All Forum Posts by: Michael Nahm

I'm inclined to believe the management on this one. The motion sensors at the floor make the door open, not close. There is also a sensor in the motor to detect pressure, also triggering the door to open. If the springs somehow busted, the locking mechanism on the chain and the gears of the motor would hold the door in place - the springs ease the weight, they don't hold it, the lock is designed to hold the weight without the springs. So finally the only explanation is that the locking mechanism somehow became unlocked halfway through an open cycle, which would be generous to call that unlikely, but perhaps not impossible. However what is certainly plausible, common even, is that the driver either by misjudgment, distraction or operational error, drove into the door before it was completely open. Not only did they damage the door panels, they shattered their windshield too. Then, embarrassed, scared of the landlord/consequences and perhaps unable to pay for damages, claimed it was not their fault and it must have been the door. If the door came crashing down as the tenant claims, there would likely be some evidence on the hood of their car, at the very least some scratches when the door rubbed as they backed out, maybe even shards of glass stuck under the rubber scratching as the weight of the door dug them into the paint job...see anything like that on the hood of their car?

I dunno. Who knows. I'm just saying the more likely scenario is that the tenant drove into the thing.

 The management company said it was in working order, so why costs to repair and red flags that the cost is split as another resident damaged it...what is the truth-it was fine or it was damaged already or did it damage another person's car as well?

The question I have is how could another resident have been billed too if it was her "fault" ? She called garage door was half open and what? It fell on someone else? Someone drove through it too?  If she has been there a while I would lean toward believing her and have questions but fighting them may be a losing battle. 

I think there's some missing information here. Many good answers above. I would think that if the door came down hard enough to break the glass, then a spring broke. And she would also have a damaged hood as the door would have dragged across the top of it backing away from it. 

What height are the floor sensors? They are supposed to be 5-6" off the floor. A lifted Jeep, or if the sensors are too low, would compromise that safety feature of not letting the door close. 

Did the door come down, smash the glass and then retract upwards? It shouldn't have that amount of downward force. And there's no damage to the door, but she has a damages (or is the service call) bill? 

It's all very mysterious. 

I would complain to the strata and say that they are lucky she didn't sue them or charge them for damages. If they insist on paying the invoice, pay it for her and then take them to small claims court.  There is no way a door should have come down on a vehicle let alone enough to do that damage. Even if a car was parked there, the sensors should have worked.  I'd also post notices and talk to other occupants to see if this has happened before.

Hi Michael,

Was the door coming down and the tenant hit the gas to try to get through before the door (closed, cycled and was ready for a reopen signal)?

People try to do that at apartment complex gates sometimes and get their paint scraped by the heavy gate as it bumps into them. There are signs warning of this--one car only--situation.

Apartment gates are on timers to stay open, and will auto close after so many seconds. If more than one driver tries to get a car through the gate, it may contact the car, which causes the gate to reset and go into re-open mode for another cycle.

I suspect the common garage door may do the same thing. Open, hold open for so long and then re-close if no one is on the sensor.

Trying to beat a closing door to not have to wait for the re-cycle to allow it reopen may have happened here.

Maybe she didn't want to be late for work, or was just impatient.

Or maybe the door just fell because something broke, but maybe not.

Just my 2 cents.

 https://www.tmz.com/2008/11/28/iron-mike-plows-through-iron-gate/

Something doesn’t really add up. If the spring snapped and the garage door crashed down, it would have taken 2 people to lift it up off the car, one to hold it while the car was removed.

Garage doors, even the cheap ones are heavy. I wonder if the door was closing, she backed out, and basically backed into the closing door?

Are there any pictures pre-repair? What exactly was repaired? Was the door itself damaged?

Man that’s insane on the condo’s part. She could just as easily have asked for them to repair her windshield. It certainly sounds like a spring snapped and the full weight fo the door came down. Any chance they have security cameras covering the garage area? (You always want to be on the right side of a he said she said argument, especially if there’s a video.).