Troubleshooting Common Garage Door Problems
While we often spend most of our time and money remodeling a kitchen or investing in smart home technologies, we often neglect the one feature that makes up 40 percent of our home’s frontage; the garage door. We only turn our attention to the garage door when it suddenly stops operating properly.
What most homeowners need to understand is that just like your car the garage door requires routine inspection and maintenance. In fact, performing monthly visual inspections is one of the best things you can do, ensuring it continues to open / close reliably and you don’t encounter these common garage door problems.
The remote won’t work
One of the most common, not to mention, frustrating garage door problems occurs when the remote fails to open the garage door. Oftentimes, a faulty garage door remote is a simple fix, which can be resolved in one of three ways. The first thing you should do is to make sure you’re within range.
If you moved closer, and the remote still won’t open the door, check the antenna. Located on the opener’s motor, it should be hanging down. If it’s not, gently move it back into place. You can also try pushing the garage door button on the wall. if the door opens, try changing the batteries in the remote.
The garage door won’t close
All garage doors manufactured on or after January 1, 1993 have photoelectric sensors, which transmit an invisible beam between each other to detect if anything is in the garage door’s path when it closes. This safety measure is there to prevent the door from closing on top of someone or something.
If your garage door opens normally, but doesn’t make any attempt to close when the remote is pressed, the first thing you should do is visually inspect the photoelectric sensors. Over time, these sensors can become dusty or misaligned, causing their connection to break.
Using a soft cloth, gently wipe away any dirt or residue that has built up on the sensors. Once clean, if the door still doesn’t close, you may want to check their alignment by measuring the height of each sensor from the ground. They should be installed 6″ from the garage floor. Use a level to make sure they’re pointing directly at each other, as well.
If neither of these quick fixes are effective, contact a local garage door repair professional.
The track is not properly aligned
The metal tracks (horizontal and vertical), a component of your garage door, guide the door while opening and closing. With daily use, over time the tracks can be misaligned, causing the door to drag or bind. This can make it hard to open and close your door. Continuing use of the door may cause it to break loose of its tracks. It’s important to have the garage door repaired by a professional.
