How Much is a Bad Garage Door Really Costing Your Business?
When your commercial garage door starts to fail, you start to wonder how much a new door would cost your company. However, you should also consider how much the old door is currently costing you.
The commercial garage door is often the unsung hero of any business. When it does its job properly, you never give it a second thought. It uneventfully opens and closes with the push of a button, while it keeps your business perfectly climate-controlled and safe.
But, when something goes wrong, it’s immediately disruptive. Replacing the door could be a major expense, which leads to many business owners putting it off until it’s absolutely necessary. However, here are three subtle ways that garage door problems are costing your business more than you think.
Health and Safety Problems
A damaged garage door is more than an inconvenience, it’s actually a major hazard. The workplace injuries sustained from a malfunctioning garage door may not be frequent, but they can be serious and costly.
Workplace injuries can be extremely expensive for businesses in any sector, with the costs for employee compensation averaging $36.32 per hour worked.
Energy Consumption
Your commercial garage door opener doesn’t use a noticeable amount of energy. However, one of its main jobs is to form a tight seal so that your climate control doesn’t have to work too hard. Any sort of leak around your door can slowly drain you of hundreds of dollars per month in energy bills.
This waste can easily be avoided by repairing the door or the weather sealing around the door.
Site Downtime
It can be hard to quantify exactly how much downtime may cost your company. It varies depending on the sector you work in and the size of your operation. However, just hearing the word “downtime” is enough to make business owners in any sector shudder.
If you want to estimate how much money downtime is costing you, click here to try a free Downtime Calculator. There are also a number of soft costs that go with equipment downtime that may include:
- Frustrated workers and a drop in employee morale
- A rush to catch up, which could lead to a reduction in the quality of work or increase in employee injuries
These costs can be avoided by contacting a company that specializes in commercial garage door repair and install services at the first signs of trouble. You can often fix a small issue before it becomes a major problem if you catch it soon enough.
The most common issues with commercial garage doors include:
- Opening immediately after (or before) closing
- Failure to lower completely
- Being unresponsive to the sensor or remote
- Falling shut instead of closing gradually
- Jerky movement or “sticking” when opening or closing
- New/loud noises when opening or closing
Most of these issues can be fixed by a trained technician, who may simply have to replace, clean or lubricate certain parts. You can also get more life out of your overhead door with a bit of preventative maintenance and making sure the door is inspected at least once per year.