Broke the garage door opener. Now what

Did a pre-listing inspection today. Client ran his landscaping/grass cutting/snow plowing business out of the 2 large pole barns on his property. Many things were sort of handy man repairs and rigged up, which is why I highly recommended that I do an inspection so he can fix things before they are found by the buyer’s home inspector. Went to check the garage door openers in the garage where the cars went, and found the photo sensors were all on the ceiling 4" apart by the opener. Checked the safety reverse, and moved on to the shop with larger doors. Same thing, photo sensors on the ceiling at the opener. Went to check the safety reverse, and the bracket broke that is attached to the door and that the opener slide is attached to. It should be tight to the door in the circle here. Door won’t properly close without manually pushing it down the last 3’. Client was pretty upset, asked what happens in that situation. Told him that since I was operating the door in a normal fashion and was not doing anything abusive, it is his problem to fix. He didn’t like that answer, said it would not have broken in normal use, it only broke cause I stopped the door to check the safety reverse. Since I was doing the inspection for free, I told my brother that it’s better that it happened now to us than to the home inspector for the buyer. He said no, he would have made them fix it. I said I’ll give your money back…wait, I’m not charging you. He got over it, but wasn’t happy about it. If he wasn’t my brother, and if I was getting paid, I’d maybe think hard about a refund or helping make the repair. But I know I don’t need to and didn’t do anything wrong…it happened in the normal course of the inspection and was not from abuse, misuse, or negligence. But I just feel that I caused it. I know, get it over it. Correct?garage door bracket.pdf (1.6 MB)

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You lost me here…

The search function is your friend! There are several threads about this circumstance. The most notable thing you need to consider is: Did you do a proper door inspection before you operated it? This will save you a lot of time and inconvenience. Doors with loose missing rollers, missing brackets and fasteners or improper installation (as you indicated in your post) should not be operated.

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His brother didn’t want the sensors by the door opening so mounted them on the ceiling directly pointed at each other.

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Ok. So that serves what purpose?

Lol. Because some people have a hard time keeping their sensors aligned or for some reason think they will. I’ve seen it a few times. Here’s an example off the internet…
sensors

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It’s a result of when people were adamant that the guberment wasn’t going to tell them how to be safe, lol.

Geez!! If I ever saw that I would refuse to inspect anything related until corrected…

Gotcha! Never saw where Folks wanted to be anti garage door safety…but I’m sure it’s out there…

It’s the same people who still won’t wear a seat belt. I fought that for a while but now it feels weird to NOT wear a seat belt.

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Maybe you did. What method did you use to “test” the ‘mechanical reverse’ function?? You kinda avoided that little detail!!

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Did you operate the door by hand, after the inspection of it that Bob spoke of
here, BEFORE pushing any buttons? I found many loose items by doing both. And, would not electrically operate the door. I just noted it in my report and moved on.

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Brothers…go figure.

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Yeah, really, Christopher! I can smack my brother but you better not! :crazy_face:

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I’ve seen the photo sensors mounted like that, as well as on the ceiling above the garage door. Reported as a deficiency. For the damage done by operating the door…as long as you inspected the door and the components (check for it being locked too), you should be good to check for proper operation, minus the safety reverse…but may also have force sensitive… you should not be liable if something goes wrong. We get paid to prove what works and what doesn’t work. Just like a plumbing drain…we inspect a sink by looking at the drain, then turn water on…sometimes it leaks, although it may visually look ok, it may not be ok and can’t be discovered until putting it to the test under normal operating conditions.

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Are we being “punked”, here?
If the sensors are mounted at the ceiling, why would you need to test them? You already know that they won’t “work”. They’re. Mounted. On. The. Ceiling!

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I think he was mostly testing the “reverse” function, that’s when the auto operator arm broke.

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You are not liable Period. If the guy bypassed these safety items Just Assume he most likely never Checked or adjusted the closing force feature either
My policy anymore when I see a Micky Mouse set up like when they mount the sensors like this…Or any other significant deficiency (with any system*)…Call it out! That it needs correction by a Qualified person and Then All Safety features be Checked (By a qualified person) After The Repair.

  • This applies to other components and systems, not just Garage doors.
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If the door showed installation defects and errors (it did according to the OP) then it should have noted and no motor test should have been performed.

If a reverse test was performed, was it the official test listed in every door opener guide and published by DASMA? It sounds like it was most likely the “out-stretched arm test” (or similar).

If you test a door (or anything) without following prescribed standards and the item breaks, you really have no defense.

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George. Say less. That’s my best recommendation.
You will get it once your routine becomes grounded.

The garage vehicle door was operated under normal operational parameters.
Operate the remote. Don’t touch the vehicle door period.
When something goes amiss, leave it alone!

The garage vehicle door either operated or did not operate successfully.
List the defects and move on.

Never, ever talk to the owner of the residence during an inspection. Refer all their questions to the attending real estate agent.

Hope that helps.
Robert

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