Is your garage door dangerous? Here are some easy ways to check

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Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Is your garage door dangerous? Here’s how to check
There were more than 15,000 garage door-related injuries in the U.S. last year. Here's how to see if yours is safe.

PHILADELPHIA -- As kids are enjoying their last weeks of fun before the new school year, we have a warning for parents about a danger you may not often think about.

We are talking about garage doors that parents often leave open when the weather's nice.

There were more than 15,000 garage door-related injuries in the United States last year.

Most of those were from older manual doors, while around 2,000 were due to automatic garage doors.

We talked to an expert to find out how parents can protect their families.

"Walk into your garage and just grab ahold of those metal guardrails. Use some of that inner strength and, if it wiggles around, that's not good and you want to get someone out there to secure it," said Certified Master Home Inspector Rachel Oslund.

She shared another quick and easy way to check if your garage doors are working correctly.

It involves a common household item.

"Take a roll of paper towels - in the plastic wrap is best - a brand new roll. Stick it on the ground where the garage door is going to come down, and then press the button again it should hit that and bounce back up," Oslund said.

If the door doesn't bounce back up after the paper towel test, something might be wrong with the sensor and it's a good idea to get someone to inspect it.

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