Many homeowners are frustrated with getting out of their vehicles just to have to open the garage door when leaving and returning home. If this isn’t frustrating enough, imagine getting an alert on your smartphone that your garage door isn’t closing correctly and has even stopped several times throughout the day. To avoid these situations, you should keep up with basic garage door repair, including performing a periodic garage door springs replacement.
Here are a few things to check when your garage door isn’t closing.
Your Sensor Needs Cleaning
One of the most common reasons your garage door isn’t closing is debris on the sensor. The best thing you can do if this happens is clean it with a cloth or any soft item that won’t cause damage to the sensor. Once it is cleaned, test it by waving your hand until the garage door stops moving. If this doesn’t solve the problem, check for any obstructions on or near the sensor. If it still isn’t working, consider hiring someone to perform garage door repair.
The Door is Off Track
If your door is off track, nothing will work properly after that. To set it straight, try using a broom handle to push the garage door in a straight line if you can. If this isn’t enough, get a garage door repair professional to look at it and make necessary adjustments. You don’t want your garage door to come off track again once it’s fixed.
You Need To Adjust The Limits On The Opener
Adjusting garage door limits is something you should have done every six months. The limit set defines how far the door needs to move to close all the way. If you’ve had your garage door opener for a long time, there’s a good chance you’ll need a garage door springs replacement before too long.
Your Transmitter Out Of Range
If your garage uses a garage door opener, the garage door isn’t closing if the garage door transmitter is out of range. Check to see if any obstructions are around your garage, such as buildings or mountains that might be blocking the garage from communicating with the garage door opener. If you have a garage with more than one car opener, try adjusting which one is used when the garage door isn’t closing.
Your Transmitter Battery Is Dead
If your garage door isn’t closing because the battery for your garage door opener is dead, it’s probably time to replace it with a new one. It takes little effort to change garage door opener batteries but can save you from having garage door not closing problems in the future.
Your Springs Need Replacement
If you have springs on your garage door, it’s a good idea to have them replaced every ten years. Garage doors are heavy, and the springs help counterbalance the weight so they don’t come crashing down when opened.
If one of your garage door springs breaks, then there is no need to replace both at once because that will just double the amount of weight you need to lift with your garage door opener. When performing a complete garage door springs replacement, doing one spring at a time will save you money and allow your garage door to close properly.
Maintain Your Garage Door For Years To Come
If you have a garage door that’s not closing, don’t worry! There are plenty of reasons why your door might be malfunctioning.
The best way to check is to look at the sensor first and then check for any obstructions near or on top of it. If this doesn’t solve the problem, try adjusting how close the car is to the garage when opening and closing. Finally, if none of these solutions work, replace parts as needed depending on the issue, such as the sensor or springs malfunctioning.
