Why Is My Garage Door Opening by Itself?
Finding that your garage door opens by itself can be a huge inconvenience and, more importantly, a risk to your home security.
Whether it opens all the way or simply seems to float up part of the way, it’s clearly not ghosts at work. More often than not, poor installation is to blame for garage doors opening by themselves without any prompting. That’s why it’s so important to have your garage door fitted by trusted installers, like the installation team we have here at Doormatic Garage Doors.
To help you get to the bottom of the problem, we’re going to look at the common causes of a garage door opening by itself, how you can fix it and what the Doormatic team can do to help.
Common reasons a garage door opens by itself
Let’s get straight into it – if your garage door is opening all by itself, it’s time to investigate whether any of these common issues are at play. By establishing the cause, you’ll have a better chance of putting it right.
Broken springs
A broken garage door spring will mean that your door might not sit in place properly. So even if you try to push the door closed, it may float open of its own accord. If it’s an automatic garage door, the system may know a spring is broken and prevent the door from fully closing as a safety feature.
Identical frequencies (to your neighbour)
A rare occurrence, but not unheard of, is when different electric garage door remotes have the same signals. This means that if your neighbour has something similar, it could be causing the phantom openings of your door. Modern technology has mostly eliminated this overlap, but it’s worth checking with your neighbour to see if you both have older models.
Damaged electrical circuits
As with all technology, it’s great until it stops working. Damage to electrical circuits is a common issue if you’ve had your garage door for a long time or if you’ve accidentally crashed something into the components without realising – garages are usually filled with larger, heavier objects after all!
Misaligned sensors
If your garage door operates automatically due to sensors but seems to open and close with a mind of its own, this could be due to misaligned safety sensors. This means that when your door is closing, if the sensors aren’t lined up correctly they will signal to the motor that something is breaking the beam and it will send the door into reverse.
How do you fix a garage door that opens by itself?
The answer to this question is a little tricky, since it all depends on what the cause is. If you’ve worked that part out, you can try a few simple things to rectify the situation, including:
- Check no objects are obstructing the door in any way
- Check your neighbours aren’t using a similar garage door remote with conflicting signals
- Inspect your door and clean away any dirt
- Check your sensors to see if they are aligned correctly
However, some issues, such as broken springs and damaged electrical components, are a little more complex to deal with. We always recommend engaging the services of a professional garage door company to help in these instances, since if you’re unsure of what you’re doing, you could end up damaging your garage door permanently.
Garage door repair and maintenance from Doormatic
If you’re unsure why your garage door is opening by itself, we recommend getting in the experts. Here at Doormatic Garage Doors, we operate across Surrey, Kent, Berkshire, Devon, Hampshire, West Sussex, London and Buckinghamshire to provide garage door repair services. This means you don’t have to risk further damage to your door or your own safety.
We also provide garage door maintenance to help continually keep your garage door in top operational condition. Over time, garage doors receive a lot of wear and tear, but with regular checkups, we can address any potential faults before they arise.
Contact us today to book an appointment with an engineer if your garage door is opening by itself, or speak to us about regular maintenance for your garage door.
