Selecting the RIGHT garage door dealer
Safety: A Primary Concern
There are thousands of door dealers in the business today.
What can you do to assure yourself of selecting the right one?
We’ve provided these five checkpoints for you to use:
- Experience
- Workmanship
- Code and Regulatory Compliance
- Insurance Coverage
- Financial Integrity
A garage door is often the largest moving object in a home or commercial business facility. An improperly installed door and operator system can exert tremendous force when the door closes. This could lead to the entrapment of children or adults and subsequent injury- or worse. Therefore, selecting the right person to install and service your door and/or operator is an extremely serious decision. It is not one that should be taken lightly!
Workmanship
This may be the most important checkpoint. And it is also
very easy to verify. Does the door dealer have satisfied customers? If so, do
they have letters of recommendation from their customers? Depending on the
project, you may want to talk to a customer or two.
Experience
Of all the five checkpoints, this is perhaps the easiest to
validate. How long has the company been in business? If a new company, do the
principals have experience in the door and operator industry? How much?
Code and Regulatory Compliance
There are numerous requirements pertaining to safety and
the installation of a garage door system. Federal state and local codes and
regulations must be followed. Ask the dealer you select about how they comply
with the codes in your city.
Insurance Coverage
It is important to you that the door dealer carry proper
insurance on their business and employees. One checkpoint is to ask for a copy
of the company’s Certificate of Insurance. If they don’t have one or hesitate to
comply with your request, it could be a negative signal.
Financial Integrity
Depending on the size of your project, financial integrity
of a door dealer can be very important. Although this is a sensitive issue, a
dependable, honest door dealer won’t mind telling you about the basic financial
integrity of their company.
Selecting a Door Dealer Professional:
There are a variety of sources you can turn to purchase or
obtain service for garage door products, the most popular of which is the door
dealer professional, such as an International Door Association (IDA) Dealer. IDA
Garage door dealers are often the most reliable and dependable source for
several reasons. These include experience, knowledge and-most importantly- the
fact that IDA Dealers make their living selling, installing and servicing door
systems.
Selecting the right door dealer is as simple as asking a
few questions. The most important deals with the issue of reliability. Is the
dealer dependable, trustworthy, and safety-conscious? These questions take only
moments to answer, and yet they can help you avoid tremendous problems in the
future.


