Symptom check
Why won't my garage door close all the way?
A garage door that will not close is usually seeing a blocked or misaligned photo eye near the floor, often a two-minute fix. With the eyes clean and aimed, look next at the close limit, the track and ice at the seal.
Updated
Look at the two small eyes by the floor first
Crouch down by the bottom section and find the photo eye bolted to each side track, a few inches above the slab. Wipe both lenses with a dry cloth, move anything sitting in the line between them, and try the wall control again. If the door now closes and stays closed, the eyes were the whole problem.
What usually causes it, in order
Photo eyes come first because they cost the least to rule out, then the opener settings and the door itself.
- Most common
A photo eye knocked out of line
What you notice: The door starts down, turns around within a foot or two and the opener light flashes, while one eye's small indicator is out or flickering.
The repair: Square the eyes up on one another and snug the brackets down; replace a bracket bent by a bin or a bumper. Garage Door Safety Sensor Repair, from $125
- Common
Rain spray, webs or grime on a lens
What you notice: The trouble comes and goes with wet weather or after the door has stood open, and wiping the lens fixes it for a while.
The repair: Clean the eyes and replace any with a fogged or cracked lens, moving one that takes spray off the driveway. Garage Door Safety Sensor Repair, from $125
- Less common
Direct sun on the receiving eye
What you notice: The door opens but will not close while sun falls straight on the receiving lens, and the opener lights flash.
The repair: Swap the sending and receiving eyes between the tracks, or fit a sun shield over the receiver. Garage Door Safety Sensor Repair, from $125
- Common
A close limit that has drifted
What you notice: With both eyes clean and steady, the door comes most of the way down and stops a few inches above the slab, touching nothing.
The repair: Reset the close limit and force to suit the door, then test the reverse with a board on the floor. Garage Door Opener Repair, from $155
- Less common
Something in the track, or a bent track
What you notice: A roller catches at one spot each time the door comes down, or a hose, a broom handle or a dent sits in its path.
The repair: Clear the obstruction, then straighten or replace a dented track section and set it plumb. Garage Door Track Repair, from $165
- Less common
Ice or a stiff seal at the threshold
What you notice: On frost mornings the bottom seal meets a ridge of ice and the door stops short, leaving a line of daylight under it.
The repair: Clear the ice; a bottom seal that has torn or gone hard gets replaced so the door closes flat. Garage Door Weather Seal Replacement, from $145
Safe checks before you call
All of these happen at floor level, with no ladder needed and nothing under tension.
- Look at the small light on each photo eye; when the two are lined up and the beam is clear, both should glow steady.
- Clean both lenses with a dry, soft cloth; driveway spray, dust and spider webs all block the beam.
- Sight down the line between the eyes: they should aim squarely at one another, level with each other above the slab.
- Clear the floor and both tracks of anything in the path of the door: bins, a ladder, a bike tire, a rake.
- Hold the wall control button down for the whole trip while you watch the door; if it closes that way, the eyes are at fault.
- On a frost morning, look at the slab under the bottom seal for a ridge of ice.
Why holding the wall button down gets the door closed
Holding the wall control down works because the federal opener standard lets an opener fall back to constant-pressure control when its photo eyes are blocked or faulty.
Every opener built for the American market from January 1, 1993 on has to guard against entrapment, so a door that ignores the remote but closes on a held button is doing its job: it has found a problem with the eyes and wants a person watching. Chamberlain openers and boards made after February 3, 2022 dropped that fallback.
Treat it as a way to get the house closed tonight, not a fix. With the eyes out of action, the door only reverses after it touches something, so stand where you can see the whole opening, keep children and pets back, and let go of the button if anything crosses.
Why wet weeks and bright sun stop the door closing
Rain and glare both blind the photo eyes, and Clark County weather is hard on them because they sit a few inches above a slab that is wet for much of the year.
Pearson Field logs measurable precipitation on close to 163 days in a normal year, with about 20 of them in December alone and as many in January. Driveway spray, mud from tires and condensation on a cold lens all cut the beam, which is why a door that closed fine in August starts refusing in November.
Sun causes the opposite trouble: when it falls full on the receiving lens, it can wash out the infrared beam, and the opener refuses the close. Swapping the two eyes can settle it, though Chamberlain warns the glare may just move from morning to evening; a sun shield covers that case.
When the eyes are fine: the limit, the track and the slab
If both eyes are clean and steady and the door still stops short, the close limit or the path of the door is the next suspect.
A drifted limit leaves the door hovering, touching nothing, while a bent track or a flat-spotted roller makes it bind at one height until the opener backs off.
What a photo eye repair involves
A sensor repair starts with a meter on the thin low-voltage wire, because a staple through the cable or a pinched run behind shelving can look exactly like a misaligned eye.
We realign or replace bent brackets, replace eyes with cracked lenses or failed boards, and run new wire where the old run is damaged. The visit ends with the test the federal standard writes into every opener manual: the closing door must reverse when it meets an object an inch and a half high, or a two-by-four lying flat, on the floor.
Door will not close: questions and answers
Why does my garage door close only when I hold the wall button down?
The opener has found a problem with its photo eyes and will only close while a person holds the button. The federal opener standard allows that constant-pressure close when the eyes are blocked, dirty or misaligned. Clean and aim them; if the door still needs the held button with clean, aimed eyes, an eye or its wiring has failed.
Can a slightly misaligned sensor keep my garage door from closing?
Yes, a small nudge is enough, because the receiving eye needs the beam to land squarely. A bracket bumped by a trash bin, a bike or a car bumper is the usual culprit. Loosen the bracket, aim the eye until its indicator stops flickering, then tighten the bracket; if it will not hold its aim, the bracket is bent.
Can a travel limit setting stop my garage door from closing all the way?
Yes, a close limit set short stops the door a few inches above the slab, even with perfect eyes. Limits can drift after the opener is reset, a new bottom seal is fitted or the door is adjusted. The opener manual shows how to set them, and every change should end with the reverse test using a board on the floor.
What kind of debris in the track stops a garage door from closing?
Anything that catches a roller or drags the edge of the door will do it. Think of a hose, a broom leaning on the track or a dented section. The opener reads the drag as an obstruction and backs up. Clear what you can see from the floor; a dent or a loose track bracket calls for a track repair.
Why won't my garage door close on icy mornings?
Ice on the slab stops the seal before it reaches the concrete, and the opener treats that as something in the way. Scrape the threshold with a plastic tool rather than letting the door crush down onto the ice. If the rubber has torn or cracked from the cold, a new bottom seal lets the door close flat again.
Where to go next
Nearby service areas
This call comes in from Kelso, Minnehaha, Salmon Creek and the rest of our Washington service area.
Want a price before anyone drives over?
Call and describe what the door is doing, or text a photo of the door and the spring above it. You hear the likely repair and where its price starts, then decide.