A-1 Overhead Garage Door - How to hang Christmas lights on your garage door

When hanging holiday lights around your garage door, stay safe and protect your home by using hooks and clips designed for the task. Follow basic safety tips for a worry-free holiday.

Don’t staple or nail to the trim

If you plan to attach lights directly to the trim, avoid using metal fasteners like staples or nails. They can damage insulation around the wiring, which can cause lights to fail and pose a fire and electrocution hazard.

Instead of attaching lights to the trim, use hooks and clips where the lights will hang. Gutter and roof clips that are either pressed or nailed to the exterior of the home, not the trim, have a hook at the bottom that holds the string.

Clips for vertical lights

For lights hung vertically – along the sides of garage doors, for instance – look for trim clips that wrap around the cord and hold it in place. You can nail them in or attach them with an adhesive. Nailed clips are usually more secure.

Space the clips about one foot apart. If you have an elaborate design above the garage, consider hanging lights from the top down. Otherwise, begin on one side of the garage and work your way around.

Safety ideas for Christmas lights

Enlist a helper to hold the string of lights and keep it untangled. Place the cord in the hook or clip securely, making sure there’s no potential for damaging the insulation or bulbs. Experts recommend connecting no more than three strings of lights end-to-end.

Once the lights are hung, plug them in and enjoy your hard work. If a string does not work, check the bulbs again and make sure strings are connected securely.

Don’t use nail-in hooks on garage door

Don’t try to attach nail-in hooks to the garage door panels. This will damage the panel and won’t hold the lights very well. If you do damage a panel while hanging lights, look for a company that repairs single panels.

Consider a professional or handyman

Too much work? Consider hiring a professional holiday decorator to make you garage door, entryway and other areas of your home more festive. Or look into having a handyman put up your decorations.

http://www.ocregister.com/2015/12/01/how-to-hang-christmas-lights-on-your-garage-door/

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How to Open a Frozen Garage Door

When a cold snap brings the temperatures below freezing overnight, rain and wind can be the worst enemy of your garage door. If the water gathers under the rubber seal at the bottom of your garage door and freezes, the door could get stuck, preventing you from getting your car out of the garage in the morning. Since the inside of your garage, even if it's uninsulated, is usually warmer than the outside and protected from wind, you probably don't have too much ice to get rid of to open your frozen garage door.

1

Pull the emergency release cord to allow you to manually open your door. This usually has a red plastic handle and hangs in the center of the door assembly near the door. Trying to open the door with the automatic garage door opener can burn out the motor of the device or strip its gears when it can't release the door from the ice.

2

Pull up on the garage door to see if the leverage you provide is strong enough to break the ice seal.

3

Go outside and scrape ice from between the bottom of the door and the concrete using an ice scraper. This easily breaks up thin ice and can unstick your door.

4

Aim a heat gun at the bottom of the garage door, moving along the entire edge. It might take a little while to slowly heat the bottom of the garage door and melt the ice, but it melts it safely without damaging the door.

Things You Will Need

• Ice scraper
• Heat gun
• Hot water

Tips

• If you're in a hurry to get the garage door unfrozen, pour hot water along the edge of the garage door. This works quickly to unfreeze the door, but it adds additional liquid that can freeze, creating a hazardous and slippery area.
• If it's safe to do so, leave your garage door open enough so that the sunlight melts ice and evaporates remaining water under the garage door before closing it again.
• Spray the tracks of your garage door unit with a silicone spray to help the door move smoother, which might make it easier to pull open when the door is frozen shut.

source: http://homeguides.sfgate.com/open-frozen-garage-door-25406.html

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