A garage door that won't close is more than annoying: it leaves your home open to the weather and intruders. Often the cause is simple and safe to check yourself. Run through this checklist before calling, and you may fix it in minutes.
Safe things you can check yourself
- Check the photo-eye sensors: the two small sensors near the floor must face each other and have a clear line of sight. Wipe the lenses and make sure nothing is blocking them; a blinking sensor light means they're misaligned.
- Look for obstructions in the door's path, including small objects, ice, or a stray garbage can.
- Check the remote and wall-button batteries, and try closing from a different control to isolate the problem.
- Look at the close-limit and force settings: if the door closes then immediately reverses, the opener's travel limits may need a small adjustment.
- Make sure the lock or vacation mode isn't engaged on the wall console.
Signs you should stop and call a pro
- You see a gap in a torsion spring or a hanging cable: do not operate the door.
- The door is crooked, off its track, or one side is higher than the other.
- You hear a loud bang followed by the door refusing to lift: that's usually a broken spring.
- The opener runs but the door doesn't move, or moves only a few inches.
Why forcing it makes things worse
Repeatedly hitting the button on a door that won't close can burn out the opener motor, strip the gears, or worsen a track or cable problem. If the simple checks above don't solve it, the safest and cheapest path is a quick professional diagnosis: most of these issues are same-day fixes.