Invitation to the wrong sort – Woodstock garage door stuck halfway open

It’s not convenient when your Woodstock garage door stops halfway up. In fact, it’s down-right inconvenient.

You’re in a hurry – places to go and things to do. You rush out to the garage and climb into the car while your mind runs through your to-do list for the 500th time. You hit the button for the remote garage door opener and you hear that familiar sound of the door going up. You start the car and, with your foot on the brake, you put the car in reverse. You’re ready to back out of the garage and … wait a minute. Something is wrong?

What’s wrong is that your garage door has stopped halfway up. If you back out now you’ll rip the garage door of the track and break the door panel into pieces, not to mention the damage to the springs and other parts of the garage door and garage door opener.

Woodstock is a great place to live – The Square, nice neighbors, not too far from work and things to see and do. But, you still wouldn’t want to leave your doors wide open. From time to time, someone may drive, or stroll, down your street who is not that nice. And if your garage door is stuck halfway open, that’s an invitation to the occasional nefarious character who might happen by.

If the garage door is stuck halfway open, you might try to fix it yourself. However, this will require working from a ladder and knowing how to identify the limit switch adjustment, for a start. Adjusting the ‘down’ adjustment may solve the problem. Then again, it may not.

You may have to go up and down the ladder several times to find the sweet spot where the garage door works again. In the process, you may overheat the motor in the garage door opener. This isn’t necessarily catastrophic – if you leave it alone for 15 minutes, or so, it should work again.

You can also lubricate the hinges and the bearings in the track. This is part of the standard process of garage door maintenance, but there’s no guarantee this will work either.

You can also look for debris that is blocking the door’s safety eyes. But, what you don’t want to do is walk away with your Woodstock garage door stuck halfway open.

Did Grayslake flooding damage your garage door?

Photo Courtesy of Kim Kreml with Planification Group

These flood waters filled the streets in Grayslake recently and
you can bet they damaged some of the garages and garage doors
in town, as well as other Grayslake property.

The flooding in Grayslake recently has created havoc, inconvenience and expense for many home and business owners in the area. Basements were flooded and, often, the water didn’t stop there. The clean up is a painful and, in many cases, the pain hasn’t stopped. Unfortunately, you may have more pain to face; you may discover that the flooding damaged your garage door, too.

If your garage door is made of wood, the wood panels may have soaked up the water and now they’re soft and enlarged. You may notice the panels separating. Sometimes, you’ll notice unpainted areas around the inner panels. This is a sign that the panels are coming apart. If this is the case, chances are, you’ll have to replace the damaged panels.

If your garage doors are made of vinyl, or some other water impervious material, you may not have to worry about having to replace panels. However, these panels are often insulated and the Grayslake flooding may have ruined the insulation in your garage door panels.

Another problem is the havoc the flood waters may have created with the garage door hinges and roller bearings. These are parts that should pivot or roll with ease. This is why garage door maintenance includes lubricating the hinges and roller bearings. But, following the flooding, you may find that your hinges and roller bearings are rusting.

Instead of pivoting or rolling with ease, the rust makes them hang up and fight against normal usage. As a result, your garage door may put substantial additional strain on the garage door opener motor, chain and springs. Though your garage door may open and close, in spite of rust in the hinges or roller bearings, with the motor and other parts working harder, those parts may experience excessive wear and could breakdown sooner.

The flood waters may also have damaged the sensors by the floor affecting the operation of your garage door (before you jump to this conclusion, however, make sure that the sensors and clean and properly adjusted).

The floods that hit Grayslake may have damaged your garage door. The flood waters may have damaged the insulation and walls of your garage, too. Whatever the case, while you’re determining how much damage the floods have done at your home or office, don’t neglect to look at the garage, too.