Garage door won't close
This is usually the two photo eyes sitting four to six inches off the floor on each track. Something is in the beam, a lens is dirty, or one sensor has been knocked out of line by a bin or a car door. Check both sensor lights before anything else. If they're steady and it still won't close, it's the close force or a travel limit, and that's $185 to $390 to put right.
Check these first
Two minutes, no tools, and sometimes it's the whole answer.
- Look along the floor for anything sitting in the beam, including a broom, a bag or a cat.
- Wipe both sensor lenses with a dry cloth. Dust and cobwebs are enough.
- Check both sensor lights. One should be steady on each side. An off or flickering light means they aren't seeing each other.
- Count the blinks on the opener light. It's the opener telling you the beam is broken.
- Check whether low sun is shining straight into the receiving sensor. It happens in the late afternoon and it stops when the sun moves.
What not to do while you wait
- Don't hold the wall button down to force it shut and then walk away. That override exists for a reason and it turns off the thing that stops the door closing on a person.
- Don't tape or disconnect a sensor. If a sensor is faulty it gets replaced, not bypassed.
What it usually turns out to be
- Sensor misalignment The most common single cause. A knock from a bin or a car door is enough to move a sensor a few degrees, and a few degrees over ten feet is a miss.
- Dirty or fogged lenses Dust, cobwebs and condensation all break the beam. Overnight humidity here runs in the mid to high seventies, so a cold lens in an unheated garage picks up moisture.
- Damaged sensor wiring The wires run along the floor of the track where they get caught, cut or corroded. A break anywhere along the run reads the same as a blocked beam.
- Close force or travel limit out of adjustment If the opener thinks the door has hit something before it reaches the floor, it reverses. Limits drift over years.
- The door binding near the floor A bent track or a worn roller makes the door drag in the last foot of travel, and the opener reads the resistance as an obstruction. That's a track and roller job, not a sensor job.
What it costs
$185 to $390 for sensor replacement, wiring repair or limit adjustment. The diagnostic visit is $39 and it comes off that in full when you go ahead the same visit. Full detail on the garage door opener repair page, and every other range we charge is on the cost page.
Where we cover
Newark, Fremont, Union City, Hayward, with Hayward limited to 94545 and 94544 in the south of the city. Call before noon and Newark, Fremont and Union City are same-day appointments. The areas we cover, in detail.
Questions we get asked
The door closes if I hold the wall button. Does that mean the sensors are broken?
It means the opener is letting you override the safety system, which it does by design. The sensors are still faulty and still need fixing. Don't use the override as a workaround.
Can I just replace the sensors myself?
They're inexpensive parts, but the common outcome is a new pair that behaves the same way, because the real fault was the wiring or the alignment rather than the sensor. A diagnostic visit is $39 and it comes off the repair.
Other things doors do
- Garage door won't open If it feels heavy, it's the spring.
- Garage door spring broke The bang was the spring letting go.
- Opener runs but the door doesn't move The trolley or the drive gear.
- Garage door opener is completely dead Power first, then the logic board.
- Garage door remote or keypad stopped working Battery, programming, or a light bulb.
Tell us what it's doing
(510) 509-9998. If a car is shut inside, say so first and we'll book you ahead of the queue.
Newark · Fremont · Union City · Hayward