Help me get into my garage
July 28, 2024 5:42 PM Subscribe
My previously functioning manual 4 panel garage door is stuck in the locked position. How can I get inside?
I have an old 4 panel manual lift garage door pictured here. My second garage door, person door, and two windows are from the 1920s and are boarded up. My only way into the garage is this malfunctioning door. My key turns and appears to unlock it (the lock/handle looks kind of like this one) but when I pull up, jiggle it, etc. it doesn’t budge. It’s always been fiddly but has eventually opened. There’s a small chance something fell in there (it’s pretty full). The opening mechanism is a pretty simple wire across the inside of the door that disengages the lock to allow the door to be raised.
Are there any steps besides taking a crowbar to my boarded up window and try to slip through the broken casement window 6’ up?
I have an old 4 panel manual lift garage door pictured here. My second garage door, person door, and two windows are from the 1920s and are boarded up. My only way into the garage is this malfunctioning door. My key turns and appears to unlock it (the lock/handle looks kind of like this one) but when I pull up, jiggle it, etc. it doesn’t budge. It’s always been fiddly but has eventually opened. There’s a small chance something fell in there (it’s pretty full). The opening mechanism is a pretty simple wire across the inside of the door that disengages the lock to allow the door to be raised.
Are there any steps besides taking a crowbar to my boarded up window and try to slip through the broken casement window 6’ up?
I think it's pretty likely the wire across the door that fixes to the handle and the catch at each side of the door has either broken or stretched enough not to pull the catch open enough. That it's been difficult to open recently was your only warning :-(
If the wire has broken, it's probably opening one one side and not the other. Careful observation will tell you if it's only one side you need to work on or two. Some combination of stiff wire or similar may get you into a position where you can trip the catch - knowing exactly where it is and what it looks like will help with that (if you could just slip in there and take a photo of the inside, that would help ;-)). If it's stretched, can you force the handle to twist more, maybe pulling the cable that bit extra it needs to release the catch? This may damage the handle but, at this point, it's unlikely you'll get into the shed without damaging something.
posted by dg at 6:57 PM on July 28
If the wire has broken, it's probably opening one one side and not the other. Careful observation will tell you if it's only one side you need to work on or two. Some combination of stiff wire or similar may get you into a position where you can trip the catch - knowing exactly where it is and what it looks like will help with that (if you could just slip in there and take a photo of the inside, that would help ;-)). If it's stretched, can you force the handle to twist more, maybe pulling the cable that bit extra it needs to release the catch? This may damage the handle but, at this point, it's unlikely you'll get into the shed without damaging something.
posted by dg at 6:57 PM on July 28
You could try taking off the molding around the door and see if you can get some space between the door and the track. Maybe you could fiddle with the wire that is bound or if it is snapped, maybe you can manually move the latch if there is room.
I don't know the nature of the full setup or what is inside, but with what information I have, I would take the plywood off of the person door before I tried to climb through a casement window 6' in the air.
I might even consider taking an axe to the four panel door before I climbed through a window 6' up, but that seems like a last resort.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:10 PM on July 28 [1 favorite]
I don't know the nature of the full setup or what is inside, but with what information I have, I would take the plywood off of the person door before I tried to climb through a casement window 6' in the air.
I might even consider taking an axe to the four panel door before I climbed through a window 6' up, but that seems like a last resort.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 7:10 PM on July 28 [1 favorite]
If you can lift the door even slightly, and the cables fell off the lock, you might be able to grab them under the door with a ruler.
posted by nickggully at 8:10 PM on July 28
posted by nickggully at 8:10 PM on July 28
If no one has a better solution, i would see if it's possible to get access to the side latches by drilling a 1" hole with a circular bit near each of them (if only one side is sticking, then just that side), I'm guessing at the same height as the handle and an inch or two in from the side.
posted by zippy at 9:27 PM on July 28
posted by zippy at 9:27 PM on July 28
Response by poster: Thank you all for your ideas. Trying with a coat hanger to reach the wire didn’t work and, in the end, the path of least resistance (and least distraction that I would then need to fix) was the window. Hilariously I discovered the board covering my window was secured with only one screw—through the glass—to a small board bracing the inside. My neighbor volunteered for the task and opened the door from the inside.
The metal wire engaging the lock was comprised of two pieces of wire tired together that had come apart. I’ve installed a new, thicker, cable and it seems to be working. Now, about time to saw open the pressboard covering the inside of the people door so I can have a second entrance.
posted by Bunglegirl at 4:27 PM on July 29 [2 favorites]
The metal wire engaging the lock was comprised of two pieces of wire tired together that had come apart. I’ve installed a new, thicker, cable and it seems to be working. Now, about time to saw open the pressboard covering the inside of the people door so I can have a second entrance.
posted by Bunglegirl at 4:27 PM on July 29 [2 favorites]
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On the other hand, it could be possible the connecting wire may have broken between the handle and the locking mechanism, in which case you might be SOL :-(
posted by Reverend John at 5:54 PM on July 28