To manually open the garage door try to force it open and position two 6 feet step-ladders directly below it, using crowbars for added strength.
In case you suddenly face any problem with your garage door and are unable to open it, or it makes some squeaky noise while you try to open it, then sorry, the spring door of your garage might be damaged.
But there are still ways to open a garage door. All you need to know is how to open a garage door with a broken spring safely.
Garage doors include hefty hardware that can cause an individual serious injury in case you are not cautious. Do you wish to open your damaged garage door manually by pulling the door up? There is a high risk that the spring might just break, and the heavy gate comes crashing down on you.
But if you have to open the door before experts arrive, this article will show you just that.
Types Of Garage Doors
There are many different types of garage doors to look into, the three most common ones are single panel garage doors, sectional garage doors, and roller doors.
Although different in mechanism, most of these doors are built with aluminum, which is cheap, lightweight, and easy to maintain. If you want a more aesthetic vibe to it, you can use wooden garage doors, but they will cost you more.
The different types are-
Single Panel Garage Doors
Single panel garage doors are built from one solid board. From the shutdown position, a solitary panel door swings up and overhead with a hinge by a jamb type hardware.
Sectional Garage Doors
Sectional garage doors, unlike single panel doors, are normally built of three to eight panels and slide up and overhead, the same mechanics as the sectional garage doors.
Roller Doors
You have seen some windows where you pull a string and the curtain goes up, right? The roller doors use the same mechanism where instead of pulling a string, you use your opener to pull the door up with the roller.
What Is A Garage Door Spring?
A garage door spring is what supports the door’s weight and smoothly opens and closes it when you use the remote controller. A lot of the times your garage door opener can malfunction in that case you rely on the experts for a new garage door opener installation.
But sometimes it’s the spring that causes the trouble. If by any chance the springs malfunction, the whole stability of the door is at risk, and moving it with a damaged spring can cause the door to come crashing down.
Should the spring completely break, it gets even riskier. There are mostly two types of garage door springs, one being torsion spring and the other being extension spring.
The main difference between these two is where the spring is located.
Reasons Behind The Spring To Break
Have you ever thought, “How often do I open and close my garage door?” Of course not.
But you will find out that you have probably opened and closed it more than you thought, and even more on special occasions where guests arrive.
So, it is natural that the springs of the garage door will slowly get corroded and weaker.
And we have not even mentioned the biggest threat to these spring doors, rust.
Since these springs are made of metal, they will surely rust, which if not greased properly will cause the spring to lose its strength and sturdiness.
Opening Garage Door with Broken Spring
After you come to know that your garage door has been damaged, whether it’s a torsion or expansion spring, you immediately need a safe method to open it.
But opening the door is not that easy as it is quite heavy and requires a strong adult who can pull up the door safely.
So, when you find that your garage spring has broken, here are 4 steps you can take to manually open it with safety.
1. Use Something For Resistance
First, you will have to use force to lift the door a bit. Once there is a gap, place something in between the door and the ground. For example, you can use two step-ladders on each side to hold the door from shutting down.
2. A Crowbar Can Be Useful
While you and your helper are trying to open the door, consider using a crowbar on each side to lift the door up. Crowbars will provide extra grip and safety.
3. Be Consistent With The Pushes
Keep pushing the door up slowly, yet steadily, and be sure not to push one side too much as it will put stress on the other side, which can lead to serious injuries.
4. Use Vice Grips
Clamp two vice grips on the track which is underneath the bottom roller. Position both the ladders directly underneath the door and slowly lower the door so it lands on top of the two ladders.
The vice grip offers extra security as it holds on to the door from falling.
Use WD-40 which is composed of different types of hydrocarbons to lubricate your springs to prevent them from rusting.
Reinstalling The Garage Door Spring
The garage door itself uses a complex mechanism and if you try to reinstall the door spring by yourself without knowing the in-depth detail on how to do it, you are in for a major disaster.
Try doing things on your own without the know-how, you may hear a large bang, indicating that the spring is installed in the way it should not be placed, and the door, with all its weight, will come thundering down on you.
Why would you take the risk? Call an expert and let them fix it. Door springs are not that expensive, so buy one from the store and call an expert to do the rest.
Final Thoughts
Garage doors are a significant part of your home, and they are needed to buckle down consistently. It is important that once you open a wrecked garage door, you should contact an expert in your general vicinity. An accomplished professional will help in the best way to give you a garage door review and let you recognize what sort of garage door support is required to evade issues in the future. Doing so will guarantee that you have a sheltered and working carport entryway that will not cause any problem over the long haul.
