Garage door questions, answered

The part. Rollers, sensors and adjustments sit low; springs, cables and openers sit higher. Ours comes in writing before work starts.

Spring size, cycle rating and whether the door takes one spring or two.

The drive type; jackshaft units and smart features run higher. The opener installation page compares drive types.

With the spring repair page. A snapped spring is the usual cause.

Cable or track trouble, covered on the cable repair page.

Read opener repair first; the photo eyes are the most common culprit.

The door installation page, especially the California rules on openers and seals.

Yes. CPSC counted about 73 children aged 2 to 14 killed under automatic garage doors from March 1982 to the date of its safety alert, which is why reversal and photo-eye rules exist.

Lay a 2x4 flat under the door and close it with the opener. It should reverse on contact. A door that keeps pushing down is a door to stop using, and CPSC's advice is to take the opener out of service until it is put right.

If it has no photo eyes or edge sensor, probably. Openers built since January 1, 1993 must have that second safety device.

They can. About 70% of the city's land sits in CAL FIRE's Very High class, and where the state's wildfire rules apply, the gap around the door is capped at 1/8 inch. The maintenance page covers the three ways to meet it.

Yes, on every residential opener sold or installed since July 1, 2019.

It can deny a request, but Civil Code 4765 requires a written decision with reasons and a way to ask for reconsideration.

Yes: Oak Park, Lake Sherwood, Westlake Village, Agoura Hills and Calabasas, plus every Thousand Oaks neighborhood.