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Although having a good garage door offers some level of security, many people are often worried about how strong or secure their garage door would be against an external force. More often than not, there have been several reports from different individuals about their garage doors being broken and their homes burgled.
Yes. You can break a garage door with a jackhammer. As long as you apply proper force to the right places, you will have no problem breaking your garage door with this tool.
Jackhammers are handy tools used for performing different tasks such as breaking hard rocks, heavy metals, and a host of other things. Since it can be used to break much heavier and thicker objects, you can easily break your garage door with this tool.
This tool is a very powerful tool used by different people across different industries. Miners around the world use this tool to break earth and rocks. Architects and other engineers also make use of this tool.
While a demolition jackhammer uses up to 1000 watts during its operation, you must know that it generates up to 1900 impact per minute. It can be a pretty difficult tool to handle. However, it has enough power to demolish the hardest rocks and metals.
Apart from breaking rocks and iron, you can use a jackhammer to drill holes in concrete. In terms of force, Jackhammers generate as much as 20ft/lbs to 60ft/lbs.
The strength and type of garage door you use are also among the things that determine the ease at which you can break your garage door using a jackhammer. If you use a wooden garage door, you would have no problem breaking the door with a jackhammer, as such doors are not as strong as iron doors. On the other hand, if you use a thick metal iron garage door, you will encounter some difficulties in breaking the door.
Before you proceed to use a jackhammer to break your garage door, you must know that you will be doing the door more harm than good. You will render the garage door useless when you begin to use such tools to break or open your garage door. This will necessitate you getting and installing a new garage door as the broken one will be irreparable.
There are other alternative methods to break open your garage door such as using the manual opening method and a lot more. These methods will save you time, and prevent the garage door from getting ruined or destroyed in the process.
What Are the Factors that Affect the Success of Breaking a Garage Door with a Jackhammer?
While it is possible to break your garage door with a jackhammer, you must know that several factors influence the success of such an act. Here are some of the factors you should consider below.
1. Angle and Force of Impact
This is the first thing you must consider if you want to successfully break open your garage door with a jackhammer. The angle you target on the garage door goes a very long way in determining how successful you will be at breaking the door.
You must take your time to concentrate the angle or force of impact on the weakest parts of the garage door. Go for the locks holding the door. If you can successfully break the locks on either side of the garage door, you will find it easy to open the garage door.
On the other hand, if you use an automatic garage door without locks on either side, you should target the rails or tracks of the garage door. If you can successfully break open the rails or tracks on either side, your garage door will fall off immediately.
Before you do this, you must know that you will need to get a new rail, track, or garage door, as using a jackhammer will destroy them beyond repair.
2. The Age and Condition of the Garage Door
The age and condition of your garage door are among the important factors that determine the success of using a jackhammer to break your garage door. If your garage door is new, you will find it difficult to break using a jackhammer, especially if the garage door is made of heavy metals.
On the other hand, if your garage door is older than 5 to 7 years, it will be relatively easy to break the door open. If you use a metal garage door, you can concentrate and focus the impact of the jackhammer on the rusted parts (if there are any) of the door. It is much easier for a wooden door as you do not need a jackhammer to break it open.
How to Reinforce a Garage Door against a Jackhammer
Now that you know the factors that influence the success of using a jackhammer for a garage door, you might be wondering about the possible things you can do to reinforce your garage door and prevent the likelihood of a jackhammer breaking it open.
There are different things you can do to reduce the likelihood of a jackhammer wreaking your garage door. Here is a list of possible things below.
- Keep your garage and garage door visible to outsiders
- Fix metal horizontal trusses on the door
- Install a garage door camera or motion sensor
- Once you do any of the above, you reduce the chances of thieves or burglars using a jackhammer to break your garage door.
What Are the Possible Consequences of Using a Jackhammer on a Garage Door?
There are several consequences to using a jackhammer on a garage door. Here are some of the consequences below.
1. Damage to Garage Door and Surrounding Structure
When it comes to using a jackhammer to break open a garage door, the first thing you should consider is the damage you can cause to the garage door and surrounding structure. Using a jackhammer on your garage door will most likely cause irreparable damage to the garage door.
When you use a jackhammer to drill different parts of the door, you will have to get a new garage door. This is an extra expense. Most people who used jackhammers to break open their garage doors had to change the garage doors as they were no longer useable or repairable.
Apart from the damage to the garage door, you must also worry and look out for the possible damage the jackhammer can do to the surroundings of the garage door. If you have to break the rails, you must also get new tracks along with the garage door.
2. Potential of Injury to the Users and Passersby
Another downside to using a jackhammer to break a garage door is the potential injury it can cause to the users and passersby. More often than not, there have been several reports of different people getting injured from using a jackhammer.
Jackhammers are powerful tools that can cause serious injuries to users if it isn’t handled with care. If you are not used to operating a jackhammer, you can inflict serious injuries on yourself when you try to use it to open your garage door.
Apart from injuries to yourself, you also have to worry about potential injuries to passersby. If onlookers are standing close to your garage door, you can inflict injuries on them when using the jackhammer to open your garage door.
3. Legal Implications
This is another thing you need to worry about if you want to break open the garage door with a jackhammer. Several states frown on using such tools in residential areas. If you use such tools in residential areas, you will have to face the law.
Different people have served different punishments ranging from fines to community service, and a lot more. These punishments were a result of using a heavy noise tool such as a jackhammer in public. There are also safety rules for using such tools, and you can face legal implications if you are found guilty of breaking such rules.
Conclusion
Although you can break a garage door with a jackhammer, you must know that it largely depends on the strength and quality of your garage door. You must concentrate your efforts on specific aspects of the garage door to break it open.
You must also know that you cannot use the garage door once you break it with a jackhammer. This is because using such a tool will render the garage door irreparable.
There are other alternative methods you can use to break open your garage door such as the manual method or calling an expert. This will save you more time, energy, and money, as you wouldn’t have to worry about changing or getting a new garage door.
