Garage door won't move card
Tape this next to the button inside the garage. When the door refuses to move, it walks you through the safe checks and tells you when to put the phone to use.
Call right away if
- One of the springs over the door has split, or there was a bang like a gunshot in the garage
- A lift cable is slack or has come off its drum at a bottom corner
- The door hangs crooked, has left its track or has lost a roller
- It stopped partway up and stays there
- It has turned heavy all at once, or drops when you let go
Do not
- Touch, loosen or take off a spring
- Pull the release cord while the door is up
- Nudge the door with the car, or lever it with a bar or a shovel
- Hold the button down over and over when the door isn't responding
- Warm up the car in the closed garage while you wait
- Cut or knot the release cord as a security measure
Checks you can make
- The opener light works, and no breaker or GFCI outlet has tripped
- The lock or vacation button on the wall control is not switched on
- New batteries in the remote and the outside keypad
- Floor sensors: wipe the lenses, clear the beam, and look for two steady lights
- Seal frozen to the slab after freezing rain: loosen it gently, and never force the door up
- Power back after a storm outage: cycle the opener once so the trolley catches
Opening it by hand
- Springs intact and the door all the way down, or not at all
- Move things out of the way and slide back any inside lock
- Pull the release cord, then lift from the lowest panel with a second person, palms flat
- If it resists or feels very heavy, let it back down and phone
Useful when you call or text
- The brand and model printed on the opener motor
- Where the springs are: on a shaft above the door, or beside the tracks
- A photo of the springs and both bottom corners, taken from a safe spot