Manually Open a Garage Door
If you are like many people today, you have not had to manually open a garage door in quite some time. In fact, since most of the garage doors available today are operated via remote or even an app on your phone with the press of a button, people haven’t really had to open the garage door.
However, there could come a time when you have to open the garage door manually. Maybe you are coming home after fighting your way through traffic on a rainy afternoon and when you press the button to open up the garage door, nothing happens. It can be just as much of a problem if you are stuck in the garage.
Most of the time, people do not think about their garage door much at all unless something has gone wrong with it. At that point, the panic starts to set in as people think of every worst-case scenario possible and that they will have to spend a lot of money to have their door fixed. Before you start to panic, though, it might not be as much of a problem as you initially think.
Why Doesn’t the Door Open with the Remote?
In some cases, the power might have gone out, and that would mean that the electric opener does not have power. If you do not have a battery backup, it would mean that you would not have any power to open and close the door. This should not be too much of a problem since you can manually open a garage door now or keep the car outside and wait for the power to come back on.
Those who do have a battery backup will still be able to open and close their door with the remote, typically up to 20 times. However, if you have a battery backup and the door is still not working, it could mean a larger problem than just a power outage. It could be a problem with the springs, for example. In either case, you might need to try to open the door manually to get inside or to get a better idea of what might be wrong.
The Door Should Open Simply When Using Manual Power
You should be able to open the door from either the inside or the outside. Opening from the inside does tend to be easier, though. If you can access the garage through your home, or through another door in the garage, you will want to open it from the inside. Most of the openers on the market today will have an emergency release cord that will disengage the opener. By disconnecting it from the system, the door will be able to move on its own, so you can open it manually. When you pull down on the cord, you should hear a popping sound, which will let you know that it has disengaged from the motor.
It is important to keep in mind that if the door is stuck part way up, you do not want to pull the emergency cord, as this will cause the garage door to crash to the ground, which could end up resulting in serious damage to the door and anything that is in the way of the heavy door when it falls. If you find that your garage door is stuck part way open, you do not want to try to open it manually. This is a job that is best left to the professionals.
You should then be able to grip the bottom of the door and simply lift. As long as the door is still balanced properly, it should open easily. In fact, the door should feel as though it only weighs about 10 lbs. or less. If it feels extremely heavy or if it does not move properly, do not keep trying to open the door. The springs could be broken, or it could be off the track, both of which are problematic. Trying to force the door open at that point is likely to cause more damage.
As long as there is no issue, you can lift the door until it is in the fully open position. Close the garage door by keeping your hands in safe positions and lowering it slowly.
What If Your Door Has Other Problems?
Hopefully, the only problem with the garage door is that there was a power outage, or it was slightly off the tracks, which is a simple enough problem to fix. However, that is not always the case. There can be problems with the springs or with other parts of the door that cause serious issues. The doors are heavy and when there is a problem with the springs and the balance of the door, that full weight would have to be lifted in order to open the door up. While a garage door opener might be able to do this, it will put a lot of strain on the motor. It will also not be reliable and eventually, the system will fail. This will need to have proper repair.
Importance of Testing Your Garage Door
You do not want to have a garage door that does not open and close properly. There have been incidences where people were unable to get out of their homes because the garage door was not able to open. This has the potential to be very dangerous. You can test your garage door regularly to make sure that it continues to work properly. Make sure that you are listening to the garage door for any strange sounds that could indicate a problem. In addition, every month or so, you should disengage the system from the motor and lift the door manually to make sure there are no hidden issues you can’t see.
Keep the Garage Door Maintained Properly
With proper maintenance on your part, and by hiring a garage door professional to come to the property every few months to provide a garage door tune-up, you can eliminate these types of issues with your garage door.
Resource:
How to Open a Garage Door Manually
How To Manually Open and Close Your Electric Garage Door
