Arming Yourself for Battle with Your Garage Door

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It's time to arm yourself for battle with the fiercest opponent—your garage door spring.

Garage door spring repair might not sound like war to you, but consider that thousands of people are injured by their garage doors each year. These injuries can include severe lacerations, broken bones, head wounds, and even amputations of fingers and hands. Even professionals trained in garage door spring repair have been killed.

Why is such a common household fixture such a fearsome foe? It's sometimes the spring that causes damage. A garage door spring needs to span several feet along the length of your garage door track, but when your garage is open, these springs coil up to only a few inches. That's an incredible amount of tension in a piece of steel coil. When these springs break or are tightened incorrectly, hundreds of pounds of tension are released wildly. Getting caught in the spring or struck by this flailing metal can really hurt.

So, before you face off with your garage door springs, you'll need to gather your weapons and armor.

Weapons

You'll use several different tools to keep the enemy at bay. First, you need a winding bar to coil the spring to its proper position. The needed size of this tool depends on what kind of garage door you have, so be sure to check with your war advisers (and your garage door manual.) You may also need safety cables, cable ferrules, and stops to clinch the spring in place.

Some of the other tools you need should already be in your war room. You'll need vise grips to hold the spring in place and wrenches to screw the bolts that hold it in place. With these weapons, you will be able to vanquish the enemy.

Armor

Warriors always make sure they have armor for their weakest, most vulnerable spots. In this case, these points are your fingers and hands. You need a good pair of thick, sturdy work gloves. These are preferably made of a material like leather and have a strong gripping surface and cuffs that cover your forearms. The thicker the gloves, the more protection you'll have against being cut. Make sure these gloves fit you well, too. If your fingers are too clumsy, you might get your finger caught inside of the spring. This can crush or even cut off your finger.

You'll also need eye protection if you want to win this war. Your garage is probably a bit dusty, and getting a bit of dirt in your eye can compromise your tactical advantage. Wear safety goggles that will keep your eyes safe from debris or any pieces that might attack you unexpectedly.

Finally, proper tactics will keep you safe. Find a diagram of your garage door so you're familiar with the battlefield. Warriors in strange territory tend not to fare as well as those who know the terrain.

And remember, if you find that you don't want to test your mettle against your garage door spring's metal, you can also call for reinforcements with a professional garage door repair contractor, such as AAA Garage Door, Inc.


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