How to Open Your Garage Door Manually
Can you imagine a time before electric garage doors? They save us so much time and energy, opening the garage door before us with just the click of a button. But, would you still know how to get into your garage in the case of a power outage or a fault with the door itself?
Don’t get locked out (or in!). Here’s how you can open your electric garage door manually if you ever need to.
When you’re locked in
If you can’t open your garage door electronically but still have access to the garage through the house, then there’s a fairly simple solution for opening up your garage door manually. The majority of garage door openers have a bypass switch, which allows you to override the electronics and open it manually. This can also be useful if you have lost your electronic remote.
In most cases, the garage door opener will have a red rope hanging down from it, perhaps with a handle on the end. All you need to do is pull on this rope away from the garage door to disengage the lever and disconnect the garage door from its power. You may require a ladder to safely reach this cord. Now, the door can be operated manually. The garage door should be easy to open just by lifting it with both hands.
To return the garage door opener back to its automatic mode once you’ve got power back again, pull on the rope again but towards the direction of the garage door to reengage the lever. You may also be able to reactivate it just by using your electronic remote.
When you’re locked out
If your electric garage door is the only way into the garage and it fails for whatever reason, then things are bit trickier and you’ll essentially have to break into your garage. To do this, you’ll need something to wedge into the top of the door and something to hook onto the lever inside, such as a coat hanger or bent wire.
Place the wedge under the weather proofing strip at the top of the door to form a gap, then maneuver your hooked wire through the gap, locate the emergency latch, and pull it towards yourself to disengage this. This is easier if you know where everything is located inside, so take some time to familiarize yourself with the garage door opener from inside your garage in case this situation ever arises. Once you’ve done this, you can simply lift the garage door open yourself. Watch this video for a quick demonstration.
If you’re worried about the security risk that this second option poses, then this article has some tips for securing your garage door. Of course, this will mean you can’t use this technique yourself if you’re ever locked out, but it’ll also mean others will find it more difficult to break in.
If the issues with your garage door are caused by faulty equipment, then contact Carolina Garage Door for all your garage door maintenance needs. We serve Winston Salem, Greensboro, High Point, and Kernersville. Also, make sure to perform regular check-ups on your garage door to help prevent getting locked out due to faults.