Garage Door Won't Open?
Here's What's Going On
Honest diagnosis for Fort Lauderdale, FL homeowners — what usually causes it, what to do right now, and how the repair works.
Sound Familiar?
You press the remote or wall button and nothing happens — or the motor runs but the door stays on the ground.
Why won't my garage door open?
Most garage doors that won't open have a broken torsion spring — the opener simply can't lift the door's dead weight without it. Stripped opener gears, a pulled emergency release, or a snapped cable are the next most likely causes.
A garage door is lifted by its springs, not by the opener. The opener only guides the door; the springs do almost all of the heavy lifting. So when a door refuses to open, the question is really: is the problem in the power and controls, in the opener itself, or in the lifting hardware? The answer changes what the fix looks like, which is why an honest diagnosis matters more than a quick guess.
The Most Likely Causes
1. A broken torsion spring
This is the single most common reason a door won't open. If you heard a loud bang from the garage recently — many homeowners describe it as a gunshot — a spring almost certainly snapped. The opener then can't lift the door's dead weight (150–300+ lbs) and either strains and stops or doesn't move it at all. Look above the door: a visible gap in the spring coil confirms it.
2. Stripped opener gears or a failed motor
If the motor hums or grinds but the chain or belt doesn't move, the opener's internal nylon gears are likely stripped. In South Florida, power surges during storm season also kill logic boards and capacitors regularly.
3. The door is disengaged or locked
It's worth checking the simple things: the emergency release cord may have been pulled (the trolley will move without the door), or a manual slide lock may be engaged. Dead remote batteries and a switched-off wall button lockout are also surprisingly common.
4. A snapped lift cable
If the door sits crooked or you can see a loose steel cable dangling near either side of the door, a cable has let go and the door is unsafe to operate until it's re-cabled and re-tensioned.
What to Do Right Now
Don't force the door. If a spring or cable has failed, the door is far heavier than it looks and can fall or come out of the tracks if lifted incorrectly. Unplug the opener so nobody strips the gears trying to run it against a dead spring. If your car is trapped and you must open the door manually, get a second person to help lift and never let go of a partially raised door with a broken spring.
The Fix
In most cases this comes down to broken spring repair — our service page explains how the repair works and how to prevent a repeat, and our cost guide covers what drives the price. We diagnose on-site before quoting, so you'll know exactly what failed and why before any work begins. We serve Fort Lauderdale, FL and all of Broward County, 24/7.
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