We’ve all experienced that moment when the garage door just can’t open or close. And for some reason, this often happens when you’re running late or pressed for time. Since the garage door is the most common entrance in many homes, this malfunction can be frustrating and quite an inconvenience, and you need to diagnose it as soon as possible.
A garage door is bound to experience various functional issues every once in a while. Most garage door malfunctions happen in winter when power outages are most common. Homeowners in Michigan cities such as Troy, Ann Arbor, Canton, and Ypsilanti are all well aware of these problems. You can easily remedy some of these issues yourself, however, there’re others such as garage door opener installation and garage door spring replacement will need professional assistance.
In this article, we will go through the five most common reasons why your garage door is not opening or closing. Let’s take a look.
1. Broken Garage Door extension or torsion springs
If the motor is running but your garage isn’t opening, the problem might be with your springs. Broken garage door springs is one of the most common reasons homeowners hire garage door repair experts. Each garage door is typically guided by torsion springs running horizontally over the door width and extension springs that lower and lift the door along its tracks.
Each garage door spring is rated based on the maximum number of cycles it can handle. After the spring exhausts its max cycles, it should be replaced. Using the spring beyond its cycles can increase its chances of snapping abruptly in the middle of the movement, although the spring can also snap before the expiration of the cycles. Either way, if the spring breaks, you might hear a loud bang, and the door will not come up again. If that happens, don’t attempt to activate, open, fix or even handle the broken spring as it can be very dangerous. Get in touch with garage door repair experts immediately for help with broken garage door spring replacement or repair.
2. Snapped Garage Door Cables
The cables aligned to each tension spring work to physically bring the door up and down. Once the tension springs snap, the cables are responsible for holding the door from slamming into the ground. Without the cables, the entire weight of the garage door will crush anything in its path –it could be a pet, a kid, or the hood of your car. Unfortunately, the cables won’t last long once the springs have snapped. So if the tension springs snap, you should close the door and don’t open it again, since this might lead to cables snapping too. Always call a specialist to handle any issues to do with garage door springs and cables.
3. The Door Is Off Its Track
If the door is misaligned or off track, it obviously won’t slide properly. Check the track for bumps, gaps, bends, and obstacles and listen to the door as it moves. If you feel any areas of friction that make the door to slow down or get stuck or hear any squeaks, that is a sign your door needs some fixing. If you locate a track section that is misaligned, loosen the screws holding the track to the frame a little and gently tap the track into the right position.
4. Garage Door Photo-Eye Blocked
A photo-eye is essentially a safety feature that prevents your garage door from closing when there is something under it. Each door has two sensors on either side, and they send a beam to each other. If that beam is blocked or interrupted, the door will stop closing and reverse. Sometimes dust or dirt might obscure the lenses, so you need to keep your sensors clean at all times. Other times the sensors might be a bit too sensitive; check to ensure that there isn’t something on the ground that’s blocking the lenses.
5. Garage Door Remote Not Working
A faulty remote often goes unnoticed, however, of your garage door responds to the keypads and not your remote, chances are your remote is the problem. But first, make sure that you’re within range when trying to operate your garage door using your remote. Sometimes your garage door remote’s batteries might be drained and that’s why it’s not responding. Replacing your remote batteries is a quick fix that you can do yourself.
Conclusion
As shown above, your garage door can fail to open or close for a number of reasons. If you’re not sure about what the problem with your garage door is, it’s vital that you call a garage door repair professional to help you troubleshoot the issue. If you identify complex issues such as broken garage door spring or a faulty garage door opener, you should also request professional assistance from garage door repair professionals.