Garage Door Won’t Stay Open

No matter what the trouble may be, finding that your own garage door does not function properly can be completely frustrating, especially at a time when you are in a hurry to get in or out of the house properly to keep your day on schedule. Your garage door may not be staying up properly due to springs not holding as they should or the track being out of alignment. But, with broken springs there is the potential of a door crashing to the ground because the garage door won’t stay open, which could cause physical harm to anyone who may by chance get in the way.

Because these doors not staying open is basically unsafe, it is definitely something to deal with right away. See the steps below to evaluate the potential problem on your own, and if you cannot see anything that may be easy to solve on your end then calling a garage door company. It is helpful to know that a local experienced service provider is available anytime these issues occur in order to prevent true dangerous emergencies from happening later. It is important to remember that experienced garage door companies can handle springs in the best and safest manner.

If your garage door slips down below the header after you have opened it, you garage door springs need to be adjusted. There are two different types of spring systems for garage doors. Torsion springs are mounted directly above the door and need to be wound with special tools. Adjustments to these types of spring should only be done by a garage service provider. Extension springs stretch along the top track on each side. These types of springs can be adjusted by the homeowner.

Some key troubles that you can check include the transmitter batteries (in the remote or on the door) being dead, a technical error with the transmitters, the photo eye is out of alignment, the track has fallen out of line, something blocking the door’s path, broken springs, door limits in need of reset, the disconnect switch enabled, the manual lock has been set, or even the garage door tension springs or cables have been broken. The farther down the line you get with checking these items it can get to be a little dangerous. If you find yourself having trouble seeing anything or catching the trouble, then you can always leave it for the garage door service providers to do a final check to make sure the proper repair is made safely.

Here are some easy steps to check your garage doors to make sure you know what the problem is and if you will be able to make the fix on your own before calling a garage door repair service:

Step 1 - Raise the garage door up to its fully open position. Secure the garage door in this position by clamping vice grips on the vertical track directly below the bottom panel.

Step 2 - Locate the cable clip that is attached to an s-hook toward the front of the horizontal track. Disconnect the s-hook from the track.

Step 3 - Untie the cable from the cable clip, but do not remove it from the clip. Pull forward on the cable until the spring just begins to resist using one hand. Slide the clip down the cable with the other hand until the front of the clip is about one inch from the last adjusting hole on the track. Hold it there while slowly releasing the tension.

Step 4 - Tie the cable securely to the cable clip and insert the s-hook back into it. Grab the cable again with one hand and pull until you can insert the s-hook back into an adjustment hole on the track.

Step 5 - Repeat the previous steps for the opposite side of the door. The goal is to have the same amount of tension on each side of the door.

Step 6 - Hold the garage door and remove grips from the track after the spring tension has been adjusted. Release your hold on the door and see if it stays up all the way. Slowly close your door about halfway and release it. Ideally, the door should slowly float up from this point.

Step 7 - Close the door completely and release it. The door should stay closed. If it doesn't, make further adjustments. If adjustments cannot fix the issue, then replacement springs may be necessary.

It is a good idea to keep from parking your car in the garage while you are unsure of the status of the door. If you believe it may be dangerous it is good to make sure and wait until a professional has come to complete the repairs. Considering the weight of most garage doors and the large amount of force from the springs it could be damaging to your car, and potentially you, if the door were to collapse on you while entering or exiting the garage. Especially considering the potential that with a family the kids’ toys and athletic equipment often have them entering and exiting the garage, making it dangerous for them as well. It is likely a good idea to tell everyone that the garage door must stay closed until it is fixed, especially if you are having trouble with it working properly because of the springs or cables.