Ice is holding the garage door to the floor

What usually causes it, in order

Ice is what holds the door, but what it costs you depends on how hard the opener pulled before it stopped.

1. Most common

   The bottom seal frozen into ice on the slab

   What you notice: The door will not budge at the bottom, and a line of ice runs along the rubber where water pooled overnight.

   The repair: Free the seal, then replace the rubber if it tore or set hard so the door closes flat with less pooling. Garage Door Weather Seal Replacement, from $145

2. Common

   A seal torn loose by the opener

   What you notice: A strip of rubber hangs from the bottom of the door or has pulled out of its channel at one end.

   The repair: Slide a new bottom seal into the retainer, or fit a new retainer if the old one bent. Garage Door Weather Seal Replacement, from $145

3. Less common

   A top section bent by the pull

   What you notice: The top panel bows inward at the opener arm bracket, or a crease now runs across it.

   The repair: Reinforce the top section with a strut, or replace it when the crease has gone through the steel. Garage Door Panel Replacement, from $445

4. Less common

   An opener gear stripped by the strain

   What you notice: With the ice gone, the motor hums or whirs but the trolley no longer moves, or something grinds inside the head.

   The repair: Fit a new drive gear and sprocket, and set the force so the opener stops sooner next time. Garage Door Opener Repair, from $155

Safe checks before you call

Work from inside the garage, watch your footing on the slab, and keep metal tools away from the rubber.

• Unplug the opener or switch off its circuit so nobody runs it from a car or a phone.
• Look along the bottom edge from inside for a line of ice or rubber pinned to the concrete.
• Check whether the seal has already pulled loose from its retainer at either end.
• Look at the top section near the opener arm for a bow or a fresh crease.
• See whether water from the driveway is pooling against the door, which sets up the next freeze.
• Look up at the springs for a split coil, in case something besides ice is keeping the door down.

How to free a garage door frozen to the ground

Unplug the opener, then loosen the seal from inside with a plastic scraper and gentle heat, expecting a few patient minutes rather than one hard pull.

1. Unplug the opener

   Pull the plug or switch off the circuit first, so the opener cannot start while your hands are at the door. Leave the trolley connected; you are freeing the seal, not lifting the door.

2. Loosen the seal along the slab

   Slide a plastic putty knife or an ice scraper along the joint between the rubber and the concrete, working from one end to the other. Keep chisels and screwdrivers away, because metal cuts the seal and chips the slab.

3. Add gentle heat or ice melt

   A hair dryer aimed at the seal softens the ice without force. Ice melt helps too, sprinkled on the concrete along the line of ice and kept off the door itself, since door makers warn it attacks a steel skin. Warm water works too, but sweep it out at once or it freezes into a thicker sheet by evening.

4. Run the door once and watch the bottom

   Plug the opener back in and run the door while you watch the bottom edge. If the rubber still clings anywhere, stop the door and work that spot again rather than letting the opener tear it loose.

What an opener does when the bottom is stuck

An opener pulling on a frozen door bends the top section first, because the arm bracket is the only place it pulls while the ice holds the bottom.

Before it reaches its force limit, the opener can bow the top panel, tear the seal out of its retainer and load the drive gear. A force setting turned up high lets it pull harder for longer, so an opener adjusted to drag a heavy door does more harm on an icy morning. Once the seal tears, every rain after that finds the gap.

Why freezing rain, not snow, glues doors down

Freezing rain glues doors down because water runs to the low edge of the door, pools against the seal and freezes there in the night.

A normal year brings about 45 nights at or below freezing at Pearson Field, about 70 at Battle Ground and about 81 at the Gorge station east of Washougal. The January 2024 storm glazed the Greater Vancouver area with ice between a quarter inch and an inch thick, days after Pearson Field had dropped to 17 degrees. December 1996 left Camas and Washougal with downed trees and prolonged outages.

When to call, and what the seal repair involves

Call when the seal has torn, the top section has bowed, or the door still will not rise once the ice is gone.

A seal replacement slides new rubber into the retainer along the bottom of the door, or replaces the retainer when the pull bent it. We match the seal to the gap at the slab, because a floor that has settled or slopes needs a taller profile to close flat. Keeping the door from freezing next time is a separate job, covered in the ice storm and east wind guide.

Where to go next

Other pages about the same parts and problems.