Symptom check
One side of the garage door is higher than the other
A garage door hanging crooked usually has one lift cable that snapped or slipped off its drum, so one corner lost its support. That is a repair call, and the door is safer left where it is than closed.
Updated
Leave a crooked door where it hangs
Do not press the remote or try to push the door down level. A crooked door is often held by one cable and a few rollers, and running it can twist a section, kink the track or pull the door out of the opening altogether. Unplug the opener, keep cars and people out of its path, and send us photos of both bottom corners.
What usually causes it, in order
Each of these tips the door in its own way, and the low side usually shows where to look.
- Most common
A lift cable off its drum or snapped
What you notice: The low side has a cable hanging slack or lying on the floor, while the other side's cable is still tight.
The repair: Fit new lift cables, wind both drums evenly and set the door level before it runs again. Garage Door Cable Replacement, from $185
- Common
A car, mower or trailer caught the door
What you notice: The bottom section is dented or bowed, rollers near the point of impact have popped out, and the track there may be bent.
The repair: Reset the rollers in a trued track, replace bent track pieces, and price any section the impact creased. Off-Track Garage Door Repair, from $175
- Common
A broken roller or a cracked hinge
What you notice: One roller stem has snapped or a wheel has split, and that edge of the door has dropped out of the track at the hinge.
The repair: Replace the broken rollers and hinges, then guide the door back into true track. Garage Door Roller and Hinge Replacement, from $195
- Less common
A track that pulled away from the wall
What you notice: A vertical track leans out from the jamb, with lag screws backed out or a bracket torn from wood that has gone soft.
The repair: Refasten the track plumb into sound framing, replacing rotted backing where needed. Garage Door Track Repair, from $165
- Less common
One extension spring broken or stretched
What you notice: On a door with springs along the horizontal tracks, the spring on the low side is broken or hangs longer than its partner.
The repair: Replace both extension springs and thread a safety cable through every one, so the two sides lift together. Garage Door Spring Replacement, from $245
Safe checks before you call
Use your eyes only, and keep your hands off the cables, the drums and the low corner of the door.
- Note which side is low and roughly how far, judging against a siding board or the jamb rather than touching the door.
- Check the low bottom corner for a cable lying loose or showing broken strands.
- Look up at the drum on the low side: a cable that has unwound or left its groove explains the tilt.
- Scan both tracks for rollers sitting outside the channel or a bend in the steel.
- Pull the opener's plug so no remote or phone app can start it.
- Photograph each bottom corner, both drums and the full door, from the side of the garage.
Why one side of the door dropped
One side drops when it loses its cable, because each bottom corner hangs from its own lift cable, wound on a drum at one end of the torsion shaft.
The springs twist the shaft, the drums turn, and the two cables raise both corners at the same rate. If one cable snaps, frays through at the bottom bracket or comes off its drum when the door lands on something, that corner falls while the other stays up, and the door wedges in the track at an angle.
On a door with side extension springs, each spring pulls a cable over pulleys to its own corner, so a broken spring or a cable off a pulley leaves the same lopsided door.
Can a crooked door wait for the repair?
Yes, it can wait, and leaving it is safer than closing it, as long as the door stays still, the opener is unplugged and nobody walks or parks under it.
Closing a crooked door is how a cable problem becomes a panel and track problem. The low side reaches the floor first, the high side keeps coming, and the sections twist across their hinges. If the opening has to be closed up tonight, say so when you call, and the visit starts with making it safe.
When something hit the door, or the wind did
A bumper is the classic cause: a car backing out before the door clears, or pulling in an inch too far, pushes the bottom section and pops the rollers out of the track.
Riding mowers, trailer tongues and a ladder that tipped over do the same at lower speed. Toward the Gorge, wind adds its own load. At the Troutdale airport, straight across the Columbia from Camas, east gusts reach 40 mph on roughly 15 days in a typical year, and a wide double door taking that push flexes across its sections and strains the rollers at each hinge.
A crooked door can usually be saved
A crooked door is usually repairable, because cables, rollers and track take the damage first while the sections often come through intact.
The repair starts by clamping the door so it cannot move, then winding the tension off the springs before any cable is touched. We guide the rollers back, true or replace bent track, hang new cables, rewind the springs and level the door. A section creased straight across is priced on its own, and on a tract door we look for a matching panel profile before suggesting a new door.
Door crooked or off track: questions and answers
Is it safe to leave my garage door crooked until it is repaired?
Yes, if it stays still, the opener is unplugged and nobody goes under it. A crooked door can shift when bumped, so keep cars out of its path and children out of the garage. If it is hanging open and the house needs securing tonight, tell us when you call and the visit can begin with making it safe.
Why shouldn't I close a garage door that is crooked or off track?
Because the low side lands first and the rest of the door twists against it. Closing it bends hinges, kinks the track and can crease a section that was undamaged, and a door with a failed cable can come out of the track entirely. Leave it where it sits and keep the opener unplugged.
Why did only one side of my garage door drop?
Each bottom corner hangs from its own lift cable, so when one cable snaps or slips off its drum, only that side loses its support. The other cable keeps its corner up, and the door wedges at an angle. On side-spring doors, a broken spring or a cable off a pulley does the same thing.
Is my garage door ruined if it hangs crooked or came off the track?
Usually not. An off-track door tends to damage the cheaper parts first: cables, rollers, hinges and track. A section creased straight across, or several bent sections, can tip the math toward a new door, and in that case you get photos and a price for each option so the choice is yours.
What knocks a crooked garage door off its track to begin with?
A failed cable, a car or mower catching the bottom section, or a broken roller is the usual start. A loose track bracket or a door driven hard against an obstruction can do it too. Once one roller leaves the track, the next trip tends to pull more out, which is why stopping early saves parts.
Will running the opener make a crooked garage door worse?
Yes. An opener pushes or pulls through the trolley with no sense of which side is low, and a door wedged at an angle binds harder on every trip until a hinge cracks or a section folds. The force limit may stop it, but often after the damage is done. Keep it unplugged until the door is level.
Where to go next
Nearby service areas
This call comes in from Downtown Vancouver, Fourth Plain Village, Kelso and the rest of our Washington service area.
Want a price before anyone drives over?
Call and describe what the door is doing, or text a photo of the door and the spring above it. You hear the likely repair and where its price starts, then decide.