Kansas City's first hard freeze usually shows up right around Halloween, and by January the overnight lows average about 20 degrees at KCI. That's when the garage doors that limped through the fall finally quit. The door won't go up on the coldest morning of the week, the opener strains and stops halfway, or there's a loud bang from the garage that turns out to be a broken spring.
A lot of that can be caught ahead of time. Here's what cold does to a garage door, three checks you can do yourself in about ten minutes, and when it's time to call.
What Cold Does to a Garage Door
- Springs. The spring above the door does the heavy lifting, not the opener. A spring that's near the end of its life often breaks on a cold morning, when everything else on the door is stiff and dragging.
- Grease. Old grease on the rollers and hinges thickens in the cold, so the door drags and the opener has to work harder to move it.
- Rubber seals. The bottom seal and the weatherstripping get stiff and crack. A worn bottom seal can freeze right to the driveway.
- The opener and remotes. When a stiff door slows the opener down, it may stop and reverse, which is the safety system doing its job. Batteries in remotes and keypads also lose strength in the cold.
- Safety sensors. Frost, snow or road-salt spray on the two little sensors near the floor can keep the door from closing at all.
Three Checks You Can Do in 10 Minutes
Do these on a dry afternoon before the first freeze, and let everyone at home know not to use the door while you're working on it.
1. The balance test
Close the door, then pull the red emergency release cord so the door is disconnected from the opener. Lift the door by hand to about waist height and let go. A balanced door stays put or drifts slowly. If it drops hard, shoots up, or is a real struggle to lift, the springs are worn or out of adjustment. Lower the door all the way, then reconnect it to the opener (on most openers it latches back on the next time you run it).
Leave the springs and cables alone. They hold enough tension to cause serious injury. If the balance test fails, that's a call for a pro, not a weekend project.
2. Look and listen
With the door closed, look at the spring. On most Kansas City homes it's a torsion spring on a bar above the door. A gap anywhere in the coils means it's broken. Check the cables at the bottom corners of the door for frayed strands, and look at the rollers for cracks or wobble. Then run the door once and listen. Grinding, scraping or a loud pop are all worth a call.
3. The daylight check
On a sunny day, close the door, turn off the garage lights and look at the edges. If you can see daylight along the sides or under the bottom, cold air and snowmelt are getting in too. The bottom seal is the one to watch: if it's flattened, cracked or torn, it's the part most likely to freeze to the concrete.
Before the First Freeze
- Lubricate the hinges and rollers with a spray lubricant made for garage doors. Skip heavy grease, which thickens in the cold and holds dirt.
- Wipe the safety sensors with a soft, dry cloth. Each one has a small light. If one is blinking or off, the pair is out of line.
- Test the auto-reverse. Lay a 2x4 flat on the floor where the door closes. The door should touch it and go back up. If it doesn't, stop using the opener until it's fixed.
- Put new batteries in the remotes and the outside keypad.
- Check the battery backup if your opener has one. Unplug the opener and run the door once. Ice storms knock the power out around here, and that's when you'll want it.
- Keep the threshold clear. Leaves, salt piles and packed snow under the door keep it from sealing and make it more likely to freeze down.
If the Door Freezes to the Ground
If the opener hums but the door won't budge on a cold morning, the bottom seal is probably frozen to the concrete. Stop pressing the button. Running the opener against a frozen door can strip the gear inside it or bend the bottom section.
- Break the seal loose gently with a plastic putty knife or an ice scraper, or warm it with a hair dryer.
- Don't pour hot water on it. It just refreezes, often worse.
- Once it's free, clear the slush and salt from under the door so it doesn't happen again overnight.
- Don't turn up the opener's force setting to push through ice. That setting is part of what makes the door stop and reverse when something is under it.
A bottom seal that freezes down again and again is usually worn out, and replacing it is one of the cheaper fixes on a garage door.
When to Call
- A loud bang from the garage, and now the door is very heavy or won't open. That's almost always a broken spring. Don't keep running the opener.
- A cable is frayed, loose or has come off its drum.
- The door is crooked, off its track, or one side sits lower than the other.
- The door fails the balance test or the auto-reverse test.
- The door won't close and the sensors still blink after you clean them.
If you'd rather have it all looked at in one trip, a tune-up covers lubrication, the balance and spring check, cables, rollers, loose hardware and the auto-reverse test. Fall is a good time for it, before the first cold snap finds the weak spot for you.
Zach works all over the metro, from Liberty and Kearney up north to Lee's Summit and Raymore, and from Overland Park and Olathe across to Independence, Blue Springs and Grain Valley.
Frequently Asked Questions
The usual causes are old grease that has thickened in the cold, a stiff or frozen bottom seal stuck to the driveway, weak batteries in the remote, or frost and grime on the safety sensors. A spring that was already worn can also break on a cold morning. If the opener hums but the door doesn't move, stop pressing the button and check whether the bottom is frozen down before anything else.
Springs can break any time of year, but a spring that is close to the end of its life often gives out during a cold snap, so winter is when a lot of people find out. A balance test in the fall can show a weak spring before it leaves you stuck. Replacing a torsion spring is a job for a professional, because it holds enough tension to cause serious injury.
A spray lubricant made for garage doors, applied lightly to the hinges and rollers. Skip heavy grease, which gets thick in the cold and collects dirt. The International Door Association suggests lubricating twice a year, and fall is a good time for one of them.
Stop running the opener, because forcing it can damage the opener or bend the bottom section. Free the seal gently with a plastic putty knife or ice scraper, or warm it with a hair dryer. Don't pour hot water on it, since it refreezes. Then clear the slush and salt from under the door. A bottom seal that freezes down again and again is usually worn out and inexpensive to replace.
Call or text Zach. Tell him what the door is doing, or text a photo of the spring above it, and he'll tell you whether it needs a visit.