The garage door is the largest moving object in your home.
This means that if it malfunctions, you could be stuck outside of your house. This is especially an issue if you have children and must get inside.
If your garage door opener is broken, you will have to know how to open garage door manually from outside. Here are some instructions
Fortunately, here are some key points that you can follow to open your garage door manually from outside
You can use a spare key or find the emergency release for your garage door opener to get into the garage. If you are without these two items, you can also try to pry the door open.
If none of these options are available, you can climb onto your garage roof and go through a small access panel at the top of the door.
This is not an ideal solution because it could damage your roof or cause injury. If possible, call someone for help instead of trying to do this yourself.
If you have a garage door opener, but it is not working, the solution is relatively simple: use the emergency release mechanism on your garage door or get in using an extra key.
You will find the emergency release for most top-mounted garage doors at the base of one of the door panels. Push this back to disengage the catch and you will be able to open the garage door manually. Do this with caution, as it is still heavy and can fall quickly.
If you cannot find an emergency release on your garage door, check for one hidden in a large crack or hole in one of the panels.
This type of emergency release works exactly like a door handle, pushing it towards the center of the garage door to release the catch. This is not hidden very well on purpose, so you can access it easily in case of an emergency.
The emergency release for a garage door opener is similar to that of a car door or refrigerator. It consists of two parts: the electrical release cord and the wall-mounted latch mechanism. The latter should be self-explanatory; it’s simply what triggers your garage door to open when you push the release.
The cord, however, is a bit more difficult to understand at first. It will be located inside of your garage or connected to the wall near the door opener button on an outdoor wall that leads into your garage.
It’s usually red and yellow; the colors of most electrical devices (and if not, you should definitely stop what you’re doing and consider calling an emergency locksmith). This cord will be wrapped around a pulley above your garage door at the very top of your garage door’s track.
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If you cannot find either type of emergency release on your garage door or if they are broken, approach one side of the garage door and try prying it open.
You will need to find something that you can wedge into the crack between the door and the floor. A screwdriver or crowbar should suffice, but do not use anything too sharp because it may cut the rubber on the bottom of your garage door.
The best way to open a garage door is by using an electronic clicker that you can attach to your car’s sun visor.
It doesn’t cost very much and should be available at your local hardware store or department store. The clicker emits radio signals which trigger the opener button in your car to open the door.
Once you are in your garage, you can turn this clicker off. Garage door openers have many different names including “clickers,” “code grabbers,” and “remotes.”
If you are desperate to know how to open the garage door manually from outside and if you don’t want to buy a clicker, you can build your own. This isn’t as difficult as it sounds.
All you will need is a keychain, switchblade (or something similar), wire strippers, electrical tape, and a keychain remote.
Solder another wire to this one and attach the switchblade between them. Make sure that you can turn on and off the switch easily by flipping it with your fingers.
If you don’t have a clicker or are unable to use it, you may be able to use the manual mechanism attached to your garage door. This will only work if you can reach it from the outside of your garage.
Typically, there is a steel latching rod that attaches to an opener inside of your garage that reaches out into the open space near your garage door’s track (alternatively, you may see a cable pulley).
You can grab this latching rod or cable with something like a hanger and pull it toward the opener inside your garage. This will retract the latch which holds the garage door closed.
In order to know about how to open a garage door manually from outside, you can also find manuals online for your specific garage door opener model by searching “manual [your make and model].”
This will require a lot of searching, but it’s generally the safest way to access the information you need.
Once you have opened your garage door manually, you should reset the opener to prevent this from happening again.
The garage is usually a safe place to be, but if you are cornered without the ability to back up then your chances of being hit by a garage door dramatically increase.
After reading this article, you should have learned a lot about how to open a garage door manually from outside. But if things are not in your hands, never hesitate to call a professional instead of risking your life and safety.
