It is bound to happen----that sellers and repair persons and I are not always going to see “eye-to-eye” about the things I find wrong in the homes I inspect. How could it be otherwise, they have one agenda and I have another----it is an a The other day when inspecting a newer automatic garage door opener, I noticed that the sensor beams were not where they should be. You have probably seen these devices with the little red and green lights mounted near the floor at the bottom of the door track that are designed to extend the lives of the nation’s ever growing population of cats. If a cat were to lie in the sun in the doorway, the door would not operate because the sensor beam would be interrupted by the warm body of the cat. The same would hold true for a dog, a child or Billy Bob passed out at 3am in the morning. These things function because they have to see “eye-to-eye” in order for the door to function----unlike homeowners and inspectors. This homeowner or handyman came up with a way (which I see about 3 times a year) that guarantees the sensors will see eye-to-eye. In this case the cat is NOT going to be happy----and neither is the inspector----whom cats seem to like a lot. Charles Buell
lmost naturally adversarial relationship. I have to say though, that I rarely hear much from either----sometimes I do through the agent on the other side----but really, quite rarely given the number of houses I inspect and the number of opportunities for me to find things wrong that they MUST not think are wrong----or why would they have done them that way?
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That's very funny. Thanks for sharing.
OMG - Charlie - that is one of the funniest things I have ever seen. Do you REALLY see this that often???? I have never seen it! LOL
I thought I was reading a Russel Ray blog after seeing the cat, but that's definitely not Zoey.
Enjoyed the good read, thanks. However, Billy Bob's beer gut, should at least cause the door to have its safety reverse function, without too much pain.
Jamey---yup, pretty funny
Courtney, believe-it-or-not---yes
Joshua---very good point. I think that is the first time I have ever posted a picture of a cat---on second thought I did repost one of Steve Smith's cats with Nutsy the squirrels head on it :)
I hate cats, but they all love me. They always go straight for the person who wants nothing to do with them.
As for the sensor, ours gets blocked by dust sometimes, and it's annoying. I wish I had thought of putting them right in front of each other!!
ohh... my mind almost immediately goes to that dark place.... "insurance".
I can just imagine some tragedy. And once the insurance company does their inspection, they disallow any payment, and in fact send law enforcement after the handyman for violating installation instructions and endangering the well being of his family and any neighborood children or pets...
Ohh... I get goose-flesh just thinkin' about it.
(Idjit)
Charles, I can't believe that. I'm thinking about so many things that could go wrong too. Do the people that do this really get it?
Charles, that does not look like a happy, friendly kitty in the photo!
Donna, there might be some liability with doing that:)
Alan, as does mine.
Suan---not likely
Ralph, some of them run and hide---other do want to get right in there with you---cool picture:)
Patricia---the kitty just was not very photogenic---he was very friendly and its motor was running like crazy.
Charlie - I have one for you. My garage door won't go down depending on the time of day. After backing out of the garage I actuallyhave to maneuver my car to a spot where it will provide shade to the sensor located near the floor. I suppose this just requires some adjusting, but since it always slips our mind it's now second nature.
I guess the guy thought that the mechanical auto-reverse was all he really needed. Hope it is adjusted properly. I can just see broken bones on a child before the door reverses.
Carol I could see where a really bright light/reflection might confuse the beam----some sort of shield around the beam might help.
David I love it when Billy Bob is passed out in the door way the door just keeps slamming down on top of him---never quite reversing:)
Charles, I am still in shock that you see this as often as you do. Poor ol' Billy Bob!
Charles, speaking of cats, have you seen mine. She has evidently run away for a better home life or some better food or something used her for food. It's sad to look out the door and not see the little cat that we'd grown fond of.
Amy, it still shocks me as well.
Barbara, haven't seen around here----you better put Nutso on the case:)
LOL. Yeah that guy definitely doesn't like cats! Probably doesn't like little kids either ;) I love cats - other people's cats. I have enough little boys running around my house that I don't need anything shedding or creating a bigger mess for me.
You got me with this title! :) It looks like that little cat is clutching the spread in his purring frenzy -- guess he likes you. And it would never have occurred to me to rig the door like that -- thanks for the heads up! What about the nice crunch when Billy Bob parks his truck a little too far from the wall, too?
Mr Charles,
I bet your pardon buth that is NOT the cats fault.
Nutsy
Marian, I always had a bunch of kids around, and never wanted to add pets into the mix either----sure made it easier to just pick up and go away whenever without figuring out what to do with the pets.
Shoshana, that is exactly what the little guy was doing
Nutsy----yup
Charles, I'm sure you shake your head all the time when you see some of the things people do to booby trap their home, and not always intentionally.
One of the scariest things I see is when people paint their window sills and then the windows won't open. Horrible fire hazard.
Jenny, I am sure that most of the time this kind of thing just happens out of ingnorance as to how things are supposed to work and why.
Charlie,
If you want a few cats, I know where you can get them.
An interesting concept. That might just as well clipped the sensors for all the good they are doing up their. Perhaps they were trying to protect their cats eyes.
Steve, thanks---but we are already planning on Turkey:)
Charles----just connecting the wires together would have worked as well:)
Maybe people are dumber around here. I see that about twice a month!
Reuben, the thing that always confounds me about these installations is why they don't simply run a short piece of wire across the screws on the opener itself rather than go to all the work of setting up these configurations?
I've wondered the same thing, but I've seen it done so many times that I'm guessing the short-circuit wire doesn't work. Have you tried this yourself?
Haven't tried it----if I had a garage door I would just to see:) You try it on yours----let me know:)