When you are about to become a parent, you begin looking around your home with the goal to make it as safe an environment as possible. You put on the childproof locks, cover the electrical outlets, and complete a host of other safety measures. While it will be a while before your child is walking, you might be wondering if there is a way to childproof garage doors. The answer is yes! Here are a few things that you can do to avoid a potentially dangerous situation.
- Auto-Reverse – Garage doors should always be installed with an auto-reverse mechanism and yours probably already is, but take a moment every few weeks to test it to be sure it is functioning reliably.
- Keep Openers Inaccessible – You likely have two types of garage door opener mechanisms- a button panel on your garage wall by the door into your home and hand-held remote in your vehicle. Be sure the button panel is too high for a child to reach. If you want the safest option, consider a child-safety lock feature that requires a code be put in. This type can also be set to lock the garage door so that it cannot be lifted up.
- Call for Safety Inspection – If you ask your garage door professional to childproof your garage door, they’ll inspect for any gaps or areas where a child could get their fingers trapped. All it takes is the installation of rubber seals to make the mechanisms safer.
