Why Won’t My Garage Door Close?

Our garage doors see plenty of action throughout the day. Nevertheless, most of us tend to take them for granted and pay them little attention — until something goes wrong. A stuck garage door is a common issue faced by homeowners and, as insignificant as it may seem, could pose a serious safety and security risk. Needless to say, a garage door that won’t close isn’t something that should be taken lightly.

If your garage door won’t close or isn’t closing correctly, the first thing you’ll want to do is determine what’s causing the issue. Some common causes for garage doors not closing include misaligned or damaged tracks, a faulty or misadjusted opener, or tangled or broken lift cables on the door.  These issues should be looked after by a qualified garage door repair company with the proper training as tackling them yourself can lead to severe injury or more costly problems when not done correctly.  However, by far the number 1 cause of a garage door not closing is the electronic eyes are preventing the door from closing for safety reasons.  So what exactly should you do when your garage door won’t close and more importantly, how can you determine if this is a simple repair you can do yourself or if you need a pro? Let’s find out.

What to do When Your Garage Door Won’t Close

Fixing a garage door that won’t close requires a bit of troubleshooting to first determine what’s actually keeping it from closing. Here are 5 quick steps you can take to diagnose and correct the issue:

Look Around

One of the most common reasons a garage door won’t close is when something gets in the way of the tracks or garage door sensors. Take a quick look around and check whether something is preventing your garage door from closing.   It is very important to take a look at the galvanized lift cables on each side of the door by the tracks.  Normally when the door is open the lift cables are wrapped neatly around the cable drum.  If the cables have come off of the drum or are tangled DO NOT attempt the repair yourself.  Cables and related components are under extreme tension.  Any attempt to put cable back on will likely require loosening some of these components and severe injury can result without the proper training and knowledge.  If the cables have come off or are tangled you will likely require a professional garage door technician to safely close the door and complete the repair.

Check the Door Sensors

Once you’ve checked for any objects keeping your garage door from closing and made sure the cables are wrapped neatly around the drums, take a closer look at the garage door sensors and ensure that they’re clean and well lined up. The safety eyes are located about 6” off the floor on each side of the door by the tracks.  Here’s how they work:  The sending eye sends an invisible beam of light to the receiving eye.  If the receiving eye doesn’t receive that signal it will not let the door close for safety reasons because it will assume something is under the door blocking the signal and it is not safe for the door to close.  The same thing will occur if one of the eyes has been bumped out of alignment so be sure to take a close look to see if the eyes both look like they are pointing straight at each other.  If they are even slightly crooked this is likely the cause of the problem.  Misaligned safety eyes are the number one cause of service calls in the industry.  To solve the issue simply move the eye(s) with your fingers until they are straight.  If this was the issue you have solved the problem and your door should now close when you activate it.

Try the Garage Door Wall Control

Now that you’ve ruled out stray objects or dirty garage door sensors, it’s time to check whether you can get your door to close using other methods. If your garage door comes with a wall-mounted control, try activating it to determine whether your garage door closes. If it operates from the wall control, but your remote control doesn’t activate the door then the issue is likely a faulty garage door opener remote.  Try replacing the battery to see if that solves the problem.  If it doesn’t it will likely need to be replaced by a professional garage door technician.

Try Closing the Door Manually

If after all this your garage door still won’t close, then you’ll likely need a garage door or electric opener repair. If you found the cables were off the cable drum or are tangled, it’s unlikely you will be able to close the door and you will require a service call.  If the cables are properly wrapped on the cable drum you should be able to safely close the door manually by pulling the red emergency release rope to disconnect your garage door from the opener and put it into manual operating mode. Do not try to move the door by pulling on the red emergency release rope.  This is only intended to put the door into manual mode, not to lift or lower the door.  After you’ve pulled the red rope to enter manual mode, grab the bottom of the door and carefully lower it.

Call in the Professionals

If your garage door still won’t close after performing the above steps or you’re not comfortable to try them out on your own, your best bet is to reach out to a professional garage door repair company. Contact The Door House today and we’ll send out one of our qualified garage door technicians to assess and repair your garage door in no time.