A garage door frozen to the ground is a regular winter call in Spokane Valley, WA, and in Liberty Lake and Otis Orchards where melt water sits on the apron. The bottom seal bonds to the slab. The opener then tries to rip the door loose.
Stop doing these
- Do not hold the wall button through a series of tries. You will strip gears or tear the top panel.
- Do not pry under the seal with a shovel, a crowbar, or a board. You will bend the bottom bracket or gouge the slab.
- Do not use an open flame or a torch on the seal.
- Do not pour boiling water across the concrete. It can shock the slab, and the water refreezes into a worse bond.
- Do not pull the red release and then kick the door. If a spring is also broken, the door can drop.
What you can check
- Look along the outside of the bottom seal. If you see ice or the rubber looks welded to wet concrete, it is a freeze.
- Look at the spring above the door. A gap in the coil means the spring snapped, and the freeze is not the whole story. See broken spring signs.
- If the seal is the only thing holding it and the day will warm soon, waiting is reasonable when nobody needs the car.
- If you must leave, call 509-414-6152. We will tell you whether to wait or to request a visit.
After it lets go
A torn or flattened seal will freeze again. That repair is on weather seals. If the opener smelled hot or the chain jumped, mention it. The motor may have been damaged by the strain. Cold-weather context is on cold-weather garage door problems.
This is not a spring-winding job. If you are unsure which failure you have, describe both the ice and any bang you heard. The estimate is free and the repair is quoted before work starts.
FAQ
Will the sun fix a frozen door?
Often, if the apron gets sun and you can wait. A north-facing door or a hard cold day may not release on its own. Call if you need the car.
Can a frozen door break the spring?
The spring usually breaks on its own cycle life. Forcing a frozen door is more likely to damage the opener, the panels, or the seal. A bang still means stop and treat it as a spring.
What happens when you call
- Call 509-414-6152. Tell us your city or neighborhood.
- Describe what the door is doing. Up, down, or stuck partway. A bang, a loose cable, a dead remote, or a door frozen to the slab. If a car is stuck inside or the house is open, say so.
- Get a free estimate and a time. We tell you what it sounds like, how the job is quoted, and the soonest a technician can come. If that is not today, we say so.
Call for a free estimate
Tap to call and tell us what the door is doing. The repair is quoted before any work starts.