A crooked door in the opening. Leave it there and call.
The door will not move
A stuck garage door means the car is trapped or the house is open to the street. That is emergency garage door repair. Call and say whether the door is up, down, or crooked. You do not have to name the broken part.
South Bay calls go to Santa Clara at (408) 290-5673. Santa Cruz County calls go to Capitola at (831) 282-8312. Same-day when the schedule allows.
Stuck closed: the car will not come out
The opener clicks, hums, or does nothing, and the door stays down. Common causes are a broken spring, a snapped cable, a door off the track, or an opener that has quit. The door can also be fine and the photo-eye sensors are the only problem, but you should not keep testing that by forcing the close button.
Do not try to lift a door that feels much heavier than yesterday. A broken torsion spring leaves the full weight of the door on you and on the opener. One hard pull can drop it.
If you can leave the car and use another way out, do that. Call and say the vehicle is blocked inside.
Stuck open: the house will not lock
The door is up and will not come down. The garage, and sometimes the house, is open. This is usually a failed opener, a cable off one side, or someone who already pulled the red release cord.
Do not hang on the door to drag it shut. If a spring is broken, that door can fall. Leave the opening clear and call. We get it closed, then we repair what failed.
The red release cord disconnects the opener so the door can move by hand. Pull it only if you know the springs are intact and you need to move a door that is not crooked. If you heard a snap, leave the cord alone.
You heard a snap
A loud bang from the garage, then a door that will not lift, usually means a torsion spring broke. You may see a gap in the spring above the door. Cables can look loose because the spring is no longer holding tension.
Stop using the opener. Unplug it if you can reach the cord without going under the door. Do not loosen set screws, winding cones, or bottom fixtures. Spring and cable work is the repair, not a step to try before we arrive.
Related reading: broken torsion springs and spring repair.
The door is crooked or hanging
One side up and one side down means a cable, a roller, or the track. A roller out of the rail can leave a panel hanging in the opening. Do not drive under it and do not hit the remote again. A motor pulling on a crooked door bends the panels and tears the track.
If this is the door you have, start with off-track repair or cable repair.
The opener hums and the door stays put
A hum with no movement is often the opener trying to lift a door the springs are no longer balancing. It can also be a stripped gear or a bad capacitor. Either way, stop after one try. Running it over and over burns the motor.
More on that symptom: the opener hums but the door does not move.
What to do until we get there
- Stop hitting the wall button and the remote
- Unplug the opener if you can do it safely
- Keep people, pets, and cars out from under the door
- Leave a crooked or hanging door where it is
- Do not rewind springs or clamp cables to “hold it”
Tell us the city, whether a car is trapped, and whether the door is open, closed, or hanging. That is enough for us to send the right truck.
What can wait
Not every annoying door is an emergency. A remote with a dead battery, a MyQ app that lost Wi-Fi, or a door that still travels but chatters can be booked. Emergency work is a door that will not move, will not secure the house, hangs crooked, or dropped after a snap.
Which number to call
Santa Clara at (408) 290-5673 covers Santa Clara, San Jose, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Los Altos, and Campbell, from 1659 Scott Blvd #130.
Capitola at (831) 282-8312 covers Capitola, Santa Cruz, Scotts Valley, and Aptos, from 1500 41st Ave.
If you are not sure which side you are on, call Santa Clara. The full service is on the emergency garage door repair page. We inspect the door, tell you the price, then do the repair.