Help, my garage door is jammed! If your garage door gets stuck, do you know what to do? Read this article to find out exactly what you should do.

Keyword(s): Garage Door Jammed

 

Garage doors, when well cared for and maintained, can last upwards of 20 to 30 years. But what happens when your garage door sticks?

You might be tempted to yank and pull until you can move it, but this is a terrible idea!

Instead, if your garage door has jammed, here are some parts you can check to see if you can find the issue and fix it.

Springs

A common cause for garage door issues is the spring that operates the door. Unfortunately, garage door spring replacement can be quite dangerous and difficult to work on without professional knowledge. Because of the enormous tension holding them in place, you can easily get hurt trying to remove the springs, so don’t try any fixes unless you know exactly what you’re doing!

Inspect the springs of your garage door to see if anything seems amiss. Has the spring come loose or broken? If so, you’ll have to call a professional garage door spring repair service to fix your door.

If the spring seems intact, you can grab some WD40 or other lubricant and oil the spring to see if that helps. Older doors can sometimes rust or get stuck, so it may be a simple issue of needing some oil to get the door moving again.

Rollers

The rollers are the wheels that run along the edge of the track and keep the garage door rolling smoothly. Has one of the wheels gotten knocked out of position, or perhaps broken?

If a wheel has gotten knocked out of the track, you might be able to get it back into position, but be careful! Garage doors are heavy, and you want to be cautious of causing the door to slam down on yourself or things around you.

If you figure out that the rollers are causing you issues but can’t fix them yourself, it may be time to hire a professional garage door repair service!

Track

The track is two parallel metal grooves along the edge of the door that holds the rollers and keeps the door in place. The metal is often fairly weak and can sometimes be damaged.

Inspect the track to see if there is any damage to the shape that would stop a wheel from passing through. Perhaps someone bumped a track with a vehicle, or a tool fell and bent the track. Look carefully along the entire track if your garage door still won’t open or close, checking for any small warping that might still be affecting it.

Additionally, there is the potential for things to get stuck in the groove. Has something fallen and wedged among the rollers or the track? You won’t want to stick your fingers in and start fiddling around, but a visual inspection will let you find the most obvious issues.

Motor

An important question: is your motor working? Does it try to pull the garage door at all, or is it totally dead? If the motor isn’t working at all, you have a couple of possible causes.

First, check to make sure the motor is plugged into the outlet and that your breakers are all turned on. Lightning strikes and power outages can sometimes trip breakers, turning off the power to your garage door motor. If you’re unsure whether the outlet is working, you can plug a working device into the outlet and see if the device gets power.

If your motor is getting electricity but it is too weak to lift the door, it may be time to get a new garage door motor. You can purchase one with the same horsepower and size or look into repairing your motor. You may have to call someone with expertise in garage door installation to help you put in a new motor, so keep that in mind as you diagnose the issue.

To check that the issue is with your motor, try to move the garage door by hand. There should be a pull cord that you can use to raise or lower the door. If you can’t move it or it still gets stuck, you know the issue is with something besides the motor!

Cables

Take a look at the cables connecting everything. Are any of them getting stuck, or are any of them broken? The motor uses cables or chains to pull the garage door up, so it’s a good idea to carefully inspect these and look for any issues.

If a cable or chain has snapped, you know what you need to do: replace it! But if there’s not an obvious break, you may have to do a little more inspection.

Check for any tangles, rust, or anything else that might cause the chain to not pull the door. It may be that it hung up on a bolt or twisted around itself somehow to the point where it can’t properly operate the door.

Other Issues

Sometimes things can jam the door itself, rather than any specific parts. For example, do you have anything stored in the rafters above the door? Make sure nothing has fallen and gotten wedged in the door.

You can even get a ladder and look at the top of the door where it rolls up or slides overhead to see if anything has gotten stuck up there. You’d be surprised what can happen!

Also, check the handle on your door and see if it is rusted or stuck. If so, lubricate the handle and try working it loose, and see if that helps.

Finally, you may have to check your garage door sensors. These fail-safes are designed to keep garage doors from crushing things they shouldn’t, but if the sensor has gotten damaged, it may be triggering even when nothing is there. If this is the case, your garage door is probably stuck open, and will close only a short distance before reversing back to open.

What Else To Do If Your Garage Door Is Jammed

If you can’t figure out what has your garage door jammed, or you know the issue and can’t fix it, it’s time to call in the experts! Even if you just want help with your garage door opener installation, we’re happy to take care of all your garage door needs.

Garage Harmony is here to help you diagnose and fix all your garage door issues. Feel free to contact us, and we’ll do everything we can to make sure your door is put back the way it should be!