If you’re like many Central Indiana commuters, you may feel a sense of smugness as you exit your garage and drive to work in your warm, dry, clean car. Other, snow-covered vehicles look like they’ve been dug out of an avalanche. That’s the advantage of private garage parking, especially in a region that gets extreme winter weather.
There’s really only one disadvantage to garage parking. What if the garage door won’t open?
The garage door doesn’t open as you’re preparing to leave. This only happens when you’re already running late. And if it won’t open when you’re returning home, Murphy’s law says it’s likely freezing rain is accumulating on your windshield faster than your wipers can keep up.
When Your Garage Door Won’t Open: Think Before You Act
The numbers are too high.
A stunning 30,000 garage door accidents injure people every year. There are far too many fatalities, and many of those involve children. It’s critical to keep your garage door and its opener in working order — and when you encounter a problem, know when to call a professional for help instead of wading into too-deep DIY waters.
6 Garage Door Problems and What to Do
When your garage door won’t open, clear the area of children and pets before you investigate the problem. Here are six reasons why your garage door may not open and what you can do:
- Broken springs – Like most moving mechanical parts, your garage door’s torsion springs can only last so long. When they break, they make a loud pop! like a firecracker. Don’t try to open the door. Call your garage door professionals to replace torsion springs.
- Dead batteries – Your wall-mounted transmitter or in-car, remote-control batteries are dead. Battery replacement is a DIY job. If the garage door opener batteries are dead in your car, they’re likely dead or dying in any other vehicles you own, too, so replace them all.
- Disconnect switch tripped – If the motor runs but nothing happens, you might have a disconnect switch problem. If it simply came unhooked, this can be a DIY fix.
- Locked manual lock – If there’s a knob in the middle of your garage door, it is likely the manual lock. Sometimes these or the buttons that control them get bumped. This locks your garage door from the inside.
- Malfunctioning photo eye – The “photo eyes” communicate with each other to tell your garage door system if there’s something in its path. Your garage door will malfunction if the photo eyes are dirty or misaligned. If cleaning them doesn’t work, you need to call your local garage door professionals.
- Misaligned track – Your garage door has a metal track with rollers that operate on a rail. If the rollers or rail are damaged, you might see gaps between them. It can be dangerous if the door won’t operate due to track misalignment, so don’t fool around with it. In addition to personal injury risks, you might cause additional, costly damage to your garage door. Contact your garage door company as soon as possible.
Garage Door Opener Installation, Repair, or Replacement
In tough economic times, even good companies suffer. But one of the tests of a “better” company is time.
Since 1921, Overhead Door Co. of Indianapolis and Muncie has been the recognized leader for commercial, industrial and residential integrated door and operator systems. We serve communities in Delaware, Hamilton, Madison, Marion and nearby counties with garage door solutions, plus:
Call 317-489-3708 in Indianapolis or 765-273-2503 in Muncie, or contact Overhead Door Co. of Indianapolis and Muncie today. We are happy to help.
