Garage Door Closure Problems

If you have ever dealt with a misbehaving garage door, you likely know that it is a frustrating experience. While garages are great to utilize, they are not perfect and can cause occasional problems. There are several common issues that can occur with garages doors that you may face from time to time. Luckily, most garage door problems are easily fixed with a little knowledge and caution.

Below you will find a list of common garage door closure issues, as well as descriptions of various remedies you can try in order to get your garage door working properly again.

Look for Convenience

Your garage door remote or the wall switch may not work for a couple of reasons. Either the batteries need to be replaced or the transmitter signal is not working. If you have checked and changed the batteries but are still finding that either the remote or wall switch does not work, then it is likely that the transmitter signal has become disconnected. You can reset the remote or wall switch by consulting your garage door owner’s manual or consulting with an expert.

The Garage Door Will Not Close All the Way

If your garage door refuses to close all the way, there are a few possibilities as to why this is happening. First, it is possible that one of the safety sensors is out of alignment. For example, the garage door photo eyes are a set of sensors that sit on either side of your garage door near the bottom. The sensors have an invisible beam between them that, when broken by a person or object, will cause the garage door to cease moving. This prevents you, your loved ones, children, and pets from getting crushed under the garage door. Check the photo eyes to see if they are misaligned and be sure to clean each of the sensors. Any debris or dirt buildup on either of the photo eyes can cause the garage door safety sensor to become confused.

Another possibility for why your garage door will not close is that the rollers are damaged or rusty. You may need to have a part replaced or you may be able to restore it to working order by applying some lubrication.

The final reason why your garage door may not close is the limit switch has been reset or is set incorrectly. The limit switch alerts the garage door when and where to stop moving. Some homeowners like to keep their garage doors open a few inches above the ground to help ventilate their garage or allow their cats to come and go. However, if you did not intend for the garage to behave this way, you may need to consult your garage door owner’s manual to properly reset the limit switch.

The Garage Door Will Not Open

You may be having the opposite problem where instead of your garage door not closing all the way, you are unable to open it completely. If your garage door stops before fully rolling up, there could be a couple of reasons why. Just like with a garage door that will not close, you will want to check the rollers on your garage to make sure they are well-lubricated and you will also want to make sure the limit switch has not been adjusted.

The Garage Door Will Close and Then Reverse

For this particular symptom, checking the opening and close limit switch settings on your garage door may be helpful. You will also want to look for any damaged or rusted rollers, as they can cause garage doors to reverse instead of staying opened or closed. Another setting you can check is the close-force. This particular setting controls how much force is needed to keep the garage door shut. Adjusting the close-force settings may help stop the garage door from reversing.

The Garage Door is Sticking or Jerking

One final symptom that is common to garage door owners is a garage door that sticks or jerks when rolling up or down. To remedy this issue, make sure the tracks and rollers in your garage are clean and free of any kind of debris. Apply lubrication to the rollers where needed to ensure they operate smoothly. You may also need to realign any misplaced tracks. Sometimes this can be a simple fix, or you may need to hire an expert to realign your garage door tracks for you.

Call a Garage Door Expert for Help

It is important to mention that garage door repairs can be tricky, so you should not worry if any of the remedies above do not help to eliminate the problem. It could be that there is a deeper issue going on that you may not recognize. If you are not able to easily solve your garage door issue, you should call a specialist to help. While some garage door repairs may seem minor, they may just be a symptom of a larger problem. Having a professional inspect and repair your garage for you is a good way to give your household peace of mind and guarantee that there are no underlying issues that you may have missed.