Solutions for a Frozen Garage Door

You’re all bundled up and ready to go to work, but your garage door simply won’t open. Instead of pressing the button multiple times, follow these steps to get your garage door working again.

Solving a Frozen Garage Door Step-by-Step

As soon as you notice that your garage door won’t open, get out of your car, and check the bottom and edges of the door for built-up ice.

First, use an ice scraper to remove the bulk of the ice. Be careful, because you don’t want to scratch the surface of your door. Once you’ve gotten most of the ice out of the way, pour hot water on the area to melt any remaining ice.

Try opening your garage door as soon as you’ve poured the hot water. If you wait, the water might freeze and make the problem even worse.

After You Open It

Cold weather usually lasts for a day or two. If your garage door has already frozen shut once, there’s a good chance it will freeze again.

The solution is to leave your garage door open by an inch or two. Even if ice tries to build up again, the bottom of your garage door won’t be stuck to the ground. You should also make sure that there is no snow or water that could re-freeze around the edges of your door.

If the winter weather just started, make sure to open and close your garage door once every day. This will prevent ice from building up and might keep you from ever needing to defrost your door.

Manually Opening the Garage Door

If all else fails, you can try to open your garage door manually. Most garage doors have an emergency cord with a red handle. Pulling on the cord should lift the door, although this may require a little strength.

Never try to force a garage door that won’t open; this will break the door or damage the internal mechanism. Instead, you may want to call a Los Angeles garage door repair professional to assist you.