DIY Troubleshooting Guide for Garage Door Openers

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Garage doors are, generally speaking, large (and heavy) components of a house, and manually operating them may not be the typical homeowner's cup of tea. As the name clearly suggests, a garage door opener is a motor-powered device that is used to operate (open and close) electric garage doors. Most garage door openers are generally controlled in two ways: by wall-mounted switches, or using portable remote control gadgets. When garage doors won't open or close, it is often because of a faulty garage opener. As a hands-on homeowner, you might want to know how you can make sure that you indeed have a broken-down garage door opener.

Here is a basic DIY troubleshooting guide for you.

Is your door opener getting powered up?

As mentioned earlier, garage door openers are motorised devices, meaning that they rely on electric power to operate. If your garage door opener is not working at all, chances are high that it might not be getting any power supply. The first thing to do is to check if there's a power outage – you can do that but turning on the garage lights or any other electrical appliances in the garage (or home). If there is no power in the home, check if the breaker tripped because of being overloaded. But if everything else is working, then the issue may be with your garage door opener alone.

Does the door opener respond to the garage wall switch?

The door openers in most garages can be operated using both a wall-mounted switch and a remote-controlled device. If you are trying to open or close your garage door using the remote control device and it is not working, you should check to see if the door responds to the garage wall switch. If the door opener works, then it means your remote control device is the cause of the problem. Its batteries may be down, or one or more of its components may be faulty. But if both the wall switch and the remote-controlled device fail to work, it would be a rational thing to presume that there is an issue with the door opener or one of its component parts.

If you cannot find where the problem is and you have tried the above steps, the best thing to do would be to call in a professional garage door technician/repairer to diagnose the source of the problem. 

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13 April 2017

Garage Doors Inspired by the Great Outdoors

Hi, my name is Jenny. I love decorating both the inside and the outside of my homes, and in particular, I love picking out garage doors. Contrary to popular belief, garage doors do not have to be boring. They can be super colorful or unique designs. One thing I really like is garage doors that remind me of the great outdoors. To that end, I love garage doors with vinyl stickers on them depicting the outdoors, and I also love doors reminiscent of old barn doors. If you want tips on making your garage door look like it is inspired by nature or farming, please explore my blog.