Your Garage Door Repair Troubleshooting Guide

When they work, they're wonderful; when they don't, it's time for garage door repair. If you're lucky, it's just a simple matter of making a few adjustments or doing a little maintenance. This troubleshooting guide will show you how to do it, and maybe even save you from calling the garage door repair folks.

How do you know when it's time to look into garage door repair? It's pretty easy to tell - You hit the remote. Nothing happens. Or, something does happen but it's not what you wanted. The thing creaks open painfully, hanging halfway off the house, and threatens to fall off at any moment!

Garage door repair is a part of your maintenance routine. Like every other part of the house, it sometimes doesn't work, and that's when it's time to get it fixed.

Don't Despair - It May Be The Remote

Before you give up hope, tinker with things a little and see if it isn't just your remote. Buying a new remote is much nicer on your finances than getting new doors. You can try opening it manually with the switch usually located inside. This switch is usually located by the door that leads into the house. 

You may be surprised to find out that this is the most common garage door repair problem. Before you head to your local dealer to buy a new remote, try cleaning off the sensors. Your control box (the little thing that sits on the ceiling) should have "eyes" that detect the remote's transmissions. Wipe them clean with a rag. While you're up there, make sure all the wires are securely fastened.

If the wall switch won't open it, that means you've got no juice. Make sure everything's plugged in and check the circuit breaker and fuses.

It Moves But Stops Before It Hits The Ground

Your doors have a great safety feature that keeps you or your loved ones from getting squashed under their tremendous weight. If your doors are closing, but stopping somewhere along the way and then heading back up, this means that you've got this safety feature set wrong.

You might want to break out the instruction manual and look up the "limit switch." There should be a switch somewhere on the box that allows you to control where the doors stop. Set this closer to the ground and it should work properly.

You should also check for obstructions. If there's something on the tracks, even something tiny, it could be hitting that and stopping.

The Door Is Just Plain Ol' Messed Up

If your door doesn't open (and it's not electrical), or if it opens slowly or unevenly, you may have a torsion spring problem. Over the top of your door you've got a torsion spring system. The torsion turn lift drums and wind cables that lift the heavy doors off the ground. 

You can fix your torsion spring system yourself but it is very dangerous. I don't mean to scare you, but it could be deadly. The reason is that these springs, in order to lift such a heavy piece of house, are under an incredible amount of tension. If one should break, it could cause serious injury or even death. For a job like this, you might want to leave it to a garage door repair specialist.

"I Give Up!"

If you're in over your head and the stupid thing just won't open no matter what, it's better to contact a garage door repair specialist. They've got years of experience with garage door repair, as well as the tools to get the job done right. It costs a little change, but it gets the job done and you can be sure it'll work the way it's supposed to.

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