It's coming to that time of year when the winds are changing and getting stronger and stormier.

I've had issues with keeping my garage door open in such circumstances. Once, it came down whilst I was driving the car out of the garage, resulting in a subtle dent where the roof meets the windscreen.

Previously, I've relied on family members holding it open on the rare occasions I've needed to take the car out (used to walk to work!). But now that I work further out and need to commute, I can't rely on them holding it open.

Any ideas on what I could do to keep it open? The car is too wide for me to use a stick of some kind to support it up (it'sa canopy type door).

If it has springs then they may need to be tightened. Otherwise bungee cord from B&Q, you can attach one end to the wall and the other to the door arm when it is raised.

Embarassingly I've no idea if it has springs. It does have wires either side which roll up as the door is raised. The door car be left in any position and it will stay there. Bungee cord sounds like a good idea.

Sounds like it definitely has some sort of counter-weight/tension system. They are generally adjustable so that is a good place to start before wasting $$$ on bungee.

If you have money to burn, there are two options.
1) A remote control opening/closing system will hold the door no matter what the wind.

2) Replace it with this type, which shouldn't be affected by wind.


To be honest. I know that's a stupidly expensive solution that isn't practical for you, but I thought it was worth talking about anyway.

How about a small bit of angle iron/metal plate on a hinge, fixed to the inside of the frame? Open the door, then swing out the hinged plate and allow the door to rest on it.

That's what I used, when the springs on my old garage door were no longer strong enough to hold it fully open.

Can't see any counterweights but definitely some kind of torsion thing IMO.


The motorised system would be far too slow. The second option looks like a shutter mechanism which is too OTT. But that bar at the bottom of the diagram looks almost exactly like mine!


I was thinking about something similar but not sure how I'd get it to work. Do you have any pics? Even a diagram in paint would do.

I was also thinking about a metal bar that could slot into a hole in the wall and act as a stop but would involve lots of drilling and finding something suitable.

No pics, sorry, we moved 18 months ago.

Here's a crappy 30 second Paint image:



That's from the inside the garage, looking out.

I tilted the hinge, ever so slighty, so the natural position for the plate is folded back against the wall - didn't want it flopping about freely.

[edit]It isn't taking the full weight of the door, so a cut down strap hinge like you have on a garden gate might suffice

Something like this maybe?

With the way my garage door works, that wouldn't help - the hinge is underneath the door. That would help if it was the outside of the garage. I'll have a look later but I reckon I could get the hinge above the door to act like a stop.

Excellent work there Spreadie!

This is what I think will work:



Again looking from inside the garage out.

What did you use to stop the hinge flapping about? I'm thinking of a magnet taped to the wall.

Actually, I've just realised. The position of the hinge depends on how much of the door is inside/outside the frame.

Yep. With my old up-and-over garage door, when it was fully up, it stuck out about 18 inches; like a canopy.

So, it would rest on the hinged plate (when extended), and wasn't able to drop down; until I folded the plate away again.

To stop it flapping about, I tilted the hinge:

Exagerated example


But that will only work if the door rests on the plate when extended, otherwise it'll keep folding back again.

Okay so a few weeks ago, I bought a gate hinge (12" long) and attached it to the wall. I couldn't attach it to the same surface as the garage wall because there was no space whatsoever. Instead I attached it to the side wall. Except it's got 180* of movement so when I pull down on the garage door, it'll fold one way or another. I need a way of temporarily locking it into place.

I've thought about:

- a large block of wood with a deep groove in it. It'd sit on the hinge in a n-shape fashion, against the wall and width of the block should stop the hinge moving side to side.
- an L-shape block of wood attached to the wall. When the hinge is in place, it'd rest against the wall. Magnets would lock it in place.
- a piece of wood/metal attached to the end of the hinge. The lower portion would have magnets which would attract to the metal garage door.



Any advice would be appreciated. The winds are starting up around here.

It's probably me being a bit dense this morning, but I'm struggling to understand the drawings; as far as the function and placement of the hinge is concerned.

I'll grab another coffee and try again.

yellow = inside garage. blue = sky.