| Is your garage door a hazard to children? Here's how to fix it so it isn't. |
Want an eye opener? Take a roll of paper towels, place it under your open garage door, and then close the door. If your garage door is like many, it'll crush the roll. Imagine if that were your child or a neighbor's child. It would crush him, too.
I did this test three years ago and was shocked to see the force with which the door crushed the paper.
There is a quick and easy way to eliminate your garage door as a safety hazard for children. Get a ladder and look behind the mechanism that houses the motor. You know, the one that is attached to the rafters in your garage and usually has a light on it. In the rear is a nut. Tighten it one way, you make the garage door press down harder before it detects an obstacle and reverses. Loosen it and the garage door will open when it encounters less resistance. By loosening it just the right amount, you can adjust the door so that it will reverse when it's pressed down only slightly on a roll of paper towels. That means that it'll also reverse if it encounters your child.
Be sure and put a roll of paper towels underneath the door. You'll have to close the door several times to experiment and get the force you want. But once done, you'll rest more comfortably knowing that you've child-proofed your garage door. One note: As you experiment, your garage motor will heat up. After several tries, you might want to give a chance to cool off a while. If you find that you've overheated the motor, don't worry, most units include a heat-protecting switch. Let it cool off a while, and the unit will work again. | |
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Old hot water heaters.
Disasters waiting to happen |
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In some parts of New Territory, there are neighborhoods with water heaters that are at risk of failing catastrophically, doing extensive damage to homes. Not too long ago, I noticed water dripping out of the overflow on the outside of our house. Going into the attic, I discovered the old water heater leaking; it was corroded, had holes in the skin, and looked like it was very close to a catastrophic failure. We ordered a new one.
In checking, I learned that five water heaters had been replaced in our end of Sanders Ridge alone in the last several months. One home's water heater had failed catastrophically when the drain valve failed, doing several thousand dollars worth of damage. We live in Sanders' Ridge. All of the homes were built within months of each other, and all of the houses that I am aware of used the same water heater model. Those that are still installed are now around nine years old. There are other neighborhoods in which the water heaters are probably as old, and some even older.
If you've been in your house over six years, you ought to inspect your water heater, and if you see significant signs of deterioration, you ought to consider a new heater. If you live in a neighborhood such as Sanders' Ridge and you see a lot of your neighbors changing their water heaters out, you ought to evaluate whether it's time to change yours, too. This simple precaution can bring you the peace of mind of not waking up one night to water rushing in from your ceiling.
A Sander's Ridge Resident | |
