This is one of the most common service issues your garage door can have. There are a myriad of reasons for this and we’ll explain the most frequent ones.

If you have a garage door opener installed and when you press the button the door moves just a little and reverses OR doesn’t move at all in conjunction with the light on your garage door opener (up on the ceiling) blinking this is an indication of a safety photo eye issue. There may be something blocking the safety beam, which will not allow the door to come down. The safety photo eyes may have gotten bumped into and are out of alignment. The easiest way to tell if they are out of alignment is to look at the lights on the eyes themselves. In almost every case (not all) both of the lights should be solid, if one or both is blinking simply move one of them left or right with your hand until the lights become solid again.

If you operate your door manually and the door will not go all the way down don’t force it. Something mechanical has most likely bound up. Carefully inspect the track and the rollers to see if something is stuck. A twisted or slightly bent track may be the culprit. Also check the cables. Sometimes a cable can become frayed and bind up during operation.

Note: If you find a frayed or broken cable we do not recommend you attempt to make that repair yourself.

At the very end of the horizontal track you will find a bolt protruding into the track. This is placed there intentionally and it’s purpose is to stop the door from travelling further up than necessary. One older doors we have seen the top roller either travel past this bolt or get stuck on it. With a screwdriver and a little pressure you should be able to release it fairly easily should this happen to you.

Lastly you can run a test. Lower your door down to about 6 inches off the ground. Place something under the door to hold it there and take some steps backwards into your driveway and look to see of the bottom of the door is parallel to the floor of the garage. If it’s not quite level, you’d be surprised how little it takes to make your door not function properly, give your local service company a call to come out and service your door. A garage door that’s out of level can and will cause all sorts of issues that will be avoided by having it addressed when you notice it. This will also almost undoubtedly cause binding.

So there’s a few tips for how to determine why your garage door is not going all the way down like it used to. If you find you’re in need of service give us a call or fill out our simple form and we’ll get to you quickly.

Your Overhead Door Team – Of Rutland Vermont