What to Do If Your Home’s Garage Doors Won’t Close

How to Reinforce a Garage Door
  • Author: Fazal Umer
  • Posted On: November 20, 2023
  • Updated On: November 20, 2023

While it may feel frustrating that your garage door won’t close, be thankful you have one. Many new homeowners have a temporary plywood wall on the front of their home while they wait for their new garage door to make it through the supply chain. 

If your garage doors won’t close, don’t rush to replace them. Try these tips to fix them. 

Check the Sensors 

Look at the sensors at the bottom of your garage door track. The garage door won’t go down if anything is blocking either of them. Move the item blocking the sensors, and your problem should be fixed. 

Check Your Remote or Smart Device 

Some types of garage doors come with smart home connectivity or a remote. Your garage door may not go down because it isn’t getting the signal to go down. 

Perhaps your garage door remote batteries have died. Or the connection between your garage door and smart home system has expired. Replace the batteries or fix the link; your garage door should work again. 

Check Tracks and Rollers 

If those solutions don’t work, it’s time to look at the individual door parts. Check the track that the garage door moves on. Perhaps something is physically blocking the door from moving past a specific point.

Or there could be damage to the track and rollers that prevent the door from moving down further. You may be able to bend the track back into place and get the door moving again. 

You may also need to add silicone grease to the rollers. Without lubrication, the rollers stop moving. If too many rollers stop rotating, they and your door get stuck. 

Look at the Trolley 

The trolley is the component that connects the garage door to the opener. You will see a rope hanging from it. For your garage door to move freely, it must be out of bypass mode. 

If your garage door opens and closes freely manually, then your garage door may be in bypass mode. Pull the rope and pull the latch so that the door isn’t in bypass mode.

Manually moving your garage door is one of the many benefits of having an aluminum garage door. You can read more on aluminum garage doors and why you should consider this modern solution. 

Adjust the Limiter Screws  

Inside the opener housing, two limiter screws tell the motor how far to open or close your garage door. If the door doesn’t close all the way, it may be because the screen tells the motor it is fully closed. When fixing garage doors, this solution takes a bit more finesse. 

Know What to Do When Your Garage Doors Won’t Close

These simple solutions should get your garage door moving again when you find that your garage doors won’t close. If these solutions don’t work, it may be time to hire a company. A professional door repair company will do deeper diagnostics to identify and solve the issue. 

Check out our other home DIY articles for more helpful guidance on making minor repairs and improvements around your home. 

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Author: Fazal Umer

Fazal is a dedicated industry expert in the field of civil engineering. As an Editor at ConstructionHow, he leverages his experience as a civil engineer to enrich the readers looking to learn a thing or two in detail in the respective field. Over the years he has provided written verdicts to publications and exhibited a deep-seated value in providing informative pieces on infrastructure, construction, and design.

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