You are getting ready to run out the door. You are in a rush, you hop in the car back out of the garage and go to close the door and it will not close. Luckily there is an emergency release to close the garage door manually until a qualified garage door service technician can get there to solve the problem.
Closing the garage door manually with the emergency release.
First, you will want to find the red cord hanging from your garage door opener. To close the garage door manually with most brands of garage door openers, like Liftmaster, Chamberlin, Genie, Craftsman, and more. Simply pull the red release cord straight down. You will hear and feel a click that will free the door from the opener trolly.
To close the garage door, you will need to grab the door by the lift handle or many modern doors only have an interior step plate to grab and pull to close the door down. You can always grab the door as the bottom section if there are no handles to grab on to. If your garage door is very heavy, you may need someone to help you hold the door while you release it from the opener trolly.
How to open the garage door manually.
Now, if you need to open the door, you can release the door from the opener with the red chord. grab the garage door by the handles on either side of the door and lift it up until it is all the way open. If the door is too heavy to lift it could have a broken spring or cable and that will need to be fixed first. Then let go of the door so that it will stay open. You may need to prop open the door with a broom handle or something similar if your garage door is very heavy.
Once your garage door is working again, you will want to reconnect the opener to the trolly by sliding it back on until you hear it click. Some openers will require you to pull to push the release chord forward or backward to allow it to re-engage. Then try opening and closing your garage door with the opener to make sure that it is working properly.
If you have any questions or concerns about how to close garage door manually, or if you would like a qualified garage door service technician to come out and take a look at your garage door, please contact us today. We are always here to help!