Why A Garage Door Won't Stay Open – And What To Do

You should be able to trust that your garage door will work smoothly for many years. Unfortunately, not everything is immune to damage, and your door’s components are likely to gradually wear out after extensive use.

If you own a manual garage door that simply won’t stay open, the most likely culprit will be one of your garage door’s springs. It could be that these are damaged, or they simply have come loose. While it is strongly advised against handling these without proper training, there are some inspections and troubleshooting fixes that homeowners can do themselves before calling a garage door repair professional.
Before we get to this, though, here is a brief overview of the springs that may need adjustment, repair, or replacement.

Your door’s springs: a brief overview from Top Garage Door & Spring Installation
Essentially, your springs’ main function is to enable you to safely raise and lower the door. There are two types of springs commonly fitted in a garage door: extension and torsion. These are both tightly wound around the door, but are installed in different locations and comprise different components. 

Extension springs will be found on each side of the door frame, attached right above the upper tracks. These will have safety cables running through each side and fitted into the ceiling – this is supposed to help them control your door’s opening and closing.
As for torsion springs, these run along the frame, and are attached directly above the door. While some extension spring issues can be amended without a professional, torsion springs are very dangerous to handle and adjustments should always be left to the professionals. 

What can I do about my garage door springs? 

First, perform a visual inspection for damage. When an extension spring is broken, you will be able to notice it quite quickly: the most common sign of damage is that the two safety rods inside the springs will be visible. Sometimes, when a torsion spring is damage you will be able to identify a gap between it.

Other things spring damage signs and symptoms to look out for include:

• Your garage door being extremely heavy to lift up – which would also be the reason why it won’t stay open
• Loud noises when you try to open the door (torsion springs are especially notorious for making noises as it tries to release some of the newly-acquired tension)

If your springs are broken, you will need to contact a repairs expert. Otherwise, for loose extension springs, there is a DIY adjustment you can do if you have vice grips handy:

• Fully open the garage door and secure it with vice grips. These should be clamped below the bottom panel of your door’s vertical track.
• Focus your attention towards the horizontal track. Look for a cable clip attached to an s-hook. You’ll need to disconnect that hook from the track.
• Now, untie the cable from the clip – without removing it completely. Rather, use one hand to pull it forward until the spring begins to resist from the pressure.
• Using your free hand, slide the clip down the cable until it is about one-inch away from the last hole in the track. Slowly release tension as you hold it in this position.
• Securely tie the cable to the clip and re-insert the s-hook. Grab the cable and pull it until you can fit it back into one of the track’s adjustment holes.
• Repeat the same steps on the other side – the idea is to ensure both sides have the same amount of tension applied to it.
• Release the vice grips and see if the door stays in place. Then, slowly close it about halfway and see if it holds. Finally, close the door completely and ensure it stays closed. If all of these procedures are a success – your problems are solved. Otherwise, either keep readjusting your extension springs or contact your local technician.