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Prepare for Storms With Garage Door Bottom Seals and Garage Door Thresholds

Preparing for incoming; the 10 Keeps

Ice storms, tornadoes, severe thunderstorms and hurricanes can cause complete destruction to power systems all over the country. It takes time to clear away debris, deliver new poles transformers and equipment to recover the system. Even with the advanced equipment, it could be days before some get there power back online. So if a storm is coming your way, take heed of the following keeps:

Keep your house sealed tight. Make sure your windows, doors and garage doors are locked and sealed. Check your garage door bottom or threshold seals and ensure that wind or water cannot flood in.

Keep up to date with current weather conditions. Understanding the terminology that goes with weather warnings and conditions is also important.

Keep an updated personal list of emergency phone numbers. It’s hard to remember these when faced with a crisis. Believe you me!

Keep the fridge and freezer set to the lowest temperature setting. In a power cut, your food will remain stored and edible for a longer period.

Keep enough food in the house. Make a plan on how you and your family will survive in the event of a storm. If there’s a power cut or it’s dangerous to venture out, you won’t be able to replenish your groceries or visit restaurants.  Also, if you have a barbeque or a gas grill in your garden, be sure to keep spare gas cylinders for cooking.

Keep alternative heating systems. Like gas for example.  If it’s winter and the electric power’s down, you may not be able to sufficiently heat your house. Make sure your house is insulated properly. Uninsulated garages, doors and windows will make your house colder quicker.

Keep water in your bathtub. During a power cut, the electric pumps that distribute water around the house will not work for flushing toilets etc. So make sure the bath is filled.

Keep car fuelled up in the garage. It might be necessary for you relocate at short notice. Fuel stations maybe without power too.

Keep your laptop and mobile phones fully charged. You might need these for additional methods of communication.

Keep extra batteries for extra appliances.

Items to keep handy:

Flashlights and torches. Have these handy for each member of the family.

Battery-powered radio. You’ll need these to listen to the latest weather reports.

Candles and matches. Use these with caution, especially when children are present.

Fully charged mobile phone. Use this to contact authorities and services or check for latest updates and reports.

Drinking water containers.  It will be necessary prepare drinking water when

taps and faucets are not working.

 Long-life food.  Long life milk and food is always useful. Especially when there’s a power cut.

Manual can opener.

Cash . ATMs and bank machines may not be working, keep cash handy just in case.

Doors

Learn how to manually open all auto-doors or gates. Garage doors are usually remote control operated, so when the power is down the doors won’t work.  When manually closing the doors, make sure the bottom of the garage door makes contact with the threshold seal which is usually set horizontally along the threshold of the garage.

About the Author

For information on garage door bottom seals visit the Garage Accessories R Us Website. A range of products can be ordered online which includes items like garage door threshold and other car and garage accessories that could help you further prepare for those incoming storms.

What to do when my dog runs out the door?

My rescue dog is still in training. But, I am confused about this one. He has this problem that when the door opens he bolts. But, when we call him to come back, he does. Do I reward him for coming when called? Or get mad at him for leaving? He is still learning his training.

Yes, reward him A LOT when he comes back to you. Some people accidentally 'untrain' their dogs regarding the coming when called command. Their dog is running off, or did something bad, so they call the dog to them- then punish the dog for doing whatever it had done wrong. All that does is teach the dog that when he comes to you, he gets punished. In your situation, you just have to devote a little training in this particular area. Does he know 'sit' & 'stay' yet? If so, put a leash on him, & bring him to the door. Tell him to sit. Give a treat & 'good boy sit'. Then say 'stay', & walk towards the door. When he stays, give another treat. Do this a bunch of times without even opening the door, so that it's totally mundane routine for him to sit & stay while you walk up to the door. Reward him tons each time. Then move on to 'phase 2', which would be 'sit', 'stay', then you open the door JUST A LITTLE. When he stays seated, even for a second, give him a treat & 'good boy stay'. (You can tell when he's about to bolt I'm sure- so timing is everything). Eventually he will be staying longer & longer with the door open & you can postpone giving the treat for longer times of him staying. Gradually move up to opening the door wide open with him staying seated. Treats & tons of praise each time. Then you can get a 'helper' to ring the doorbell while he stays, & then while you open the door for your helper. Another good practice on this is to make sure your dog sits & waits for your 'ok' before you go out the door together, letting you go first. If you are consistent, this works

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