Maintaining Rolling Aluminum Grilles

Rolling aluminum grilles are a simple solution to keeping merchandise safe while still allowing visual access to those inside the building. While high-quality products should require very little maintenance, all doors need occasional TLC to operate smoothly and reliably day-after-day, and year-after-year.

Tips for Maintaining Your Business’s Rolling Aluminum Grilles

The following tips will ensure your doors are well taken care of to maintain optimal performance.

1. Work with a reliable installer. The quality of the product and its installation has everything to do with how it performs. Make sure you work with a licensed and experienced commercial door installer so you purchase the product that is right for your application. Not every business – or business location – is created equal, and doors should be designed specifically for their location, climate and use. This is a huge first-step in enjoy the low-maintenance attributes these doors are known for.

2. Keep the tracks (guides) clean. Any dirt, grime and debris that builds up in the door’s guide (commonly referred to as a track) will affect how it opens and closes. Over time, accumulation of debris in the track can lead to the breakdown of the door’s mechanical parts or can prevent it from opening, closing and/or locking completely. Remove larger debris by hand. Use a soft brush or broom to sweep smaller debris out and away from the track. A damp, wet cloth can be used for very small particles or more stubborn debris.

3. Use the doors regularly. Some rolling aluminum grilles are used on a daily basis, others are used less often and that can become a problem. A door that is left unused can begin to stick as the result of settling dust or potential rust or corrosion. It’s best to open and close the door at least once a week to keep things moving fluidly and to address any problems that arise before they become more permanent.

4. Be mindful of excessive elements. If you have a door that receives more sun exposure, is constantly faced with high winds or is the focus of driving rain in the wintertime, give it a little extra attention. Speak with your commercial door installer to make sure there aren’t any additional maintenance measures that should be taken – such as the addition of an awning, a specialized protective coating, and so on.

5. Refresh paint/coatings as needed. Metal is susceptible to moisture damage and the elements. For this reason, most metal doors are sold and installed with a protective coating suited to their environment. If you notice any peeling, scratching, bubbling or gaps in the coating, it needs to be replaced. Refer to the manufacturer’s recommendations in regards to approved coating products. Failure to adhere to their guidelines can compromise your warranty, not to mention the well-being of the door.

6. Make immediate repairs. If you notice rust, corrosion, breaks or the door isn’t working properly, schedule repairs ASAP. The longer you wait, the more damage can be done. This results in more expensive repairs or, potentially, an unnecessary door replacement. Also, holding off on a necessary repair may void your warranty.

7. Schedule annual inspections. It’s a good practice to schedule annual or bi-annual inspections with a local commercial door company. This small investment will pay off in preserving the durability and longevity of your rolling aluminum grilles as well as other commercial and personnel doors. Invoices from these inspections are excellent proof to have on hand should you need to process a warranty claim in the future, and routine inspections and maintenance will help to prevent potential code violations for hardly-used doors that aren’t functioning up to local building code requirements.


Have a rolling aluminum grille or service door that’s giving you problems? Looking to schedule annual door maintenance? Give us a call here at R&S - 1-925-671-7606 - or contact us online. We’ll send someone out to visit the first chance we get.

Replacing Weather Stripping on Service Doors

Weather stripping seems like a small detail, but it can make a big difference in your building’s interior comfort, not to mention temperature regulation, energy efficiency and even theft control.

Did You Answer Yes To These 5 Questions?

Here are 5 questions to ask yourself and/or your employees to determine whether or not it’s time to add – or replace – your service door’s weather stripping.

1. Do your exterior service doors have weather stripping? When were your service doors installed? If you’ve recently taken ownership or moved to a new commercial space, inspect the service doors to see if they are currently equipped with weather stripping. If not, consider installing it or hiring a professional to do it for you.


2. Is there an obvious draft? Weather stripping serves a variety of purposes but one of its most important roles is to prevent air leaks. Air leaks can increase utility spending considerably (more on that below) but they also interfere with interior comfort and/or maintaining a consistent temperature. If employees notice a draft, take a look around the service doors to see if there is a perimeter edge that lacks weather stripping, or if the weather stripping around a particular door seems worn, cracked or corroded.

3. Is climate control an issue? If you have a building with an HVAC unit, climate control should certainly be a focus. The more you can maintain a consistent interior temperature, the lower the energy bills will be. Weather stripping seals air leaks and also helps to insulate exterior doors, preventing undesirable heat gain and loss as exterior temperatures fluctuate. Take a look at the heating/cooling bills for the past several years and perform a month-by-month analysis. If you feel like costs are increasing, taking fuel price hikes into consideration, inadequate or poor-performing weather stripping could be a contributing factor.

4. Does water leak into the building when it rains? Do rainy days and nights mean employees have to get the mop bucket out? Not only is this a nuisance, it’s not a good idea to have moisture inside the building. The more moisture there is, the more difficult it is to control temperature and humidity. In addition to interior comfort for staff and clients, excess moisture also threatens the structural components in the building (especially metal doors that are more prone to rust and corrosion). Accumulated moisture also makes it easier for mold and mildew to develop, which compromises interior air quality.

5. Is there visible wear and tear around the edges? If your doors lack weather stripping, or your current weather stripping is outdated, you may notice extra wear and tear around the edges of the doors. In addition to helping with air leaks and insulation, weather stripping also works as a buffer, keeping the perimeter of the door from unnecessary scraping that can slowly wear down the materials.

Replacing Weather Stripping on Service Doors

Installing and replacing weather stripping is a fairly simple DIY task. That being said, there are a few things to consider:

1. Manufacturer’s Recommendations. Get out the service manual that came with the door and read the manufacturer’s recommendations. They will probably list specific products that are recommended/approved. Always invest in the products they recommend because veering from these recommendations could potentially void any existing warranty.

2. Read the Warranty. You’ll also want to read through the warranty stipulations. Sometimes, manufacturers require their doors to be serviced by a licensed, approved vendor and any DIY work you perform on your own may compromise the warranty.

3. Use a licensed commercial door supplier. Don’t have time to be bothered with maintenance requirements? That’s where a reputable, licensed Bay Area commercial door supplier comes in. Research online or call the door’s manufacturer to connect with preferred vendors in your area. Scheduling routine inspections and warranty work is a smart way to keep your doors functioning as reliably and efficiently as possible.


Have a questions about the service doors at your place of business? Contact R&S and we’ll be happy to schedule a service call or answer any questions you may have.

7 Tips for Storing Holiday Decorations Safely in Your Garage

Holiday decorations are like a beautiful fungus, they seem to multiply year by year. The problem is that while boxes of holiday decorations may multiply, your home’s storage space does not. That means you need to get creative about where and how to store them.

Rather than using interior storage space, which is best left to the things you use on a more regular basis, we recommend storing your holiday decoration collection in the garage. The trick, however, is to store them safely.

Too many boxes stacked one on top of the other pose a hazard to both the people and pets who traverse your garage, as well as the possessions stored around them.

1. Organize your garage. If your garage is already too-crowded-for-comfort, make a New Year’s resolution to organize it. Use one of the bay area’s beautiful, crisp, clear winter days and haul everything outside of the garage so you can assess what needs to stay and what can go. Read or post, 8 Tips For Making Space in That Cluttered Garage for more detailed instructions on a simple, no-nonsense approach to de-cluttering and adding storage space.

2. Ditch the cardboard boxes. Cardboard boxes are fine for moving and temporary storage but not for permanent collections – like holiday decorations – which are used every single year. For one thing, cardboard has a tendency to collapse – especially when stacked - which can mean breakage of valuable or sentimental ornaments and decorations. Also, cardboard boxes harbor pests. Spiders and cockroaches are particularly drawn to them, and rodents will happily chew their way in if they smell a hint of anything edible or sense there is potential nesting material or space inside. Instead, upgrade to durable, plastic storage containers in uniform sizes.

3. Opt for clear containers. When you go to select your new storage containers, spring for the ones with clear plastic and red or green tops. The colorful tops are indicators that holiday decorations are stored inside. The clear plastic allows you to get a better idea of what is stored inside so you have quick access to the tree stand, for example, and can leave the wrapping paper or table setting boxes alone until you’re ready for them.

4. Purchase high-quality shelving. If you haven’t done it already, invest in high-quality metal shelving that is easy to assemble and high storage options. The shelves should be wide enough to accommodate the depth of your boxes with only a very minimal amount (if any) of the box bottom extending over the edges to avoid toppling. Use the top and corner shelves, the most difficult to access, for holiday boxes.

5. Test and wrap lights. Get rid of any light strings that don’t work. Then, wrap each strand of your holiday lights around a section of cardboard to avoid the frustrating tangle that always ensues, regardless of how carefully you wrap them in loops. Then store the lights in plastic tubs as well to prevent breakage or exposure to moisture and/or cord-chewing rodents.

6. Utilize the rafters. If you aren’t handy, hire a local handyman to use plywood and/or 2x4s that can be installed to reinforce the rafters. The “shelf-space” you acquire this way will become invaluable extra storage space and makes an excellent spot for storing decoration boxes, the artificial Christmas tree and so on.

7. Heavy duty hooks. Does your artificial tree come with a sturdy bag? If so, you can use heavy-duty garage storage hooks and suspend the tree from its bag handles. This can be an easier option if lugging it into the attic or into the rafters is too cumbersome.

Safe storage of your holiday decorations will pay off in a more organized home and garage space, and the assurance that your favorite decorations and ornaments will be protected from breakage, pest damage and dust.

What is a Personnel Door?

If you own a business, odds are you have at least one or two personnel doors in your office or establishment. They are a type of commercial door but – typically – rather than serving the public’s needs, personnel doors are used most often by the employees who live and work in the building during normal business hours.

Examples of Personnel Doors

These doors are built much differently than the ones you use in your home for several reasons.

They are more heavily used. Doors that are used internally by employees experience more rigorous wear and tear than a bedroom or bathroom door. Consider the hundreds of times a day the door leading from a doctor’s or dentist’s office to the waiting room is opened and shut, for example. This level of use requires heavier-duty hinges and hardware than a residential or small office door might require.

There are building codes to consider. For health and safety reasons, personnel doors can have very specific design requirements. For example, depending on the building design and use a door may be required by law to have:

• An automatic closer.

• A fire rating for 30, 60 or 90 minutes (or more).

• Special sealing or insulation to keep chemicals or toxins confined.

• Other specialized features that increase the health and safety for both employees, customers and/or other building occupants.

• Panic hardware that allows a door to be pushed open rather than requiring a harder-to-use handle.

These specialized versions of commercial doors may also require specialized security features preventing them from break-ins, vandalism or broken glass.

Door designs may be more varied. To accommodate larger or more unique design dimensions, a personnel door may not fit the standard commercial or residential door dimensions, requiring special sizing and parts accommodation.

Examples of personnel doors include doors that:

• Swing

• Slide

• Revolve

• Include extra-large double-door systems

• Provide style and security to an exterior entrance/exit

• Offer corrosion resistance particular to their environment and daily exposures.

How to Choose the Right Personnel Door For Your Business

Choosing the right personnel door for your business can be tricky. Here are a few questions to consider:

What is required by code? The first step is to bring your building plans to your local building department to have them reviewed. Working with an experienced commercial architect and a licensed commercial door supplier can also benefit you as they are typically familiar with the commercial door codes in your area. This can ensure you install doors with the legally required fire rating, egress considerations, panic hardware and so on so you don’t have to replace anything you just installed as the result of a code violation.

Is the door visible to the public? Consider the huge glass revolving doors popular for big swanky banks and law firms. Even if these buildings are largely used by employees, rather than the public, these doors are still highly visible to passersby and can make a positive impression of the company. In this case, in order to add curb appeal, style is important. 

Will it be exposed to the outdoors? Personnel doors that are exposed to the exterior of the building will experience more dramatic temperature and humidity fluctuations, as well as serious weather depending on your geographic location. Even things like wind direction and sun exposure should be considered to ensure your door is designed to handle its environment.

What style is your commercial design? Personnel doors come in a wide range of materials and styles. Most doors are made from commercial wood, hollow metal, fiberglass, aluminum, glass, herculite glass and even bullet- and blast-proof materials. However, fabrication has come a long way so most of these “tougher” door types can be customized to blend with your business’s interior design.

For professional assistance designing, repairing or replacing personnel doors for your business, give us a call at R&S Erection. 1-925-671-7606. You can also contact us online to schedule an onsite consultation.

8 Tips For Making Space in That Cluttered Garage

Are you having to suck in your belly every time you squeeze between the tool bench (or that stack of boxes) and an open car door? Sounds like it’s time to buckle down and create a little more space in the garage.

Driving into a clean, organized garage is good for the soul and makes coming home from work that much more pleasurable. Plus, it can open up room for your favorite hobbies or the design of your dream man cave. Most people find that spending a weekend or two adding more efficient storage also opens up closet and storage space in the home as well.

So, let’s get started.

1. Take it all out and analyze it. Regardless of which tips you opt to implement, you need to analyze/organize what you have - distinguishing between what’s needed and what needs to move on out. Put on your favorite music and start clearing everything out. Designate “trash” and “donate” piles and get rid of anything you haven’t used in a year or more. Odds are those items won’t be used this year either, and they can always be rented or purchased if you need them down the road.

2. Utilize the rafters. Are you using all that available space between the rafters and the underside of the roof? Throwing a large piece of plywood up there - creating a horizontal platform - is a cheap means of gaining accessible “attic”. It’s an ideal space for storing the holiday tree and decorations, suitcases, childhood mementos, sleds, seasonal sporting gear and so on. 

3. Make use of the high spaces. Continuing along this vein, install shelves up high on the walls so you aren’t wasting that last 12- to 24-inches between the ceiling or rafters and the highest shelf on standing storage racks. This is another place where you can store items you don’t use as often, things like serving platters and other rarely used dishware, camping gear or blow up mattresses for guests.

4. Install wire storage shelves. We love the stainless steel, wire storage racks and shelving units because they don’t collect dust and are less pest- and rodent-friendly. Maximize your mounting opportunities by first installing a layer of 3/4-inch plywood over drywall or bare studs. Now you have a continuous, reinforced surface for mounting uninterrupted shelving, and it will also come in handy for hooks to hang bikes and other tools or toys.

5. Suspend bikes, toys and ladders. The more bikes and toys that are parked on the ground, the less surface area and more cluttered your garage will be. Use designated hooks to suspend these items, the higher the better of course. Adult bikes can be suspended from the rafters. Ladder(s) can be stored out of the way there as well. Even low suspension hooks will be helpful with the kids’ bikes. While it doesn’t get the bikes very high off the ground, it does give them a designated place to be, and this goes a long way towards an organized garage.

6. Invest in a storage shed. If you have the space in your backyard, even a small storage shed can make a big difference when it comes to storing items that have filled up the corners of your garage. If you’re a gardener, make the storage shed your potting shed. If you are an avid camper or hunter, it might be a designated, weathertight location to store items related to those activities. It’s also an ideal place for kid’s toys, preventing the all-too-common occurrence of the runover bike or trike.

7. Neaten up the wires. Do areas of your garage look like a thick and colorful spiderweb, laden with criss-crosses of extension cords and other wires. Neaten those up by running them along your garage wall and/or ceilings by mounting metal or plastic wiring channels and outlet boxes right on the wall or a series of open studs.

8. Utilize unfinished walls. Use the consistent spaces between exposed studs in a garage’s unfinished walls to your advantage. You can connect bungee cords from the top of one section to the bottom, spaced a few inches apart to store balls and miscellaneous sporting equipment. Cover the back of any number of sections with plywood and then screw angled, 6-inch PVC pipe sections (between 4- and 6-inches high) to store shovels, rakes and other long-handled outdoor tools. 

Now that your garage is all tidied up, you might notice it’s suffering from random debris - in the form of dirt, leaves and miscellaneous litter. That’s a sign your garage door seal needs to be replaced. Not only will this keep your newly-organized garage a little cleaner, it will also enhance its insulation and interior comfort. 

Now your goal is to train the family with the idea that “there’s a space for everything, and everything in its space!” If you can do that, you’ll enjoy a spacious and organized garage for years to come.

Signs of an Unbalanced Garage Door

An unbalanced garage door can be an issue many homeowners are completely unaware of until one of two things happen: (1) you need to manually open or close the door and can't or (2) your garage door opener motor burns out prematurely, causing substantial expense to replace it. The average metal residential garage door weighs more than 150 pounds. Most of the time you’d never know it, even if you open or close it manually without the aid of an automatic opener. Powerful springs serve to counterbalance that weight, making the opening and closing action amazingly effortless—as long, that is, as the door remains properly balanced.

How Can You Tell?

When manually operated, a properly balanced door should feel easy to lift and safe to close. When raised to the half-open position, you should be able to release your grip and the door will remain in that position. When operated by an automatic garage door opener, action should be smooth and the opener motor and chain drive should not be straining or faltering. When a garage door is becoming unbalanced, however, certain telltale signs may give you advance warning:

• Observing the door, you may notice that one side closes flush with the ground while the other side doesn’t contact the ground and a gap becomes visible.

• While the door is opening or closing, one side may move upward or downward noticeably faster than the other side.

• The garage door opener motor makes loud, straining sounds due to the excess weight of an unbalanced door. Opening and closing may take longer than normal and you may hear other odd noises like gears stripping or popping and cracking as the door tracks absorb abnormal stress.

• The panels of a metal door may flex, buckle or bind as the door is ascending or descending.

• The door may not open at all as the motor is eventually unable to lift the weight.

• When attempting to open the door manually, it may be too heavy to lift. Closing an unbalanced door manually may be dangerous as the heavy door may abruptly slam to the ground with great force.

What Goes Wrong?

Professionally-installed garage doors are carefully balanced at the time of installation. However, a couple of changes may take place later to throw the door out of balance.

Often, the most frequent cause of an unbalanced door is weakening of the large springs that provide counterweight force against the weight of the door. Over time and many opening and closing repetitions, these springs may begin to stretch and lose their force. The door will gradually become harder to lift and will also close with greater force. If an automatic door opener is utilized, the motor, gears and chain drive will be subject to increasingly greater stress and shortened service life. An overstretched spring may eventually break entirely, usually making the door impossible to lift.

Adding any weight to the inside of the door after it was installed can also disrupt proper balance. Some residents choose to mount a long fluorescent light fixture to the inside of the door, for example. Even that modest amount of weight can tip the careful balance of the door. Another common addition to garage doors is insulation to reduce heat loss through the door in winter and heat gain in summer. DIY kits are available to insulate the inside of the door. Insulation typically adds up to 20 pounds to a door, more than enough to unbalance the door and affect easy operation.

Protect Your Garage Door Opener From Being Hacked

A garage door opener is an incredibly convenient feature to have. Not having to get out of your car and manually open the door every time you arrive or leave saves a lot of time and frustration. However, some garage door openers can actually pose a security issue. Believe it or not, your garage door opener can be hacked. This may seem hard to fathom; after all, don't hackers only go after computers and smartphones? Think about this, though - if a hacker can hack into someone's computer, why would they not be able to hack into your garage door opener? Your garage door can't be more complicated than a computer, right?

How can  garage door be hacked?

A garage door opener that makes use of a fixed code can be hacked using nothing more than a kid's toy. To understand how this is possible, you need to understand how your electric garage door opener works. Basically, the garage door opener's motor has a receiving module that responds to the waves transmitted by your garage door remote transmitter. A remote that sends a fixed code to the Garage door when a button is pressed can be easily figured out using an old texting-type toy that be used to pick up simple frequencies.

How can you prevent your garage door from being hacked?

You need to make sure that your garage door opener uses a rolling code and not a fixed code. A rolling code makes use of an algorithm that changes the code every time it's used, making it much more difficult for hackers to figure out. Check your garage door opener manual to see what kind of system it uses. If your system uses a rolling code or is indicated as a security plus or a security 2.0 system, then you should be relatively safe. If not, you'll want to have your garage door opener upgraded. If the manual doesn't say or you no longer have the manual, unscrew the casing of your remote to check and see if there is a DIP switch. If there is, it generally means that it uses a fixed code.

Additional security measures

In addition to making sure that your garage door opener makes use of a rolling code instead of a fixed code, consider using additional safety measures. Using a manual lock on your garage door may not seem very convenient on a daily basis, but you should use one if you are going out of town for more than a few days. This way, if a hacker manages to break through your code, they will still have to break through your physical lock. You should also make sure the garage is well lit - most thieves won't want to take the risk of trying to break in through your garage if it exposes them at night. Not to mention that a motion-sensing light can be very effective at scaring them away.

Don't assume that your electric garage door opener will keep thieves at bay - thieves with hacking abilities will have an easy time opening your garage door if it operates on a fixed code. So make sure that you don't have a fixed code system and upgrade it to a rolling code system if you do.

Maintaining Your Businesses Rolling Counter Door

Having an office that has a customer service counter cut into one wall can be very convenient, but it presents a security problem because there's no door to lock. Installing a rolling counter door -- like a rolling garage door but on a much smaller scale -- can eliminate those security concerns as long as you care for the door properly. Here are four tips that will help you keep that door in great shape for a long time.

Care for the Materials Properly

Dust, excessive heat, and constant sun exposure can cause rolling counter doors to deteriorate. Dust can also stick to the guides and other parts of the door, making operation difficult. In addition to following the cleaning procedures in the manual you received when you had the door installed, dust the door and guides, daily if need be. Inspect the door for rust spots or chips in the coating, if there is one, and have those repaired as soon as possible.

Use It

Letting the rolling door remain immobile often leads to the parts freezing as dust settles on them and rust forms. Using the door regularly ensures that the parts don't lock themselves in place.

Using the door to keep it working sounds like a simple thing, especially if your office closes daily and you close the rolling door each day. But if your office switches to being open 24 hours per day, for example, you could find that lots of time goes by before the door is actually lowered and raised. To prevent the door form freezing up, assign a time when the door is to be lowered and raised.

Keep the Guides Clear

Check the guides -- the tracks in which the door slides up or down -- clear of obstructions. Clean them on a regular basis and watch how the door moves in them as you open or close the door. Call for repair if you notice the door catching on something or not moving smoothly as you raise or lower it.

If the guides on the door's frame are adjustable, you might be able to make them a little wider depending on the model of door that you have. If the door moves haltingly but the guides aren't obstructed, it could be that they just need to be made a little wider.

Lower Humidity

If the rolling door is made of wood or has decorative wood parts -- you will find models like this -- watch the humidity levels. Humidity can cause wood to swell, eventually causing the door to stick in the guides. For exterior rolling doors, inspect them frequently and adjust the guides as necessary. For interior rolling doors, place a dehumidifier in the office to try to keep levels constant.

Residential Automatic Gate Safety

The biggest concern of most homeowners today is the safety and security of their family. This is a selling point for most subdivisions to help keep families safe and by adding an automatic gate at the entrance of a subdivision adds to that safety. While some subdivisions feature manual residential gates, studies show that 90% of these gates often remain open for convenience. This poses dire risks to the property and its inhabitants.

For this reason, installing an automatic gate comes out as the ideal choice to achieve a maximum level of security and comfort. Nevertheless, automatic gates are classified as machines and extreme care ought to be taken to make sure they have proper safety features and are regularly maintained. Today, we will go over some basic safety and maintenance tips for your automatic gate.

Servicing and Maintenance of Your Automatic Gate

While automatic gates provide security and convenience to homeowners living in a subdivision, most people are oblivious to the fact they are installing a machine. If not properly installed the system risks the potential of inflicting serious harm.  

Just like any machinery, maintenance and servicing of your automatic gate ensures its long life and safe operation. It is recommended that a service check be performed twice a year for normal subdivision residential gates. This, however, may vary depending on the frequency of use.

Ask your automated gate installation expert about a service contract to ensure your gate system runs safely and smoothly.  

Understand How to Operate Your Gate Automation System

Your Gate Installation professional should demonstrate to you the safety systems related to your Gate Drive Mechanism.

• Learn how to operate safely the automatic gate

• Learn how to keep the gate open for prolonged periods

• Learn how to operate manually the gate opener should there be system failure or power outage

• Know how to restore the gate drive system after a manual operation

Safety Precautions When Handling Automated Gates

Children should not play near and around an automatic gate. Keep the opening devices such as the remote control device away from their reach. It is imperative that you teach the children about the importance of safety in the proximity of an automated gate.

Additional Gate Safety Procedures

The location of opening systems like Intercom Gate Station and Keypads should be installed at least three meters away from the gate. This is so to ensure that the person operating the gate doesn’t reach the opening device.

 Trying to reach through a gate to operate a gate opener device is extremely risky, once activated and the gate staring to move can be at risk to get trapped and cause serious harm.

The use of Safety Photocells can enhance the safety of your gate system. These photocells can be fixed across the gateway on the posts or photocell supports, either at the end of the opened gates or in front of the gates. This improves safety both behind and in front of the gates.

Protecting people in your community matters and this is why it’s important to have automatic residential gates. Settling on what type of automatic gate to install can be a big decision as there are various styles and materials to choose from. 

Painting Your Metal Garage Door

Metal garage doors are a part of many different structures in today’s modern day society from residential houses to commercial buildings. Metal garage doors are susceptible to rust and the natural elements, and the garage door should be protected. Painting will increase the life of your metal garage door for many years. Today, we will go over DIY steps to paint your metal garage door. Let’s get started!

Five Steps for a Long Lasting Paint Job

Be sure to follow these five steps and your metal garage door will look amazing and be able to last the test of time.

Step 1: Wash the Metal Garage Door Thoroughly With Water

It’s important to wash your garage door with a garden house to get off all the grit and grime that has built up over time. After the initial spray down you should take a brush or sponge with soapy water and give it a good cleaning. Make sure you give it a final rinse and move onto step number 2.

Step 2: Power Sand the Door

You should go out to your local hardware store and pick up a medium to high grade sandpaper to sand the entire door. Sanding your garage door will ensure the new paint that is applied goes on effortlessly. Make sure you dust off where you sanded and clean up where you sanded with a broom.

Step 3: Set Up For Painting

You will now want to get the prep work out of the way to make sure you don’t have any primer or paint on your driveway or garage floor. Simply place a tarp or newspaper around the area of the garage door. If you happen to have windows on your garage door, you will want to make sure use painters tape around the windows and handles.

Step 4: Apply the Primer

If you want to make sure you have a good paint job for your garage door, then you will want to have a coat of primer down. The primer will help the paint adhere to the metal and gives it a smooth appearance. Primer usually will take up to 8 hours to dry, but this can vary depending on the temperature and if it is windy.

Step 5: Apply Paint

You should have your garage door the color that you want it to be as long as it’s an acrylic paint. Acrylic paints are best used for galvanized metals such as those used in garage doors. Starting from the top move downwards in straight lines using a brush or roller allowing overlapping of parallel laps. You will want to pay close attention to edges and corners that may be hard to reach. You can always come back after one coat is dried and look for any missed spots that can be corrected with touch ups. You should allow 12 hours per coat when painting your metal door and when it’s dry it should look brand new.  

Painting your metal garage door shouldn’t be hard as it only takes proper preparation and time. Painting your metal garage door adds life to the door and keeps it safe from the outside elements. We hope that you take into consideration what you learned today as it will help give you the best results for your garage door. 

Creating a “Man Cave” in Your Garage

A man cave has always been considered the special part of the house and is allotted for him to carry out his pursuits, including spending quality guy time with his friends. The ideal man cave is loaded with all the items guys appreciate: a pool table, foosball table, arcade games, dart board, poker table, a well-stocked bar and a mini home theater. One of the main issues of having a man cave is where to place it. Some people place it in an extra room or perhaps the basement, but what happens when this isn’t an option. The only alternative source you may have is your garage. So what can you do to optimize space in the garage for your man cave? Today, we will go over the appropriate steps you can take to making your garage your new man cave. Let’s get started!

Putting Your Plans on Paper 

You should focus on how you want to get your idea of a man cave from paper to reality. You should draw out what type of layout you would like to have by taking into consideration building materials you might need. Building your man cave may be a long process from start to finish based on your unique style. But it shouldn’t just stop with unique surroundings, you have to remember to incorporate the flooring as well.

For a Great Floor, Use Epoxy Flooring

If you want to protect your concrete floors, then opt for epoxy flooring. When making a man cave, the floors could be stained due to oils or fluids, and this will cause damage due to its corrosive effects. When you coat your concrete floor with epoxy, it forms a protective layer on top and fluids or oil will not penetrate into the floor. In addition to this, epoxy forms a much harder and durable film when compare to other paints, and gives you a floor like no other. You can custom design your floor with epoxy to have your friends wondering how this work of art was perfected. As an example if you choose a metallic pearl epoxy floor, and not only does it look cool but it hides repair work that may have been done to the surface, and it is simple to maintain its glossy look.

Insulating Your Garage

Your garage tends to be one of the most uninsulated portions of your home. It’s important to have properly installed installation to keep your man cave cool in the summertime and warm in the winter time. This would include insulating your garage door and can be easily done by yourself though online DIY or by contacting a local contractor in your area that knows how to handle this kind of work.

Stepping Up the Electrical Work

Typical man caves have extra goodies like flat screen TV's and stereo equipment and the typical garage may or may not have the proper electrical outlets in place. Electricity can be very dangerous if not respected. You should seek the help of a certified electrician in your area to install extra outlets to make sure everything is up to code.

Sharing Your Man Cave Creation

As guys, we all need a place to call our own in our homes. A place to escape from the wife and kids where we can relax and call our own. We hope that you take into consideration some of the steps you learned today to transform your garage into the ultimate man cave. Good luck!

4 Benefits of an Insulated Service Door

As a business owner, you strive to provide excellent products and services to your customers, and a quality workplace for your employees. One easy way to do that is by installing a quality, insulated service door that provides additional climate control, energy-efficiency, noise reduction and safety to your workplace environment.

Climate Control

An insulated service door provides excellent climate control when you need thermal or cooling efficiency for your business operation. It will keep your indoor temperatures even and prevent you from making thermostat adjustments every time outdoor temperatures rise and fall. You have no control over the weather conditions, but you can easily control your business environment with an insulated service door. Any type of business will benefit from a comfortable work environment, but for businesses that produce or store electronics, pharmaceuticals, antiques, furs, food, or other items that can be damaged by heat and cold, insulated service doors are essential to business operations.

Energy-Efficiency

Every business owner knows that an energy-efficient workplace can save thousands of dollars each month on heating and cooling costs. A service door that isn't properly insulated can let outdoor hot and cold air indoors, even through the smallest cracks around the door or door seals when the door is closed. An insulated service door will keep your business warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer with more even temperatures from room to room. If you have a large warehouse with hundreds of employees, an insulated service door will help to provide a more comfortable, year-round work space that can increase employee production and reduce employee illness.

Noise Reduction

Excessive noise levels are often an unpleasant workplace factor for many businesses, especially those in manufacturing industries. In industrial settings where there are hundreds of workers on an assembly line or operating machinery, noise levels can be deafening at times. A service door that's properly insulated with a quality, dense polyurethane foam can reduce noise levels in adjacent areas by a significant amount. Rather than the noise from workers and machinery echoing off of a thin steel or aluminum service door, a lot of the interior noise will be absorbed by the foam insulation. An insulated service door will also keep noise from the outside from entering the workplace.

Safety

Although most commercial service doors are made from steel or aluminum, they don't always provide adequate safety from burglaries and break-ins. Doors that have no insulation are thinner, lighter and easier to puncture or damage. Safety is important to any type of business to protect equipment, merchandise and employees. Whatever type of business you operate, a burglary can cost you thousands and thousands of dollars in lost production time and lost revenue. An insulated service door that's stronger and more durable will provide additional protection for your business against unwanted and unexpected theft. It will also provide additional wind resistance against storms that bring heavy rain and strong winds.

Although an insulated service door for your business may cost you a little more up front, the benefits will pay for the extra costs in no time. Whatever type and size of business you have, an insulated service door is a great investment. As a business owner, you can help protect your business, your investment, and your employees with a top-quality insulated service door that offers many advantages.

5 of the Most Common Garage Door Issues

Garage doors are built to take heavy use and most get it. A typical residential garage door goes up and down over a thousand times a year. Considering the amount of wear and tear garage doors receive, most models provide faithful, trouble-free service for many years when properly installed and maintained. When malfunctions do happen, many require the services of a qualified garage door service technician to properly diagnose and repair. However, a few DIY tips can point the way to resolve simple issues, or at least enable you to narrow down the source of the trouble and describe it more accurately to service personnel.  

Here are five common garage door problems:

• Door is in open or closed position and unresponsive. If the unit is an automatic garage door opener that utilizes a remote control, dead batteries in the remote should be your first suspect. It’s an easy do-it-yourself task to install fresh batteries and try again. Still no response? Photo-electric sensors that tell the unit whether the door position is open or closed may be defective, out of adjustment or the drive motor itself may have failed. If the door is stuck in the closed position, make sure no one has locked the throw latch that secures the door from the interior. A trained garage door service tech from a reputable local dealer can further troubleshoot the cause and recommend needed repairs.

• Door begins to close, then abruptly reverses and opens again. All garage doors have a safety feature to prevent the door from closing on a person or object. If the internal sensor detects a blockage as the door is closing, it will automatically reverse the motor. Assuming there’s nothing in the way to block free motion of the door, the most likely causes are binding in the track due to lack of lubrication, defective track wheels or misaligned tracks. A defect in the internal sensing circuit is another possible cause.

• Door slams shut rather than lowering gently. On a manual garage door, heavy-duty springs counteract the weight of the door to ensure smooth opening and closing. If the springs are stretched, broken or disconnected, however, the door’s weight will be excessive and the door will slam shut when manually lowered. These springs are powerful and dangerous—let a pro handle this problem. For an automatic garage door, the problem is either in the sensors on either side of the door that turn off the motor at the proper position or in a limiting adjustment typically called “Up Force” and “Down Force” found on the motor. A qualified garage door technician has the equipment and expertise to diagnose and repair or adjust the system for smooth operation.  

• Motor hums, but door doesn’t open or close. This can be narrowed to two likely causes. First, the door trolley–the chain- or screw-driven component that moves up and down the central track to open and close the door may be defective. A professional can replace the trolley as an individual component. Second, internal motor drive gears may have jammed due to wear and/or stripped entirely. Having a new garage door opener installed is usually the most cost-efficient solution.  

• Light doesn’t illuminate when door is opening or closing. First, check the bulb. If it appears to be burned out, replace it. Sometimes a circuit board problem can fail to switch on the light, too. Reset the circuit board by unplugging the garage door opener from the AC power outlet for 30 seconds, then plug it back in again. Still in the dark? Time to call for professional garage door service.

6 Tips for Making Your Garage Burglar Proof

Your garage door may represent a big gap in an effective home security strategy. Many garage doors are routinely left unsecured and older models may be of flimsy construction that’s easier for a burglar to pry or break than a solid-core front or back exterior door. Once inside an attached garage, a thief can close the door for concealment, then take his time gaining entry to the main house. Of course, since many homeowners utilize the garage as a household storage area, it often isn’t even necessary to break into the home itself to hit the jackpot. Plenty of attractive high-value items may be easily accessible in the garage alone. In some cases, thieves may even utilize your garage to back in a truck or van for extra convenience and cover while moving large valuables out of your home.

To strengthen this weak link in the chain of home security, here are six tips to make your garage burglar-proof:

• Don’t leave it open. Sure, it’s a no-brainer. But cruise through any residential neighborhood during the day and count how many garage doors you see standing wide open with nobody inside or even visible anywhere on the premises. Don’t fall for the “It can’t happen here” myth. Local law enforcement authorities can tell you that no neighborhood is immune to burglaries and theft.

• Cover the garage door windows or apply frosted window film. Don’t make it easy for thieves who want to peek into your garage to check for a vehicle parked inside—a sign that somebody’s home—or casually window-shop for valuables inside that they want to steal. Also pay attention to the status of the door leading from the garage into the house. This door should incorporate a wide-angle peephole—not a glass window—to make the garage fully visible from indoors without providing thieves with an easy break-in point and/or a way to see into the house. Also, make sure the door is fitted with a heavy deadbolt lock.  

• Select a garage door opener that incorporates “rolling code” technology. This enhanced security automatically creates a new random remote code every time you open your door with the remote control. Because there are billions of possible codes, this feature makes it almost impossible for thieves utilizing common code-grabbing devices to defeat.

• Secure the garage door emergency release handle. Thieves frequently find it easy to reach the emergency release handle and open the door from the outside using nothing more than a bent coat hanger. Securing the handle with a single zip-tie or thin string makes it much more difficult to hook from outdoors, but still easy to pull indoors in case of an emergency.

• Close and latch overnight and when you leave town. When closing up for the night or if you’re going to be away from home for an extended period, don’t rely on simply closing your door with the opener. Go ahead and utilize the interior throw latch that manually locks the garage door track, physically securing the door so it can’t be raised. Most throw latches incorporate an opening so the latch can be padlocked in the closed position for added protection against break-in when you're out of town.

• Keep up with routine maintenance. Inspect the garage door annually for wear and tear in components that may make it easy to force open or otherwise defeat. Look for signs such as rust or corrosion, a gap where the door meets the garage floor (an easy pry point for thieves) or a track that has loosened from its mounting points.

The 1, 2, 3’s of Maintaining Your Automatic Garage Door

Though it bids you goodbye when you leave and welcomes you when you return, you probably don’t give much thought to your automatic garage door opener, but it is probably the largest and heaviest piece of moving equipment in your home. Its proper maintenance is essential to the safety of your family, smooth operation, keeping your garage energy efficient, and the lifespan of the door.

Automatic garage door care and maintenance tips: As simple as 1, 2, 3…

1. CLEAN

◦ Clean the door.
 Once a year, clean the exterior of your garage door with detergent, water, and a soft sponge or cloth. Rinse it completely with a hose. Doors in saltier, coastal regions should be washed more frequently. Wooden doors may require additional care if paint or stain is worn.


◦ Clean the tracks.
 Protecting your hands with gloves, clean the horizontally and vertically mounted tracks of your automatic garage door using brake parts cleaner and a rag.


2. INSPECT

◦ Prep.
Move cars out of the garage and clear items away from the tracks before performing garage door maintenance.


◦ Visually inspect components.
 Ensure all cables, brackets, hinges, rollers, springs, and tracks are in good condition and not worn or frayed. Make sure both sides of the system are symmetrical.


◦ Listen.
 Is the door movement smooth or jerky? Quiet or loud?


◦ Note the springs.
 Your springs balance the weight of your garage door. Common types include torsion and extension springs. WARNING!! They are under high tension, and pose significant threat of severe injury or death in the event this hardware is mishandled. They can be identified by red colored bolts or a nearby safety tag and should only be adjusted by a professional technician. 


◦ Check the door balance.
 Unplug the automatic garage door opener to cut off power, then disengage the door from the opener (usually by pulling the red cord with the handle). Raise the door to waist level. Slowly release your hold. If the door raises or lowers, it is not balanced properly and needs to be adjusted by a professional.


◦ Test auto-reverse safety features.
 Safety features should be tested every few months, and every time repairs or adjustments are made. If features are not functioning properly, immediately disconnect the door and operate it manually until repairs can be made.

▪ Mechanical: Place a brick or piece of wood on the ground in the path of the door. The door should reverse immediately on contact.

▪ Photocell: Attempt to close the garage door, but wave your foot or leg in the door's path. The door should immediately reverse.

▪ Force test: Hold up the bottom of the door as it tries to close. If it doesn’t reverse immediately, the force is excessive and in need of adjustment.

▪ No safety features? Your opener is more than 20 years old, and in need of immediate replacement to prevent serious injury and property damage.


3. MAINTAIN

◦ Lubricate.
 Lubricate all hinges, springs and bearings with a non-silicon based spray lubricant. CAUTION: It’s okay to lubricate metal rollers, however you NEVER want to lubricate nylon rollers or tracks!


◦ Tighten bolts.
 These secure components of your garage door to each other, and to your home’s structure.


◦ Schedule.
 Scheduling annual professional garage door maintenance is a simple and inexpensive way to ensure the safety of your family and the lifespan of your garage door system.


◦ Be watchful.
 Always keep children, pets, and your fingers away from door joints and moving parts when your automatic garage door is in operation.

Automatic garage door have you all bent out of shape? Contact R&S Erection of Concord today to schedule your annual professional garage door maintenance inspection today!

How to Decide: Carriage House Style or Standard Garage Door

A garage door is integral to a home's curb appeal and can also affect your home's overall energy efficiency. It's a large expanse of wall so it should complement both the architectural style of your home, as well as the home's surroundings. If you are in the market for a new garage doors, you may be deciding between two of the most popular garage door designs: carriage house or standard garage doors.

Carriage House or Standard Garage Doors: Which Style is Right For Your Home?

Before we continue, lets review garage door style basics.

Carriage Style Garage Doors. These garage doors are very traditional - even historic - in their appearance. Before the advent of the car, households that could afford a carriage typically had a carriage house - often as part of the barn. These doors had to be wide enough to accommodate both carriage and horses, so they were substantial in size. Their exterior facade was designed in accordance with architectural styles of the time, often including beautiful woodwork using recessed or raised-panel designs. Originally constructed using solid wood, modern, carriage house garage doors are now available in aluminum, steel, fiberglass and wood options.

Standard Garage Doors. Once cars outnumbered carriages, carriage house door manufacturers quickly began designing a different kind of exterior door, one that could accommodate automobiles. Since the era of "every household has a car" didn't commence until later in the 20th century, wood garage doors became a high-end option within a few decades, replaced by more affordable and longer-lasting standard garage door options, like aluminum, fiberglass and steel. They are typically made to replicate wood doors - using raised-panel or stamped designs as well.

So, which one is right for your home? In order to answer that, we have a few more questions for you:

1. What's your architectural and neighborhood style? If you live in a historic neighborhood or a high-end neighborhood with a fair amount of traditional design elements, a carriage house style garage door might be for you. They work best with traditional and transitional exterior facades. If you home is modern, you will probably want to stick with a standard garage door style, or a flat panel, solid wood carriage house option that will blend better with the streamlined exterior of your home.

2. What's your personal preference? Do you like the idea of a classic garage door that replicates a carriage house door? There are so many styles to choose from that you are bound to find one that will work with your architecture. Your garage door sales team will work with you to find the door that looks best.

3. Do you prefer a rolling steel door? Rolling steel doors may not be as aesthetically pleasing as their carriage door or raised-panel standard counterparts, but they are the toughest and lowest-maintenance doors on the market. If you like the idea of a rolling steel door, odds are you'll steer away from carriage house door options.

4. What is your budget? The good news is that about 88% of the cost of a new garage door can be recouped when you sell your home. Typically, carriage house garage doors are more expensive than standard garage door options. The average cost for a 16-foot by 7-foot double garage door ranges anywhere from $750 to $3000+ dollars, so the spread is pretty big. Standard doors are on the lower end of the spectrum while a solid wood carriage house door will be on the higher end. Your garage door vendor will be happy to price multiple options so you can choose the one that best fits your budget.

Fire Doors 101

If you're expanding your business, growing your business or are constructing a new building for your business - you may not be familiar with fire doors, how they work, or the fact that building codes require them for virtually every commercial and/or multi-use building.

Fire Doors 101: What Are They?

Fire doors are just one element of a full-scale fire protection system. The full system includes additional fire barriers, including specially treated walls, ceilings and floors. Fire systems prevent the spread of fire and smoke from one area of a building to another or, at the very least, significantly slows their spread so occupants have time to safely exit the building.

Fire doors are legally required as per the International Building Code (IBC) and International Fire Code (IFC) when your building:

• Contains a door that has an "Exit" sign over or around it.

• Where a door leads to an area where flammable or hazardous materials are stored.

• If a door leads to a stairwell or a horizontal exit.

• When a door leads to a hallway or from one completely enclosed room to another.

If you aren't sure whether or not your current business or building is compliant with current fire system regulations, you can contact your local building department and schedule an appointment with a building official.

What Are Fire Doors Made From?

When most people think of fire doors, they imagine boring or plain-Jane commercial doors. In fact, fire doors can have attractive, solid wood facades. The important factor is typically what's inside the door layers. Modern fire doors are built using a combination of materials, including steel, gypsum, wood, vermiculite and/or wire-mesh glass. There are many different types of fire doors and fire door styles. Fire doors can also be purchased via different "Ratings."

What Are Fire Door Ratings?

Fire doors are broken down into categories or "ratings" based on how long their fire/smoke protection should last in the event of a fire. These ratings are as follows:

• 3 Hours: These doors are required for areas that are installed in walls that separate two buildings, or walls that divide a single building into separate, designated fire areas.

• 1.5 Hours: Doors with this rating are designed for areas that open into stairwells or elevators, where an exit occurs via vertical movement. They are also used for doors installed in exterior walls that are considered to have a severe fire exposure from the outside of the building.

• 1 Hour. 1-Hour doors are used to divide occupancies in a building.

• 3/4 Hour (45 minutes). Doors designed to withstand 45 minutes-worth of fire and/or smoke infiltration should be installed where there are openings in corridors, in between room partitions or a door on an exterior wall considered to have moderate to low risk of exterior fire potential.

• 1/3 Hour (20 minutes). Yes! It even gets this specific. The 1/3 hour door has more to do with smoke than fire, and they are installed in corridors where draft and smoke control is required, and where the walls have a fire rating of at least one hour.

Your local building department and/or fire inspector will be able to let you know which doors you need to install where.

One of the most common fire door citations is for companies who have propped open or otherwise tampered with a fire door to keep it open during working hours. This is a big no-no. If you have a fire door that you know will remain open, install a device that automatically releases when the fire alarm is activated (such as an electromagnetic hold open device).

Flush Mount vs. Surface Mount Traffic Spikes

Traffic spikes have many applications, though they may go by a number of names over different times and places. They have been called spike strips, tire shredders, and a variety of other nicknames, but, at base, these devices are an extremely effective way to manage automobile traffic. Although your options include both surface and flush mount spikes, both rely upon long metal barbs, teeth, or upward-pointing spikes to puncture tires and thus impede or halt wheeled vehicles. This makes traffic control spikes an ideal way to direct and control traffic in controlled areas.

Spiking Traffic

Much of the effectiveness for traffic control spikes comes down to their barbs and placement in specific areas. Although they may be either solid or hollow, the barbs are designed to flatten tires when driven over. Hollow barbs, in particular, will embed themselves in tires and so minimize risks for drivers by maintaining a steady pace of air leakage. In terms of the benefits, these devices mainly prevent automobiles and other wheeled vehicles from moving in the wrong direction, especially in one-way traffic lanes or locations. Doing so, though, prevents the many accidents and other issues that could result from such difficult situations.

Surface Control

When you imagine traffic control spikes in your mind, you are likely picturing the more basic surface mount spike strips. Surface mount units combine torsion springs with built-in speed bumps that incorporate bright yellow diamonds for greater visibility. Installation is relatively simple, with the following fundamental steps:

• Plan and prepare the best location for installation based on your specific traffic needs, being sure to order the right number of sections.
• Then, apply epoxy to the necessary sections before adhering them to your chosen asphalt and concrete surfaces in the areas where traffic is to be controlled.

These generally come in 3-foot sections of lock-down spikes that are combined to cover the needed area, with end caps for smooth transitions from such spiked sections.

Ground Control

While they share many of the same features as surface mount ones, flush mount control spikes are in-ground units that sit flush with the ground and so require some excavation. Fundamentally, this kind relies on individual spring-loaded barbs to manage traffic, with the possibility for spring retraction through stainless steel springs, weighted retraction via weight spikes, and lock-down capability, as well. Flush mount spikes are ideal for more permanent installations, but the process is relatively more complex, as it requires a bit more planning before excavation, drainage, and installation of concrete. Such units should be painted bright red for high visibility to vehicle drivers, and speed bumps also have to be installed alongside them to ensure speed control and safe passage of wheeled vehicles.

Both kinds of traffic control spikes require many warning signs to ensure that vehicle drivers are well aware of their presence and of the general flow of traffic, especially in one-way lanes and other special conditions. Similarly, both entail certain risks, especially for use by police who often deploy traffic spikes in high-danger situations. Yet, such use of traffic control spikes has led to innovation, with the creation of remotely deployable units, strips built into parking barriers, and other inventions. More importantly, the overall benefits more than warrant the necessary additions to your controlled locations as surface and flush mount spikes both so effectively and reliably ensure easy management and safe speed for vehicular traffic.