Garage Door Getting Stuck

Yes, we've had this problem this winter. My husband was able to adjust the tension (tighten it) for going up. Apparently there is a spot to adjust the tension both for going down and going up. It worked for us, at least for now.

Here's some things to check for, including what to lubricate with:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/home-improvement/repair/how...

OK, this isn't a direct answer to your question, but I know the world's nicest garage door repairman (and the only relationship I have to him is that of satisfied customer!) so if you find yourself unable to repair on your own give him a call--his name is Wade Holmberg. The first time I called him, he was a whole lot cheaper than the large company I called and got the job done well. The second time I called him, he talked M. through a simple fix without charging M. a dime. (totally different different problems)

We had the same problem, and tried lots of things with no success. And yes, it only happened in the cold weather. Finally found out there's a small screw in the motor part (the part that controls the chains, that hangs in the center of the garage; sorry, I'm not very technical). The screw can be adjusted to increase or decrease the amount of power being used to raise and lower the door. It is because doors are different, some are lighter, some are heavier, etc. It turned out our motor was only using 1/3 of the available horsepower. It took 3 seconds, and a simple screwdriver to increase the power and the sticking door was fixed. You can google your garage door opener and find out if yours has that screw adjustment thing and which way to turn it.

check the springs and see if they are broken.

I am assuming you have a garage door opener??

When a garage door gets stuck it means the door is not straight, it usually means there is a problem with either the wheels on the side or the pulleys on the top/sides. Look carefully at each wheel on both sides, check to make sure they are all still there. Replace any that are missing or worn out.

Then look at the pulley wheels that are on the sides near the roof, the part that the cable runs through and then connects to the springs. If this part is good you will just see a bolt in the center but no hole. The very center of the pulley can wear out causing the center bolt to make a widened hole, might be octagon shaped. This can cause the door to become very heavy to manually lift, and cause an automatic opener to struggle.

Lastly check to make sure all the springs are there, two per side. These can break, become tangled, or the bar or cable they are connected to can break.

All of these problems are pretty easily fixed if you know what you are doing, otherwise you may want to have someone help who does. It is very important that you get this fixed ASAP because whatever the problem is, it puts stress on all the other parts of the door and opener. It also has the potential to fail and shut HARD without heeding what or who might be under it. *Lubrication is most likely not the problem.*

Speaking from experience,
V.

Thanks for asking! We are having the same problem.

I have trouble with my door all the time. Usually it is a loose screw that holds the wood sections of the door. When it wobbles it causes all kinds of problems. Tightening them all ususally solves the problem. Then, there may be dirt or a spider web on the sensors that check for foot traffic. Try cleaning these off & lining them up ( a red light goes on when they are in sync) and this should help if they had been jostled out of position also. Good Luck!

You don't say if you regularly always lift the garage door (it's manual), or if you have an electronic garage door opener and the opener isn't working/lifting the door.

We were having issues with our door: first, not wanting to open easily (electronic), and second, we started having to lift the door ourselves, which went on for a few weeks (had to find some money). And THAT is very heavy! We had to pry it up off the floor first with an ice chipper.

Turns out we had to have new springs put in. They do eventually wear out. You might want to look into that. Door companies are fairly expensive. We did some looking around and found a one-man handyman who used to work for the door companies who now has his own self-employed company; he fixes electronic doors, springs, and boxes.

Good luck.

When we had that problem, we found that the gears had stripped. First it was a few, then a whole bunch, then we had to manually open and close the door. We bought a kit from the garage door place ($36) to replace it ourselves. It took about a day's worth of work to get it done, then to get it calibrated. Good luck!

Try spraying Silcone on the rollers. It a quick, easy and inexpensive fix.

This just happened to us a couple months ago. We had to have the springs replaced on the garage door ($200).