this post was submitted on 19 Jul 2023
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No Stupid Questions

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I locked myself out of my detached garage. The remote to open it no longer works.

It's a really old garage and the opener is from 1999.

Trying to lift it obviously doesnt work. There's an emergency release you can activate with a key, but the keyhole is crammed full of old hard metallic paint that I can't get out.

Anything else I can do? Or do I have do smash the thing down?

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[–] [email protected] 75 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Also worth mentioning: if you fuck up the door trying to get into it,

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO FIX A GARAGE DOOR YOURSELF!

Light percussive maintenance to bend a panel back into shape is one thing, but never ever try to take one apart if you aren't qualified. There are dangerous springs under tension that can and will kill you.

Get a professional

[–] dan1101 5 points 1 year ago

The side springs at least are harmless if the door is up and they are not under any tension. But you just have to be double sure the door is secure in the up position.

[–] [email protected] 30 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes. You can reach in between the top of the door and the wall with a bent wire, and use it to grab the pull cord that releases the door.

It is difficult to describe, but there are plenty of videos out there showing this method. It is surprisingly easy on some doors once you get the technique right.

For those stumbling upon this comment, there are easy ways to protect your garage door from being opened this way - you can fit a guard near the pull cord to prevent it from being hooked.

[–] CarbonatedPastaSauce 3 points 1 year ago

I cut the handle off the rope so people can’t do this. Hopefully OP isn’t as paranoid as I am!

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

You probably don't want there to be an easy solution.

But there's no second egress?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Sounds like you have the key for that little lock. If so clean it out and use it.

If you cannot do that then drill out that little lock.

I would probably just ask my local hardware store what garage door guy they recommend.

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Personally, I'd sorta prefer he hulk smashes it

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago

Or open it vehicularly

[–] DiscoBoy 10 points 1 year ago

Some kind of solvent in the keyhole?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Get a new remote and program it to the same code. Or just try replacing the battery.

[–] vaseltarp 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

You could get a new garage door remote. The code should be as little switches on the inside of the old remote.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

isnt that only for remotes without rolling codes?

[–] dan1101 1 points 1 year ago

Yes but OP says:

opener is from 1999.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Trying to lift it obviously doesnt work

Have you just tried harder?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Any way to dissolve the paint in the keyhole chemically?

[–] Buddahriffic 2 points 1 year ago

I'd start with spraying some WD40 in there, or maybe some paint thinner first. You could use your key as an applicator for paint thinner. But I'd bet that the paint only covers the hole and maybe seeped in a little bit, so you probably just need to break up that initial bubble to get the key in there, then something that will spread to all corners should help loosen it up if it's still bound when you stick the key in.

I'd definitely stick with that door as the angle to get in. You could take a hammer to the door knob as a last resort (assuming it's not a deadbolt lock, though even those will fail against tools and violence unless you're using hardened steel) and replacing those will be cheaper than anything on a garage door, assuming you don't get the pull cord release suggested in another comment to work.

A locksmith might help, depending on how bound the paint is. Or if you need to destroy the lock and replace it, they could likely help with that, too.

[–] dan1101 4 points 1 year ago

Get a new opener, they are like $15.

But you can't get into your garage if there is a power outage? I would work on that problem.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

If you don't have a walk-in door or window, no. You'd need someone to pick out otherwise remove the lock.

[–] pwalshj 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Remove the lock cylinder and touch the two wires together. Replace cylinder.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

The objective is to open a garage door, not hotwire a car from 1973.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

or a Kia from 2020

[–] pwalshj 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So you don't know how a keyed switch works. Gotcha.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

No garage door uses a keyed switch like that, thanks for playing.

[–] pwalshj 1 points 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago)

Hey, just checking in. Are you still setting the world ablaze with your knowledge? *edit: oh, my bad. I'm proving a point to someone who couldn't even handle lemmy.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Get the pull cord somehow. If there is an emergency release, put a coat hanger between the door slats or drill a small hole into the door to pull it with a coat hanger.

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