventor of the Overhead Door and Electric Door Opener)

With such a historic election this past month it got me to thinking about the history of what I do for a living. I work for New England Overhead Door, Inc. in Hopedale, MA.

For over 10 years now, I have worked as an administrative assistant in the overhead door business. And I’ll be honest; before I started here I didn’t even know what an overhead door was. My family had always referred to them as garage doors. Who knew they were one in the same? I certainly didn’t.

So again, it got me to thinking about how and why garage doors were invented. And to tell the truth, I found it quite interesting.



While today, garages are mostly used for storage of vehicles or other necessities of life, outbuildings as they were known in the early 1900’s were used for storing a horse and buggy. They were often also called carriage houses.

In the early days of cars, many chose to store their car and horse and buggy together. However, those with cars in the early days were those of an affluent society and shall we just say, storing a horse and buggy with a car was just shall we say a stink. Hence came the need to store cars elsewhere.

Today’s modern day parking lots were actually the first garages, but with only one level. People would pay $15-$20 a month to store their cars in a heated garage that was maintained by the owner. This system worked for a time, but then there became too many cars for the garages to handle.

People began looking for options closer and/or more convenient place to store their vehicles. The carriage house had worked before, if only they could get rid of the smelly horses.

“In 1921, a young man named C.G. Johnson invented the upward lifting garage door and changed the course of the garage door’s place in history.” * C.G. Johnson was the founder of what is known today as Overhead Door.

See his picture above.

And five years later, this same gentleman invented what is known as the first electric garage door opener to assist those who had a hard time lifting the heavy wooden door.

HAVE YOU WINTERIZED YOUR GARAGE DOOR?

Have you been enjoying the wonderful weather we’ve been having this week? I know I certainly have. However, it got me to thinking, it’s now October and we in the New England area know exactly what that means. Winter is headed our way, and there’s no stopping it.
We all know how quickly the weather changes around here. Literally, in some cases in just minutes. Now is the time to start thinking about getting everything ready for winter. We all winterize our cars every year to make sure that they will run efficiently, but how many of us actually winterize our homes?

Right! Not many of us. But we certainly need to take the time to think about it this year more than ever and save on our energy bills.

Have you ever thought about your garage door? You probably use your garage door more often than you think. A garage door is the largest moving object in your home. The garage door is a giant source that can filter a lot of cold air.

There are easy steps to take to ensure your garage door is well insulated. One such step would be to purchase a weather-stripping kit and bottom astragal (bottom rubber) and attach it to your garage door. Getting your garage door ready for winter is just as important as winterizing your car.

Don’t think you can do the job yourself? Or we can help you if you need it. Click on our website link above and let our well trained technician’s help you out.

New England Overhead Door