Childproofing Your Garage

Childproof Your Garage Most new parents make the effort to create a safe environment for their children in the house, but often they don’t extend that effort into the garage. That’s a mistake, because it’s hard to keep kids away from the garage, and what they can find there could very dangerous indeed. Here are some tips to reduce any threats posed to children in your garage.

• Put a lock on the door from the house to the garage to keep children from wandering into the garage without your knowledge.

• Store toxic and flammable substances (including matches), power tools and sharp hand tools well out of a child’s reach, preferably in a locked cabinet.

• Check the sensitivity of the “contact reverse” feature of your electric garage door opener several times per year. Place a 2x4 flat in the doorway. Close the door with the wall control. If the door does not reverse (that is, start to open) after contacting the 2x4, decrease the “close” force on the opener and try again.

• Make sure the wall control for the garage door opener is installed high enough that it can’t be reached by young children.