Tips for winter proofing your garage.

Winterproof Your Garage Door

Winter proofing your garage door is a great way to cut down on heating costs. Here are some ways you can save money this winter.

Weatherstripping

First check your weatherstripping. Properly applied weather stripping can cut down on your heating costs, but it needs to be replaced regularly. Old weather stripping could just be letting air into the garage. 

Garage Door Insulation

Second make sure that your garage doors are insulated. Fiberglass doors are great for this. The pink stuff in your attic? Thats fiberglass insulation. It’s essentially spun glass with air pockets trapped in it which makes it a great insulator. Its light weight too because so much of it is just air. Garage doors made with fiberglass can also be painted to look really nice.  Ours (http://www.overheaddoornorthland.com/residential-garage-doors/fiberglass-garage-doors.html) replicate the look and feel of wood without the hassle.

If you are looking for great fiberglass garage doors, or need to solve a garage door problem big or small, contact us today.

Overhead Door Company of the Northland

3195 Terminal Dr., Eagan, MN 55121

Phone: 651.683.0307 | Fax: 651.683.0625

How to prevent your fire door from failing

Fire doors in Minneapolis

Overhead Door Company of the Northland has installed fire doors for a while now, and we have also done our fair share of repairs on fire doors. Here are some tips to prevent your fire door from malfunctioning during a fire.

Don’t forget you have a fire door

It’s not like your building will catch on fire on a daily basis, so it is fairly easy to forget that you have a fire door. But it is very unwise to completely forget about it because without regular maintenance the door will not close properly.

Also, when people forget they have a fire door they tend to start storing brooms, barrels, and other items in the doorway, which will prevent the door from closing.

Test it periodically if the fire door is a main traffic path

If the fire door is a main traffic path, the guide rails of the door will definitely get subjected to repeated damage from forklifts, lift trucks, and carts as they accidentally bump, bend and knock the rails out of alignment.

However, a lot of times, it isn’t very clear if the damage is substantial enough to prevent the doors from closing properly. That’s why it’s a good idea to drop test the door often.

Beware of maintenance workers

Maintenance workers are there to keep the building in tip top shape.  Oddly enough, it’s usually well maintained buildings that have a problem with fire doors. That’s usually because well-meaning painters will often paint or spray over the hardware of the fire door.

If the Release Device of a fire door is painted over it can be enough to prevent it from closing or closing properly. In addition to that paint on the fusible link or release devices alters its thermal properties thus making them inoperative.

So be sure to let your maintenance workers know that you have a fire door, and what areas they should be careful with.

Ways to Improve Home Security

Home Security is more important than ever

Every evening when you turn on the nightly news you usually hear about more than one robbery occurring. Some burglaries and robberies cannot be avoided, but there are more that could have been stopped with the right measures already in place.

Here are some way you can improve the security of your home.

Install an Alarm System

Having an alarm system is key to your home’s security. Make sure your alarm system directly connects to that of the local authorities, for fast response.

If a burglar sees that a home has an alarm system, it will often prevents that intruder from even attempting a burglary. Plus, hearing an alarm go off usually sends a burglar running!

Conceal all wiring

When you do install an alarm system, make sure you conceal all your wires.

Secure Windows

Many home intrusions happen via open windows. Before leaving your house, make sure all of your home’s windows are shut and locked.

You can also protect these vulnerable areas with burglar-resistant glass. Installing many small panes of glass instead of one large pain of glass is a good option as well.

Use metal bars

If you have sliding windows you should have a metal bar that is placed along the bottom track of the window. The metal bar will prevent a burglar from forcing the window open.

Make it look like you’re home when you’re not

Expert burglars search neighborhoods looking for homeowners who are away from their home for an extended period of time. Automatic timers are great ways to turn lights on and off while you’re away.

Light up the entrance of your home

It’s very important to utilize your lighting to keep thieves away. Lighting with an infrared detector automatically turns on when someone is in a specific zone or area. No burglar wants to be in easy view while committing a crime!

Secure your doors

To help burglar-proof your home, install 1-inch throw deadbolt locks on all exterior doors.

A door with too much space between the door and the frame is an invitation for the burglar to pry it open. Reinforce the door with a panel of 3/4-inch plywood or a piece of sheet metal.

If there are door hinges on the outside of your house, take down the door and reset the hinges inside. Otherwise all a thief has to do to gain entry to your home is knock out the hinge pin.

Replace Garage Doors

Along the same vein of securing your door, people often forget about their biggest “door” in their home – their garage door!

Is your garage door old? Your garage door’s age may make it an easy target for hacking, creating a perfect entry point for thieves. Or even worse, if the garage door has become jammed and refuses to close, now that is a big invitation for home intruders.

Upgrade your garage door for added security!

Do you need to replace your garage door? Overhead Door Company of the Northland offers quality garage doors, to keep your home free of intrusion.

Garage Door Jammed?

Garage Door Repair in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Has your garage door stopped moving? Or worse, is it noticeably jammed? It’s time to call Overhead Door Company of the North Land for some help! For future reference, here’s a tip to prevent any need for garage door repair.

A Garage Door Maintenance Kit

Just like your car needs maintenance to run smoothly, your garage door is the same! If you take some time and inspect your garage door every so often, you can catch a potential problem before it actually happens and damages your garage door.

And Overhead Door Company of the North Land has maintenance kits for just that!

Visual Inspection

Stand inside the garage with the garage door closed. Look over the garage door springs, cables, rollers, pulleys and mounting hardware, such as hinges, for signs of wear or damage. Look for cable wear or fraying.

If something doesn’t look quite right, or doesn’t sound quite right, it could mean it’s a more serious issue. Have the garage door system inspected by Overhead Door Company.

Door Balance Test

Disconnect the automatic opener, and lift the door manually. It should lift smoothly with little resistance and should remain fully open. If it is difficult to open or does not remain open, the door may be out of balance and should be serviced by a trained service technician (Ahem, Overhead Door Company!).

Reversing mechanism test

With the door fully open, lay a piece of wood on the floor in the center of the garage door opening where the door would touch the floor. Push your garage door opener’s transmitter or wall button to close the door. When the door touches the wood, the door should automatically reverse. If the door does not automatically reverse, you need to call us.

Door Balance Test

Disconnect the automatic opener, and lift the door manually. It should lift smoothly with little resistance and should remain fully open. If it is difficult to open or does not remain open, the door may be out of balance and should be serviced by a trained service technician (Ahem, Overhead Door Company!).

Reversing mechanism test

With the door fully open, lay a piece of wood on the floor in the center of the garage door opening where the door would touch the floor. Push your garage door opener’s transmitter or wall button to close the door. When the door touches the wood, the door should automatically reverse. If the door does not automatically reverse, you need to call us.

If it does not reverse and reopen, pull the broomstick out of the path of the closing door. Close the door. With the door in the closed position, clean the photo eyes with a soft, dry cloth. Gently adjust the photo eyes by hand if they appear to be out of alignment. Open the door and repeat the photo eye test. If the door does not reverse and reopen, you need to call us.

Force Setting Test

With the door fully open, push your garage door opener’s transmitter or wall button to close the door. As the door is closing, hold up the bottom of the door with your hands outstretched and stiff. If the door does not easily reverse and continues to close, pull your hands away immediately. The closing force is excessive and the door should be serviced by a trained service technician.

Force Setting Test

With the door fully open, push your garage door opener’s transmitter or wall button to close the door. As the door is closing, hold up the bottom of the door with your hands outstretched and stiff. If the door does not easily reverse and continues to close, pull your hands away immediately. The closing force is excessive and the door should be serviced by a trained service technician.

It’s completely understandable if you’d rather have Overhead Door Company do the maintenance tests for you. We’re here whenever you need us!

Phone: 651.683.0307

3195 Terminal Dr., Eagan, MN 55121

3 Ways to Improve Home Security

1. Install Alarm System: Having an alarm system is key to your home’s security. Make sure your alarm system directly connects to that of the local authorities, for fast response.
2. Secure Windows: Many home intrusions happen via open windows. Before leaving your house, make sure all of your home’s windows are shut and locked.
3. Replace Garage Doors: Is you garage door old? Your garage door’s age may make it an easy target for hacking, creating a perfect entry point for thieves. Upgrade your garage door for added security.

Do you need to replace your garage door? Overhead Door Company of the Northland offers quality garage doors, to keep your home free of intrusion.

Tips for Organizing Your Garage

If your car is in the street because it can't fit in the garage, that's a pretty good sign it's time to improve your organization.

Safety First

Hazardous materials, such as chemicals, pesticides and auto fluids, are often stored in the garage. It's important to keep these materials out of the way, and especially up high if pets and children are in the household. 

Affordably Easy

Instead of going out and buying new boxes and containers to organize large and small items, try re-purposing things you already have. Jars can be used for screw and nail storage, old garbage cans can hold soil and fertilizer, the possibilities are almost endless!

Secure Doors and Windows

Too often doors and windows in the garage do not get as much attention as those inside. However, especially if your garage is connected to your house, your windows should be kept locked, your doors should have a deadbolt and your garage door should be secure.

If your garage door is in need of repair, or if you're in need of an entirely new door, then the Overhead Door Company of Northland is just what you're looking for. We specialize in garage door sales and repairs throughout Minneapolis and St. Paul, MN; give us a call today!

Repairing a Garage Door:

Keeping your garage door in top shape is very important, you have to insure that all the parts involved with making your door work are in good working condition.

Many times broken garage doors can be fixed with a simple checking of the electrical wiring, just a simple realignment in the electronics can fix the door right away.

Unfortunately, even when you understand your garage door it can still break down without any idea of what to repair causing massive problems for you and the safety of your cars.

When this happens, you have to hire the garage door repair services at http://www.overheaddoornorthland.com/

Repairing Your Garage Door:

Your garage door is incredibly important to keep functional as it is what protects your cars at your home.

To repair your garage door the first thing you have to check is the electrical wiring. If there is a short in any part of the electrical mechanics than it will short out the entire door.

The next thing you have to check is the actual mechanics of the garage doors opening. Try and manually open the door to see what could be faulty about the door.

To get your garage door fixed quickly, contact http://www.overheaddoornorthland.com/

3 Tips to Keep your Garage Door Running Perfectly

1.        Check the tracks – When cleaning your garage, be sure to check the tracks. Making sure the rollers are clean and the track is free of debris. Clean tracks will keep the garage door from jamming or moving slowly.
2.        Inspect the springs – Another vital part of the garage door, is the springs. Garage doors use thick springs to open and close properly, which means you have to make sure the springs are free from wear and tear to keep it running smoothly.
3.        Watch for loose brackets – The cables connected to the springs are connected to the brackets on each side of the garage door. Make sure these brackets aren’t loose, if they are, contact a professional to fix them.

Looking for a garage door professional? Visit http://www.overheaddoornorthland.com/

3 Ways to Improve your Garage

1.        Garbage bag dispenser – If you have an extra paper towel dispenser sitting around, grab it and take it to the garage. Most garbage bag rolls can fit in paper towel dispensers, so you’ll be able to conveniently put fresh rolls of garbage bags on your garage wall.
2.        Bungee ball storage – Have a family of athletes? If you have a few bungee cords around you can nail a block of wood to the wall and attach the bungee cords to the floor and wood. This way, you’ll have a department store style ball storage.
3.        Pool noodle bumper – Protect your car door from your garage walls, by cutting a pool noodle in half and nailing it to the wall. This will make sure that your door stays safe from scratches and dents when it hits the wall.

Improve your garage door! Visit http://www.overheaddoornorthland.com/ and upgrade.

Build Your Dream Garage!!

Architect's Corner

As you probably already know, we offer a wide variety from standard, to semi custom, to go wild and crazy custom for both commercial and residential doors. We can help you express your vision, maintain your budget and get drawings of products.

With all the options available and the changes in manufacturing and technology it can be hard to keep up. From experience we know that you can save a lot of time, if we come into your office and walk you through changes in door offerings and help you to find the information that you need. Almost without fail we find that when we are in talking with one Architect others will stop by to ask us questions.

LEED Certification and EcoBuilt™ doors

Whether you are concerned about LEED certification or if you are just concerned about energy efficiency we have the products and materials you need. From high R value, low air infiltration and the use of recycled material we offer you a wide range of energy efficient products. To find out more click here.

DoorView Visualization Software

Also try our new visualization software called DoorView™ With this software it is easy for you to insert a variety of doors right in your prints. It is great way to help the homeowner make faster decisions and see the end result.

Place doors right in your prints using our DoorView™ program.
Call us to get started.

New A.I.A. accredited classes - Lunch and Learn

Give us a call at 651-683-0307 to set up a presentation. We offer A.I.A. accredited training classes which are eligible for C.E.U. credits or just a question and answer session, we are here to help you with your projects.

Topics Include:

• A.I.A. C.E.U. Training Credits
• Design specifications.
• Product applications
• Etc……

Architect Drawings

Architect’s Corner, a resource for commercial and residential architects, contains comprehensive technical and resource materials to support your project, including drawings for installing garage and overhead doors. Simply select the specific residential or commercial application or product that suits your construction or remodeling project, and you’re just clicks away from downloading specifications to your desktop.

Clicking on these categories will take you to the Overhead Door National site by opening a new window. To get back to this site click the tab on the top of your menu bar or close out the national site’s window.

To get started select a category.

Click hear to down load drawings
http://www.overheaddoor.com/ArchitectsCorner/Pages/view-all-drawings.aspx

Click here to download specifications
http://www.overheaddoor.com/ArchitectsCorner/Pages/view-all-specs.aspx

Down load architectural design manual
http://www.overheaddoor.com/ArchitectsCorner/Pages/architect-design-manual-order-form.aspx

Down load viewer for drawings link http://www.edrawingsviewer.com/pages/products/eDrawingsViewerpage.html