Opener trouble comes in three flavors
A motor that hums but does not lift usually means a stripped drive gear or a broken trolley, and both are fixable without replacing the whole unit. You press the button, the unit buzzes, the chain or belt may even move, but the door stays put. That is the opener trying and failing to grab the door.
Remotes and keypads that stop pairing are the second common call. Sometimes it is a battery, sometimes the opener's memory has dropped the code, and sometimes the receiver board has failed. We reprogram what can be reprogrammed and replace what cannot.
Safety sensors that block closing cause the third. The door starts down, stops, and reverses, often with the opener light flashing. A bumped sensor, a dirty lens, or low sun hitting the eye straight on will all do it. We realign, clean, and rewire sensors so the door closes and still reverses when something is actually in the way.
One thing this page does not cover: a door that is simply too heavy to lift. That is almost always a spring problem, not an opener problem, and forcing the opener to fight a dead spring will wreck the motor. If the door feels like a boulder when you lift it by hand, start at the spring page instead.
Opener questions, answered plainly
Why does my garage door opener hum but not open the door?
A humming opener that does not move the door usually has a stripped main gear or a broken trolley, so the motor spins without gripping anything. Both parts can be replaced on most openers for far less than a new unit. Pull the red release cord and check the door lifts easily by hand first, because a heavy door points to a spring problem instead.
Why does my garage door start to close and then go back up?
The door reverses because the safety sensors near the floor think something is in its path. A bumped bracket, a cobweb on the lens, or direct sun in the eye will all trigger it. Clean both lenses and check the small lights are steady; if the door still reverses, the sensors need realigning or rewiring.
Is it worth repairing an old garage door opener or should I replace it?
Repair is worth it when the fix is a gear, trolley, remote, or sensor on a unit that otherwise runs fine. Replacement makes more sense when the motor itself has failed, parts are no longer made for the model, or the unit lacks safety sensors entirely. The tech prices both options at your door so you can compare.
How an opener visit goes
- 1
Describe the symptom on the phone
Humming, clicking, flashing lights, a dead remote. Each one narrows down the cause before the van leaves.
- 2
The tech tests the whole system
We check the door balance first, then the motor, drive, sensors, and remotes, so you are not paying to fix the wrong thing.
- 3
Repair or replace, your call
You get a price for the repair, and a price for a new opener if the old one is near the end. You choose. No call-out fee inside Boulder County either way.
- 4
Everything gets tested before we leave
Remotes, keypad, wall button, and the safety reverse all get run through before the van pulls out.
Opener repairs beyond Boulder
Both vans cover opener calls across the county, with the same no call-out fee from Lafayette to the mountain edges of Boulder County. If you are outside Boulder proper, the Lafayette page and the Boulder County page explain what to expect on timing.
Opener acting up?
Call and describe the sound it makes. We can usually tell you the likely fix on the phone.
Tell us what the opener is doing
Humming, clicking, dead remote, door that reverses. Describe it and we will reply with what we think and when we can come.