10 Common Garage Door Problems and How to Fix Them 

The first step to solving a problem is acknowledging it exists in the first place. If you don’t notice it or understand how it works, you won’t be able to come up with a reasonable solution. This applies to garage door issues.

Sometimes, people spend a fortune on garage door repairs because they don’t understand where problems come from. Therefore, they let them progress and get worse. Apart from repairs, it could make you replace your door after some time.

This page shows 10 common garage door problems you could experience. While all garage doors are different, the following issues are most likely to happen to all of them at some point.

Once you notice these problems, call a skilled garage door technician to perform an inspection and address the problem. You will find more blog posts about garage door repairs and maintenance on our website.

What Are the Most Common Garage Door Problems? | Guide to Fix Them

As mentioned before, you will find the most common garage door problems below. Nevertheless, we will take a step further.

With every problem, you will find the specific solutions you should try to fix them. While some of them are DIY options, professionals must help you with others.

1. Remote Control Issues

Remote control issues are a common garage door problem. Sometimes, for example, misalignment and corrosion could keep the batteries from working.

Other electronic devices could cause signal and frequency interference. Fixing remote control problems is simple. If you are dealing with a signal situation, you could try to operate it from different angles or locations.

Check the batteries to ensure they are fresh and properly installed. Resetting the remote control could help, too. Replacing it is also an option.

2. Door Opening or Closing Problems

When your garage door doesn’t open or close, the issue could be safety sensor interference. Debris and critters could get in the way of sensors and keep the door from working. Misalignment might cause this problem, too.

Mechanical problems, such as damaged tracks or worn rollers, are a common reason for this situation. The power supply of the garage door is something to keep an eye on as well.

In this case, the fix would mainly be to check for obstructions. Inspect the safety sensors and make sure they are clean.

You could also check the chain or belt of the door. With chain-driver doors, look for any broken links or tension issues. As for belt-driven models, watch out for wear or cracks.

Once you do this, you could lubricate the rollers, tracks, or hinges of the door. Even if this is not a problem, yet, it will keep the doors working smoothly.

3. Door Noises

Many things could cause door noises. We are talking about friction, loosened hardware, or worn components. There are many reasons for them individually. If the doors don’t have enough lubrication, you will face a friction case.

Hardware-wise, loosened screws and bolts cause squeaking and rattling. If you notice grinding or scraping noises, the reason may be worn components.

4. Door Sags or Tilts

Spring tension makes garage doors sag or tilt. This happens when the springs are worn or improperly adjusted. Cable issues are a common reason for this. They happen when something damages or stretches them.

You could address this problem by adjusting the springs of the door. If it’s a cable-related issue, inspect them. However, you would need to call a professional to do the inspection.

5. Door Reverses When Closing

It’s dangerous when garage doors reverse when closing. You could leave them open by accident. This often occurs due to safety sensor sensitivity or misalignment.

Check the sensors, adjust their sensitivity, and see if they work. If they don’t, it may be a more complex issue.

6. Door Opens Randomly

When your door opens randomly, it could be due to loose hardware. That includes loose connections, screws, or anything similar. That may keep the opener from working properly.

Check if there is loose hardware and inspect the strings of the garage door. The limit switch might be misaligned or damaged.

7. Door Won’t Stay Closed

Similar to door sags or tilts, spring tension could get in the way of the door and make it unable to close completely. The same happens with cable issues or problems with the door opener.

Adjust the door opener’s force. It won’t stay closed if it closes too slowly or weakly. Tighten the screws and bolts of the door.

8. Door Shaking

Unbalanced weight will shake garage doors when they open or close. The same happens with track issues.

Watch out for obstructions to see if there is anything blocking the door’s path. This could include debris, critters, or leaves. Check if the rollers or tracks have wear and tear as well.

9. Door Bounces After Closing

If the springs of your door are not adjusted properly, they will make it bounce. Checking for obstructions will help here, too.

Ask for a professional inspection of the springs and cables of the garage door. Here, you should adjust the opener’s force as well. The door will bounce if it closes too roughly.

10. Door Makes High-Pitched Noise

Roller, track, and string issues will produce a high-pitched squealing noise in your garage door. Cleaning and lubricating the moving parts of the door could help you get rid of the noise.

If lubricating the tracks doesn’t help, you should make a thorough inspection to ensure there’s not anything worse happening. However, it may not be that big of a problem.

Bottom Line

While these problems are the most common ones your garage door could experience, there are many more that could happen. Therefore, you should always hire the EZ Fix Garage Doors company to perform periodic inspections.

The team will guide you on the next steps to follow to keep future problems from happening. However, at the end of the day, the most important factor to address these situations is how fast you notice them. Always watch out for these 10 issues to keep them from worsening.