Avoid Getting Stuck Inside of Your Garage- Garage Door Maintenance

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You Can Proactively Avoid Getting Stuck In The Garage with Regular Maintenance, Here’s How

Most people don’t pay attention to their garage door until it stops working. Garage doors are the heaviest moving parts of your home, and when it’s malfunctioning and refuses to open, it can be scary. When you find out your garage door has turned against you, it is typically when you need it to work the most. A worst-case scenario is that you’re leaving for work, and your garage door won’t fully open. Maybe it’s a poor connection to your garage door opener? You can visually check for any broken connection, but your automated garage door opener is not the magic player here.

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The most common reason a garage door is stuck in a closed position is…

The most common reason a garage door is stuck in a closed position is a broken spring. If you’re stuck with a broken garage door spring, it can trap your car in the garage: causing you to miss work, a doctor’s appointment, or even lock you out of your house.

Garage doors are heavy, and they use a counterbalance system because garage door openers aren’t powerful enough to lift them without springs. The majority of modern overhead doors use a torsion spring. When the spring breaks, the door typically raises just a few inches with the opener before stopping. Torsion springs also hold the most stress and tension. If you’ve parked your car in the garage, this presents a challenge because you’re most likely discovering this as you’re trying to leave. 

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Good News! There is a Solution

Of course a garage door professional will suggest routine maintenance. Aside from replacing old parts with newer ones, the number one ‘no fail’ solution to avoiding getting stuck in your garage is regularly maintaining it. A lack of maintenance will negatively impact how long your garage door springs last. The same idea goes for when you own a car: you regularly take it for oil changes to keep it running smoothly.

A garage door requires maintenance that consists of a tune-up, a test balance, a reversal test, and a force-setting test. This is a full-range inspection, and it is recommended that a maintenance appointment occurs every year, or before a cold or hot season change. However, not even the best door technicians can tell exactly when a spring will break.

Fun fact: There are ways to identify when your garage door springs are close to the end.

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Ways to Identify Your Garage Door Springs are Close to Wear:

Check the Dated Sticker – Most garage door springs are rated for 10,000 cycles. You can estimate how often you open your door on a daily basis and multiply that by how many days you’ve had your door. Here’s a fun fact: most doors have a sticker on the side with a date on it. If that date has already passed or it’s approaching, go ahead and call Aaron Overhead Doors to make a preemptive appointment. A technician will tell you the root of the problem if your garage door has given out on you before.

Cycle Counter – Some of the newer openers from Liftmaster (Elite Series) have a cycle counter. Although there is an estimated lifespan of 10-15 years for a garage door, this is an accurate way to find out how many cycles your door has on it. 

Door Balance Test – There is a way to ultimately tell that the springs in your garage door are worn down. You can perform your own door balance test since the spring will lose tension toward the end of its life. All you have to do is disengage your garage door opener and carefully raise the door by hand. If you release it at the waist, the door should stay in place. If the door falls, that means the spring isn’t able to balance the door. In other words, this means that your springs are under too much stress for the garage door opener. 

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So What Now? Here are the Two Steps:

1. Don’t wait for your garage door spring to break, replace it before it breaks so you don’t get stuck. Consider asking your service professional for “high cycle springs”. Springs are made up of different wire sizes. High-cycle springs will last longer, hence the name. To get a high-cycle spring, you need to go with a larger wire and a longer spring. If you complete over three cycles in a day, switching over to these long-life garage door springs is ideal.

2. Promptly call your local garage door company! A good garage door service company conducts a full inspection and a series of tests before the repair or installation is completed. Aaron Overhead Doors will recognize these things and offer to replace any worn-out hardware out of convenience before it actually breaks. 

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In the Case of an Emergency…

Even if you’re doing everything right with caring for your garage door, there could be factors out of your control. What if there’s a power outage? Don’t panic. You can manually open and close your garage door following these steps:

(Please note: Spring issues can easily lead to the garage door suddenly crashing, which can cause significant injuries. Having a professional handle spring repairs and replacement ensures they last as long as possible while keeping your family safe!)

1. Pull down on the emergency cord to disconnect the door from the garage door opener. Most garage doors have a red rope with a handle on the end. Once you pull on the red rope, the manual release will disengage the trolley from the attachment on the rail. The garage door will then be in manual mode.
2. Carefully lift the garage door straight up until the door is fully open. Verify that the garage door will remain open before leaving it unattended. Please use extreme caution, and if there are little ones around, make sure they stay away during this time.
3. Note that as long as the garage door springs are correctly balanced, the garage door will open easily with the lift handles and stay in place. If it still refuses to open, or you are having difficulties, immediately contact a professional technician at Aaron Overhead Doors to avoid safety risks and to check for garage door repair.

To Close a Garage Door Manually:

1. Close the door manually until it reaches the floor.
2. Lock the door by manually sliding the lock bar.
3. Reconnect the opener when the power comes back on. Make sure the door is unlocked when the opener is reconnected. Electrically opening the garage door with the lock bar in place can cause major damage.

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Contact Us for Garage Door Spring Repair or Replacement

Use this as a guide to preemptively avoid getting stuck in your garage door. No worries if your garage is already stuck! Give us a call and we’ll have one of our expert technicians inspect your garage door and help you repair any worn down garage door springs. Don’t wait, call Aaron Overhead Doors today!