Garage door symptoms
My garage door won't close
When a garage door won't close, its own photo eyes are usually stopping it: something blocks the beam between the two sensors near the floor, or one got knocked out of line. That is often a two-minute fix.
Updated
Check the photo eyes before anything else
Look at the two sensors near the floor for anything in the beam, a smudged lens or a crooked bracket. If the door must come down tonight, many openers will close it while you hold the wall button; let go if anything moves into its path. If holding the button is the only way it closes, the sensors need repair, which we do across the Portland metro.
Likely causes, most common first
Most doors that refuse to close are being stopped on purpose by the safety system, so the sensors lead and the hardware follows.
- Most common
Photo eyes blocked, dirty or out of line
The sign: The door starts down, reverses after a foot or so, and the opener light blinks, yet holding the wall button brings it all the way down.
The fix: Clean and realign the sensors, or replace a pair with a cracked lens or a damaged wire. Garage Door Safety Sensor Repair, from $129
- Common
Down travel limit set in the wrong place
The sign: The door touches the slab, pushes and climbs back up, or it stops short and leaves a strip of daylight under the seal.
The fix: Adjust the opener travel and close force until the door seals against the floor and stays sealed. Garage Door Opener Repair, from $149
- Common
A binding roller or something caught in the track
The sign: The door turns around at the same height on every try, often with a scrape, a shudder or a squeal at that spot.
The fix: Clear the track and replace the worn roller or cracked hinge that is dragging. Garage Door Roller and Hinge Replacement, from $199
- Less common
A bent or loose vertical track
The sign: One track bows toward the door or leans out of plumb where a bumper, mower or bin hit it, and the rollers rub hard there.
The fix: Straighten the bowed track or swap that piece, and anchor its brackets in solid framing. Garage Door Track Repair and Replacement, from $169
- Less common
Ice, gravel or wet leaves under the bottom seal
The sign: The bottom edge lands on a ridge of ice, a pebble or a mat of leaves, and the opener reads the extra resistance as an obstruction.
The fix: Clear the slab, and replace a seal that is torn, flattened or frozen stiff. Garage Door Weather Seal and Threshold Replacement, from $149
- Less common
Close force set too low for a stiff door
The sign: The door reverses partway down with clear sensors and an empty path, often during a cold spell when the hardware drags.
The fix: Fix the drag first, then set the force and confirm the door still reverses on an obstruction. Garage Door Opener Repair, from $149
What you can safely check in two minutes
Start at the sensors and work your way up the door; every check here happens from the floor with no tools.
- Look at the small indicator light on each photo eye; one that is dark or flickering means the pair cannot see each other.
- Wipe both lenses with a soft dry cloth and clear away cobwebs, leaves or anything leaning into the beam.
- Crouch and sight from one sensor to the other to see whether a bracket got bumped and now aims at the floor.
- Scan both side tracks and the floor under the door for a tool, a toy, a bin or a hanging bike.
- Check the slab along the seal line for ice, gravel or a soggy layer of leaves.
- Notice whether the trouble shows up only in bright sun; a door that closes fine after dark points to glare on one sensor.
Why holding the wall button makes the door close
On many openers, holding the button works because the opener falls back to a supervised close when it cannot trust its sensors, so the door moves only while someone presses and watches.
Residential openers built from 1993 on must guard against entrapment, and those made under the current federal rule check their sensors during each close. If holding the button closes the door every time, the sensors or their wiring are the problem, not the springs, track or motor.
Once the door closes normally again, test the reverse. Opener instructions call for a monthly check with a 2 by 4 set flat on the slab under the door: the door should touch it and head back up.
How crowded garages and Gorge wind block a closing door
Two local patterns put something in the path of a closing door: storage packed around the sensors in small garages, and wind-blown debris on the east side.
Some older detached garages in inner Southeast neighborhoods such as Sunnyside and Richmond are too tight to park in and end up as storage. Bins, bikes and lumber get stacked right where the photo eyes sit, and one bump turns a sensor toward the floor.
Several times a winter, cold east wind from the Columbia River Gorge reaches the metro, gusting hardest from Troutdale east, and drives leaves and grit against the bottom of the door and into the tracks. The same cold stiffens the grease on rollers and hinges, which can make a door drag enough to reverse.
How we get a stubborn door closing on its own again
We start at the sensors because they cause most of these calls, then move to the opener settings and the track if the eyes check out.
Test the sensors
We clean both lenses, square the brackets and test the wire run back to the opener, replacing a pair with a cracked lens or a wire chewed or pinched under a staple. Sensor work has its own posted price.
Reset travel and force
If the eyes check out, we set the down limit and close force so the door seals on the slab without pushing.
Free the drag
A dragging roller or hinge gets replaced and a bent track gets straightened.
Prove the reverse
Every visit ends with the door closing from the remote and turning back on a board in its path.
Door will not close: common questions
Why does my garage door only go down while I keep the wall button pressed?
Because the opener has lost sight of its safety sensors and will only close under your direct control. Blocked, dirty or misaligned photo eyes are the usual reason, followed by a loose or damaged sensor wire. Clean both lenses, line them up until each indicator light glows steady, and the remote should close the door again.
Why does my garage door refuse to close on sunny afternoons but work after dark?
Sunlight is hitting the receiving photo eye and drowning out the beam from the other side. It shows up most in winter, when the sun rides low enough to glare straight into one eye at certain hours. A small shade over that eye, or swapping which side it sits on, usually ends the problem without new parts.
Why does my garage door stop a few inches above the floor instead of closing?
The down travel limit is set too short, or the door meets resistance near the bottom and the opener gives up. Check the slab for ice or debris and the tracks for a bend near the floor. If both are clear, the opener limits need resetting, which is a short adjustment during a repair visit.
Is it safe to tape over or bypass the sensors when my garage door won't close?
No, because that disables the one feature that keeps a closing door from landing on a kid, a cat or a bumper. Holding the wall button to close the door once, while watching it, is the safe stopgap. Then clean, realign or replace the sensors so the remote works with protection intact.
Can rain or a damp garage keep my garage door from closing?
Yes, mostly by way of the sensors. Water beading on a lens, fog in an unheated garage, or moisture in a loose wire connection can break the beam just enough to stop a close. Dry and wipe the lenses, make sure the wires are snug at both sensors, and call if the trouble returns every wet spell.
Why did my garage door stop closing right after I rearranged the garage?
Something you moved probably bumped a sensor bracket or now sits in the beam. Photo eyes mount near the floor where bins, bikes and shelving get shoved, and a small knock is enough to aim one at the slab. Clear the path, sight from one eye to the other, and straighten the bracket until both lights hold steady.
Related pages
Areas we cover for this
Calls about a door will not close come in from Milwaukie, Richmond and Division, Troutdale and every other part of the metro we serve.
Ready to get the door moving again?
Call with the symptom, or text a photo of the door and the opener, and we will name the part and the posted price before anyone drives out.