GARAGE DOORS
A Brief Tutorial on
Garage Door Safety & Installation

By Michael Panish
Door Expert Witness & Consultant
Download PDF of this article here
As a door expert, I am called upon many times a year to evaluate garage
door injuries. In my professional career as a general contractor and door
& hardware contractor, I have installed many different types of garage
doors. I have been involved with roll up doors, both for commercial warehouse
applications and automotive repair facilities that allow the passage of
a motor vehicle. I have installed and serviced life safety/fire drop doors
typically seen in hospitals, pharmacies, labs, shopping centers and other
commercial venues. I have placed sectional doors in apartment buildings,
single family homes and condominiums. My company has custom built many
types of garage enclosures that have had special cosmetic concealed purposes
for themed attractions. Working on historic buildings has given me the
opportunity to work on sliding barn type doors, hinged parting doors and
old carriage style swinging doors. I have removed and replaced the older
style, overhead vintage single panel pivoting hinged garage door from
commercial and residential locations, and have installed a variety of
newer and safer products.
Garage doors come in many shapes and sizes. Their functions range from
basic security of an area to cosmetic concealment. Most doors can be broken
down into a few basic styles or categories. Typical modern garage doors
for residential applications tend to be predominantly of the overhead
sectional variety. That style of door comes in many configurations, materials,
levels of insulation, and a wide range of appearance possibilities. They
are available as a prefabricated kit, or built as a custom design to complement
the décor of any building. Commercial warehouse type installations
often dictate higher security requirements. A good choice for this security
type of door is the "roll-up" style that resembles a roll top
desk type of door. This door can be manufactured with a variety of materials
that can be as strong as the adjacent walls, making forced entry through
this opening very difficult. Other common commercial installations include
light weight aluminum single or sectional panel doors. These doors function
more for closing off an already secured area than for assuring point security.
In the past, the biggest concern with operating an overhead garage door
was the potential risks associated with the springs used for balancing
the door weight. Pre mid 1960's garage door installations typically
relied upon a pair of stretched (tensioned) springs to assist the operation
of the garage door pivoting hinges. These springs became loaded (tensioned)
as the door was moved into the closed position. Unloading (releasing)
of the stored spring energy occurred as the door was opened to the horizontal
overhead position. One of the most dangerous aspects of these spring systems
was that after a period of time, often without any maintenance or inspection,
the points of attachment of these springs would rust or become weak. This
weakening of the springs or points of attachment would often lead to an
inadvertent explosive failure flinging the broken spring components across
the garage, embedding the spring or steel components into the garage walls,
cars or other items in the path of travel. Unfortunately, sometimes people
were in the path of travel of these explosive occurrences. As these springs
failed, as an attempted safeguard, some manufacturers devised a "caging"
system for the springs. These cages were retrofitted onto the stretched
springs in an attempt to capture the parts that would release if a failure
occurred. While these caging devices were helpful, they were not completely
effective. Some of these spring devices are still in use today. Whenever
this condition exists or the quality of garage components are questionable,
a qualified professional service technician should be consulted.
In response to the inherently dangerous old style garage spring issues
as above, a newer and safer system for opening the overhead garage door
was created. The idea was to transfer the load or weight of the door via
a cable and pulley system to a vertical rod now equipped with a torsion
(twisted) spring. This type of spring is installed with specialty hardware
and bolts to a fixed plate at one end, while the entire spring is installed
around a horizontal pipe. This load balancing device is normally installed
directly over the header of the garage opening. Using appropriate cables,
connectors and pulleys, the weight of the garage door is transferred into
the torsion spring system. The difference between the old style stretched
spring and the newer torsion spring is the way that the spring energy
is stored. With the old style stretched spring, the energy is stored and
released by pulling on the spring or returning the spring to its un-stretched
condition. With a torsion type of spring, the energy is imparted or removed
by rotating the spring clockwise or counter clockwise depending upon the
direction of usage. With professional installation, the complete loading
of the torsion spring is controlled by the garage installer, and is determined
by the weight and size of the garage door that it is operating. When this
type of torsion spring fails, it remains attached and intact to the location
on the horizontal control rod where it was mounted. I have not heard of
or seen any torsion spring fly across a garage, creating injury from failed
components as with the stretched older style garage door springs. This
is not to say that injuries have not occurred with the torsion style spring.
The installation of this type of spring is generally safe when left to
a trained garage door installation professional. Severe and serious injuries
have occurred when untrained, unqualified individuals have attempted to
install or service this type of spring. In most installations, a warning
tag is left attached adjacent to the torsion spring when the garage door
is installed.
Warning tag installed adjacent to torsion spring. Spring to left of tag
is still in tension;
Spring to right of tag is broken and shows how the rod captures a torsion
spring when it fails.
This tag warns of the danger associated with the stored energy of this
spring, and alerts untrained individuals to not attempt any repair, adjustment
or to even touch the spring and associated hardware. When the label that
should be attached to this spring becomes damaged, is removed or tampered
with, it is important that a new warning label be reattached immediately
to show the dangers of this spring tension
Garage doors can be operated manually (by hand), as well as automatically
(by power assisted motor). In both cases, the proper operation of the
garage door is determined by the proper balancing of the garage door weight,
springs and related component hardware. An automatic power assisted motor
cannot overcome an improperly balanced garage door. The weight of all
garage doors is normally deceptive. Due to the fact that a properly functioning
door appears easy to open and close, many users do not realize the combined
overall weight until springs fail to assist the door in its operation.
In all cases, regardless of the type of garage door, the entire system
of hinges, track, hardware, and door opener work as a team. Problems with
misalignment, shifting, or jamming can lead to problematic operation of
a door. Counter forces imparted to a garage door, not engineered into
the components, can lead to injury. Inappropriate maintenance or complete
lack of maintenance has lead to severe bodily injuries. Forcing the operation
of a garage door, when one or more components have become damaged or broken
has lead to serious bodily injuries. In all cases, maintenance is a crucial
and important aspect of proper operation of all door systems.
In contrast to an overhead type of garage door, be it sectional or single
panel, roll up doors have a totally different type of operating system.
When these doors are used, they can be concealed in an overhead or under
mounted trough. These doors operate similarly to a roll top desk door
except for how they are stored when not in the closed position. They normally
coil as they are retracted, and require significant gear trains to reduce
the effort required to move these doors up and down into position. Often
the forces needed to move these roll up doors require a reduction type
of transmission that allows a very heavy door to be operated effortlessly.
These doors can be chain driven either manually, or can be automated using
electric motors. Roll up doors require more frequent evaluation and servicing
than a standard overhead garage door. The tracks that are mounted vertically
on both sides of the garage opening need maintenance and cleaning more
frequently, and are often blocked by foreign obstructions or damaged by
collision of some type. These roll up doors are often held open by some
type of ratcheting action. Proper balancing of these doors is often more
important than an overhead type of door, as the weight of these type of
doors is normally much greater than an overhead door.

Roll up door showing gearing and pulley method for manual opening & closing
(no trough or shroud enclosure on this photo)
I have been involved in numerous garage door cases where many different
reasons for an injury have occurred. Having been retained as expert witness
for both plaintiff and defense, several common factors have been observed.
In many cases, unqualified individuals have attempted to repair or install
garage doors. They have lacked the knowledge, skills or even the basic
required tools to perform the work safely and properly. I have been hired
as an expert by garage door manufacturers and installers to defend claims
that they are not responsible for alleged product defects. In most cases,
the components that failed, failed as a result of abuse or improper installation
on the part of the end user. As stated above, the installation of many
garage doors is not appropriate for an untrained person. An exception
to this relates to "do it yourself" garage door kits that are
sold at local home centers. A homeowner could install the door because
these kits do not come with a professional quality package of hardware
that should or would require special knowledge for the installation. These
kits do not typically employ torsion springs that would require special
knowledge, proper tools, and working skills to install. The doors are
typically for light duty use. Professional installation services are often
available through a home center to assist a homeowner in need of a specialized
installation. As with most trade specific tasks, years of experience working
as a professional installer qualifies tradesmen for their contracting
license. The average homeowner watching a few television shows that give
rough explanations of how to install garage doors is not usually qualified
to install his or her own door. These "how to" television shows
are no substitute for the many skills acquired after working in the field.
The above article is a very brief description of a few types of garage
doors. Photos in this article are non specific and were meant for illustrative
purposes only. I have not given any specific details regarding appropriate
trade conduct or listed any information regarding the potential for serious
bodily injuries.
Mike Panish is a forensic expert witness and consultant in the construction
industry. One of his primary areas of expertise pertains to doors and
automatic door cases. He has over 35 years of hands on experience dealing
with commercial, multi residential, hotel, hospital, lab and other locations
where specialty door systems are needed. He has written many articles
on the subject of door related claims and maintenance issues related to
door and automatic door systems. He is licensed as a door and hardware
contractor in the State of California. He has been involved in door cases
across the United States and has been involved in both forensic analysis,
case investigation, and has consulted on many garage door related injury
claims. He has been used as a consultant and has been retained and designated
as expert in many types of door injury related claims for both the plaintiff
and defense,and is the most retained expert for door related injuries
for both plaintiff and defense. Mike is able to quickly ascertain the
facts, explain the critical information pertaining to your case and can
assist you in developing your case from discovery through trial. He has
offices in California, New Hampshire and Massachusetts. He is available
for nationwide, inspection, consulting, expert analysis, and testimony.
Michael Panish can be reached at
(888) 902-4272
(Ask for Sharon). email:
Expert@ConstructionWitness.com
Visit
www.ConstructionWitness.com for more information about Michael Panish's services.