Garage Door Safety Inspection: getting ready

On bright afternoons the door goes down a metre, stops, and climbs back up while the light on the opener blinks. After dark it closes perfectly. Nothing has changed except the weather.

Worth answering before the call

Is anything stored near the tracks, under the spring shaft or in front of the door? Is the door a single or a double, and roughly how tall is it? What prompted the call, and when did you first notice it?

Will you tell me if the door should not be used?

Yes, plainly and at the door. A slack or frayed cable, a gap in a spring coil, a door hanging crooked, a bracket pulling out of the framing or an opener that fails the reversal test are the kinds of findings that put an item in the stop-use group. When that happens you see the reason yourself, the door is left resting in a safe spot with the opener unhooked, and the fix is written up and quoted so it can be booked.

What happens if the report lists a stop-use item?

The door is parked in a safe position, usually closed, with the opener disconnected so nobody runs it by habit, and the reason is shown to you. The correction is explained and quoted as its own piece of work, and once it is done the door is retested through the balance, reversal and photo-eye checks before it goes back into daily service. Another door into the house or garage is used in the meantime.