What is your garage door doing?
One page per common problem: how to recognise it, whether the door is safe to use right now, whether it is a job for you or for a technician, what the fix involves and costs, and the articles and labs that go deeper.
Pro job
Broken garage door spring: what happened and what to do
A bang from above the door and now it won’t open: how to tell the spring broke, why not to touch it, and what the repair costs.
DIY first
Garage door reverses or won’t close: the checks to do first
The door starts down and goes back up, or won’t close at all: the safety sensors are the usual cause, and most of the checks are yours to make.
DIY first
Noisy garage door: what grinding, rattling and squeaking mean
Each sound points at a different part. Most start with a look and the right lubricant; one sound means stop.
DIY first
Garage door opener or remote not working: find which one it is
The remote does nothing, or the whole opener has gone quiet: four checks tell you whether it is a battery, the pairing, the sensors or the opener itself.
Pro job
Garage door off track or a cable snapped: stop and read this first
A door hanging crooked, a roller out of its track or a snapped lift cable is still under spring tension. What to do right now, and what the repair involves.
DIY
Drafts, water or daylight under the garage door: which seal to fix
A closed door has several gaps and each takes a different seal. How to tell which one failed, what each costs, and where insulation fits.
Pro job
Replace or repair your garage door? Run the numbers first
When a repair stops making sense: the thresholds that point to a new door, what each side costs in 2026, and what a quote should include.
DIY first
Garage door won’t open: start with what you hear
Nothing, a motor that runs, a hum, or a bang: what each sound points to, the checks that cost nothing, and the point where you stop.
DIY first
Garage door frozen shut: what the door makers say to do
The opener strains and the door stays put on a freezing morning: how to tell ice from a broken spring, what not to do, and when to stop.
DIY
Garage door won’t open in a power outage or evacuation
The power is out, the opener is dead and the car is inside: where the release cord is, when to pull it, and what a battery backup changes.