Garage Door Opens and Closes On Its Own? Here’s What To Do

Sometimes, customers come to us at San Pedro Garage Door Repair completely at a loss of what to do because their door seems to have a life of its own. The stories they tell us may be slightly different, but the gist of the problem is always the same: nobody really knows what to do when their garage door suddenly starts opening and closing completely at random. It may be that you have heard the door opening unexpectedly while at home. In some cases, customers have been terrified to find their door open after coming back from vacation – who knows how long their property could have been exposed in this scenario? In short, no one wants to stress over their garage door’s ability to protect their home, especially when its opening mechanisms are supposed to be giving homeowners full peace of mind over their properties. 

This is why we are here to help you make sense of this frustrating glitch, and this information will help you no matter where you are. Here is a basic breakdown of some of the reasons why your garage door might be opening by itself – and what you need to do about it.

Why is my garage door opening and closing on its own?

There are a handful of rare occasions when garage doors may open and close without being prompted. Known in garage door repairs industry as a “phantom operation”, this may be triggered by an electrical fault, or a glitch in one the opener’s mechanisms. In the case of garage door openers installed 20 or so years ago, it could well be that one of your neighbors or someone driving by has the same code programmed into their remote control opener and they are activating your opening mechanisms by accident – a case of mistaken identity, if you will. In saying that, interference problems can go beyond this.  

As you can see, we have a mixed bag of reasons why you might find yourself in such a predicament. For your benefit, here’s a handy list of issues to look out for:

1. Radio interference problems
   While this is related to the remote control coding we were talking about earlier, interference can also come from similar frequencies emitted by police radios, radio towers or even military equipment (especially if you live near a military base). Then again, your issues could be as simple as a spare remote control in your house being activated by accident – so make sure to check this first before jumping into any other conclusions. When interference is the cause of your issues, the best solution is to reprogram your opener’s frequency. If you have an older opener, it might be worth your while to replace it with one that has a rolling code – that way, it will be extremely difficult for duplicate combinations to cause you any more headaches.
2. Interference caused by snow and grime
   This is actually more common than you think. You need to keep your garage door’s threshold clean during the winter months to avoid the accumulation of ice and snow. If your door is quite sensitive the build-up may actually trigger the door’s reverse mechanisms. And it’s not just snow either – dirt and debris tend to be among the common culprits of many garage door glitches. Check if the area is clear of any gunk to be sure that interference isn’t by caused by physical objects.
3. Damaged electrical circuits
   Did you have any lighting storms recently? Then chances are your electrical mechanisms have been affected along the way. Damaged electrical circuits are probably the most common reasons behind the random opening and closing of a garage door. They could come in the form of shorts in the opener remote, wall opener button, and other internal wiring components. In this scenario, your best choice is to contact your local repairs technician so they can inspect the issue closely and provide you with the right electrical fixes.

Hiring a garage door repair service

Given the fact that your garage door’s sporadic opening may put your security at risk, you may feel compelled to call a technician right away. You don’t want your property to be left vulnerable and exposed while you’re out and about, so a quick fix is always desirable. This is a fair and reasonable approach – but try not to be too rash with your decision. We don’t want you to find yourself hiring a scammer, nor do we want you to be spending several thousands of dollars when garage door repairs seldom cost that much.

So, get a couple of repair service names from family, friends and acquaintance and call them to inquire about their licensing and credentials, as well as product warranties and full cost breakdown of repairs. If you have the time to spare, also ask your selected repairs business if they can provide you with client references in the area. Never pay full price upfront, avoid businesses who insist on cash payments, and stay away from businesses who answer the phone using a generic sentence and get defensive about providing a full company name upon request. To be on the safe side, try to be present on the day of the repairs to keep an eye on the technician – there are some very rare occasions where you may have hired someone who will damage your property to get more money out of you. Basically, as long as you can verify that your chosen garage door repairs business is locally-based and well-regarded, you will be good to go. 

If you happen to reside in San Pedro, California, feel free to get in touch with our licensed and insured technicians. San Pedro Garage Door Repair is locally owned and operated, providing 24/7 assistance in the most urgent cases. Call us to schedule a free consultation, or to get a complimentary price quote from our experts. We will make sure to answer all of your queries before you decide to take our repairs technicians on board.

We hope that this blog post helped you understand some of the most common reasons behind your garage door’s sudden opening and closing. If in doubt, don’t hesitate to contact a garage door repair service in your area as they will be able to identify and sort out your issues in a very timely fashion.