Stuck Inside By Cold and Garage Doors

Winter weather that has included periods of rain followed by a fast freeze has created havoc for automatic garage door openers.

Stephen Nelson said the motor on his garage door opener was seconds away from burning out after he pushed the button to raise the door at his Brookfield home and it stuck.

The bottom seal had frozen to the cement floor. Nelson said it took 15 minutes of work with a heat gun and a shovel to pry the door loose before it finally opened.

Many homeowners in the Milwaukee area would call Nelson lucky.

Winter is always hard on garage door openers and high-tension door springs, but this season's weather created a special kind of havoc, said Dan Hinkes of Geis Building Products in Brookfield.

When people pushed the button to open a stuck door, gears inside the machine can end up stripped or in some cases the opener arm can snap.

Fixing the gears can cost about $150, while replacing the opener can be more than $300, said Hinkes, adding that his own door was frozen shut last week.

Jerry Herbst, owner of Cedarburg Overhead Door Co., said he is fielding three times as many repair calls per day as he normally receives since the extreme weather began.

"The weather we had was a perfect storm for the failure of garage door openers," Herbst said.

A garage door opener is a guiding mechanism and the springs actually open and close the door, Hinkes said. A lubricant, one recommended by the manufacturer, is the best for the tracks, and grease works on the weather stripping to prevent the door from freezing to the ground.

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