Having a garage door that won’t open or close fully can be worrying. Aside from the inconvenience of not being able to access the contents inside, you may also have concerns over security. That’s why it’s important to ensure that you know what to do, including some basic tips on common fixes.
The team at Garage Door Repair Man have put together a handy guide with a few of the most common issues that prevent your manual garage door from opening and a few tips on things to try before calling in the experts.
Broken Spring
If you’re able to access your garage, you should take a look at your spring. This may be located at the top of your garage door or down the inside. If your spring is showing excessive wear, or it has snapped, this could be the cause of your problem. Unfortunately, there isn’t a quick fix for this and the spring will need replacing. In this instance, you will need to call in some expert support.
Jammed Rollers
If your spring and cables all look fine, the problem could be that your rollers are jamming in the track. It’s important that you don’t try and force the garage door as this may end up damaging the track, making matters worse and adding to the expense of repair. The best thing to do is to spray the track and rollers with lubricant and then trying the garage door again. If it doesn’t open easily, you should then call a garage door specialist to ensure the door is repaired without further damage.
Items Jammed In Track
Sometimes issues with opening and closing your garage door can be down to something as simple as an object obstructing the roller tracks. It’s always worth a quick check to ensure that a broom hasn’t fallen over into the tracks and that they’re free of any objects. If you don’t find anything trapped, try lubrication and then call an expert if unsuccessful.
Track Problems
One important area to check is your garage door tracks. Damage to your garage door tracks or the rollers coming out of the tracks can cause your garage door to jam. The best thing to do in this scenario is to call in a garage door repair expert. You are unlikely to make the situation better and would be best served by getting a specialist to repair it.
Broken Cable
If you notice that your garage door’s cable has snapped, you should leave it where it is and call a professional. You may be able to open the door, but it is unlikely to close making matters a lot worse. Our friendly team of engineers are able to replace your cables on short notice, at a fraction of the cost of a replacement door.
Jammed or Broken Handles
Sometimes the issue with your garage door may be down to something as simple as a problem with the handle. If your handle doesn’t move a freely as normal and feels stiff or stuck, it may be jammed. You can try spraying the handle mechanism with a lubricant to remedy this, but if this doesn’t work you will need to call a garage door engineer.
Alternatively, if your handle moves freely but the door won’t open it’s worth checking the handle cables, as they may be snapped. In this instance, you have little choice but to call in a specialist to replace the cable.
In summary, there are a few key things to look at when having issues with your garage door. But diagnosing the problem doesn’t always mean you can fix it yourself. If simply lubricating the door doesn’t alleviate the issue, the best thing to do is to call the team at Garage Door Repair Man. Using force or tools are more likely to make the situation worse and may turn a relatively simple repair into a replacement.
If you need the assistance of an experienced garage door engineer, give our team a call on 0800 542 7978. We can normally have an engineer with you on the same day, with no call-out fee, and can often complete a repair in the first visit.
