9 Reasons Why Your Garage Door Won’t Open or Close & What You Can Do About It

Your garage door should open as you approach it from the road or when you press the remote garage door opener. And when it doesn’t, it can be a real issue, particularly when it’s late at night and you don’t want to park on the street. 

It’s worse when it opens and refuses to close, leaving your home potentially exposed and vulnerable. Some people like to keep their cars garaged all the time. So, leaving the vehicle out and exposed to the elements is not something they want to ever deal with. 

Unfortunately, garages are mechanical, which means they can malfunction. When this happens, it is important to figure out why the garage isn’t opening as it should, and what you can do fix the problem.

Reasons Why Your Garage Door Won’t Open

There are many reasons why your garage door refuses to open, close, or gets stuck halfway through the opening or closing. These include:

• The remote garage door opener’s battery is dead
• The garage door’s hinges are stuck because of rust or an obstacle
• The door opener is not properly plugged in
• The circuit breaker has kicked in and cut off the electricity supply to the door –this is usually caused by a power surge
• The garage is locked from the inside –usually a simple thing, but we tend to overlook these things
• The trolley that’s attached to the metal bar inside the top of the garage door is disconnected
• The photo-eye –the sensor that detects your remote garage door opener– is not properly aligned or has been knocked out of its alignment 
• The track isn’t correctly aligned
• Your transmitters or garage door opener is damaged

These are the most common reasons for a malfunctioning garage door. And while we may be able to open and close the door manually, the one thing we can all agree upon is that it’s a pain in the behind when this happens. So what can you do to fix these garage door issues if they happen?

Here’s How to Fix These Garage Door Issues.  

• Check the remote opener’s batteries to make sure they work. If you’re not sure, replace the batteries and try it again. If that doesn’t work, chances are that your transmitter has stopped working or has been damaged. 
• If it’s stuck, see if you can unhinge it so that it closes properly. Make sure to be safe while doing this. If your home has a custom garage design, then you might want to contact the garage door installer or repairer. They know what and how they installed their garage, will be able to detect what the real problem is, and find the solution to it. 
• See if the opener is disconnected from the power source and plug it back in. Also, check the circuit breaker to see if it’s still in the “On” position. If it’s off, that means the circuit breaker was activated. Simply push it back to the “On” position and the garage door should start working.
• As a rule, check for any disconnections in the garage door panel. If the power cord isn’t firmly connected, it can cause the door to malfunction. Also, remember to clean the sensor or photo-eye. 

Unless there’s a major problem, these tips will help you sort out your garage door issues in the short term, thus protecting your stuff. Then, maybe contact a repairer to come check it out the next day.