Why won\’t my garage door close?

Garage doors play a big part in maintaining the security of the house as well as increasing its curb appeal. So, when people face issues with their garage doors, they naturally, become quite apprehensive. One of the biggest issues people face with their garage doors is when they don’t close all the way.

If you are facing this issue for the first time, it is very natural to ask “why won\’t my garage door close?”

There are plenty of reasons a garage door will not close. The rollers and the tracks of the door might be damaged, something might be in its way, or the sensors might have issues. It can also have faulty trolleys, or the remotes of the garage door opener might not have working batteries. 

Let’s take a detailed look at the causes of garage doors not closing.

Reasons why my garage door won\’t close?

Since garage doors provide safety to the entire house, any kind of malfunction is a security and safety threat for the entire house as well as its inhabitants. Especially if the door does not close at all or remains partially open, there is every chance your garage and the house will be intruded upon by unwanted visitors. 

If you see your garage door not closing fully, and find yourself asking “why my garage door won\’t close?”, here are a few reasons why it might be happening

1. There’s something in its way

One of the main reasons garage doors don’t close has nothing to do with any technical difficulties. Sometimes something might be in the way of the door which triggers the sensors, and as a result, the door will not close fully.

2. Issues with the sensors

Another big reason for garage doors not closing is when the door sensors have some issues. Sometimes the sensors have dirt or cobwebs inside or over them, which causes them to pick up things that are not even there. Also, if the sensors are not properly aligned, they sense each other as obstacles, preventing the doors from closing. 

Additionally, sometimes the sensors themselves have some issues, which causes them to malfunction and restrict the movement of the garage door. 

3. Damaged rollers and tracks

When the garage door won\’t close and nothing is blocking the way of the garage door and the sensors are alright, then the tracks and the rollers of your garage doors might be damaged. If your garage door tracks are bent, it will make sure the door will not close all the way. 

The rollers of automatic garage doors ensure the smooth opening and closing of garage doors. If the rollers have been damaged due to any reason, or any part of the rollers has been damaged, your garage door won\’t close fully.

4. Faulty trolley

Your garage door trolley connects the garage door opener to the actual door. It is because of this you can operate electronic garage doors. If the trolley has some issues, you won’t be able to operate the garage door because the opener and the door will not connect properly. As a result, your door will not close. 

5. Issues with the remote

Another reason for your garage door not closing is when the remote of the garage is out of batteries. If your garage door opener is remotely operated, then you must have a functioning remote to close your garage door.

If there are no working batteries inside your remote, then the door will not even move, let alone close all the way. 

6. Limit switch settings have been set too short

Limit switches are installed in garage doors to determine the distance the doors have to travel to close. If the travel distance of the limit switch has been set too short, the door will stop closing after reaching that distance. 

What should I do when the garage door won\’t close?

So, What to do if your garage doors not closing? The best way to deal with this issue is to hire professional garage door repair services.  You can also follow the steps mentioned below to determine and fix the problems with your garage door.

1. Check if anything is blocking the door

Before hiring any garage door repair service, first, you should see if anything is blocking the way of the garage door. Sometimes rocks, twigs, or other materials block the way to the garage door which goes unnoticed by us. Check beneath the door and remove it if there is indeed something blocking the door’s way. 

2. Check the sensors

If nothing is blocking the way of the garage door, check if the sensors are properly working. First, check if the sensors have any dirt or cobwebs covering them. If so, clean them properly. 

If the sensors are not dirty or covered by anything, see if they are properly aligned. If you find the sensors to be misaligned, either try to align them or call a professional to do it. 

3. Replace damaged rollers and tracks

Bent tracks and damaged rollers are one of the main reasons garage doors do not close. If you see your garage door tracks being bent or the rollers being damaged, or its parts have been broken, It is time for you to repair or replace them according to the damage.  

4. Connect the trolley

Sometimes the garage door trolley gets disconnected, which in turn, disconnects the door and the opener, leading to the door not opening. To solve this, you need to pull the emergency cord that is hanging from the trolley. By pulling this, you can connect the garage door opener to the door. 

5. Change the batteries of the remote

If you find no problem with any of the aforementioned parts, then check your remote to see if its batteries are still working. If not, then change them. If the batteries are okay but the remote is still not working, then you need to buy a new one. 

6. Change the travel distance of the limit switch

Finally, you need to change the settings of your limit switch. If you see that the current travel distance setting isn’t making the door close all the way, then you need to increase it. The best way to do this is taking help from a professional as they are adept at measuring and setting the travel distance of a garage door. 

Final words

As the top garage door repair service in San Diego, CA, we, at Precise Garage Doors, have to face a lot of questions. One of the questions we face the most is “why won’t my garage door close?”.

If you are facing the same problem, check for the damages mentioned above and call us to book our expert garage door repair services. 

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