By MATT MAURY

One thing that most homeowners take for granted is that their garage doors will open up in the morning and close at night. But it doesn't always happen that way! Here are a few examples of the problems Seattleites can encounter:

Scene 1: A homeowner has a house with a detached garage. The roll-up garage door is the only way to get in or out. The door is raised and lowered by an electric garage door opener. City Light has blown a transformer and all the power in the neighborhood is out. The car is parked in the garage and the person needs it. What to do?

Scene 2: A homeowner has a heavy, solid wood, single-piece garage door. It is raised and lowered with tension springs. One spring breaks, making it virtually impossible to raise the door. A car is parked in the garage. What's a person to do?

Scene 3: A homeowner's car has rolled into the garage door, making it impossible to open. What can be done?

In each of these situations, the homeowner called a contractor who specializes in garage door repairs to solve the problems.

One of these contractors recently said, "I'm in a business where a large percentage of my calls are for emergencies. People never even think about their garage doors or automatic openers until they won't open. I can almost always get a door open quickly, however, repairs sometimes take a few days because of parts availability."

Many times emergency situations can be avoided through proper planning or preventative maintenance. Planning requires a homeowner to provide multiple means of access to a garage area, even in the event of a power failure or earthquake. When automatic garage door openers are installed, every family member should be taught how to use the emergency release mechanism.

Preventative maintenance should be done yearly. The wheels on roll-up doors are ball bearing and should be lubricated with a WD-40 type product. If a wheel will not spin freely, it should be replaced. Door springs should also be lightly sprayed with a lubricant. At the same time, cables should be checked to make sure that they are not frayed or weakened by wear.

If the garage door is raised by springs that are under tension, a homeowner should never try to tighten or loosen them. If they snap or break, serious injury can occur. These adjustments need professional skills.

Many doors are held together by hinges, which should be checked to assure that all the nuts are tightly fastened. Lockwashers can be added, when necessary. Also, check to be sure that there is no rust build-up that might "freeze" a hinge or wheel.

The motors for electric garage door openers do not require preventative maintenance. However, it is wise to check every year to assure that the automatic reversing feature is working properly. Ideally, the door will reverse when it reaches five pounds of downward pressure.

With periodic checking, homeowners can identify potential problems and call a professional for assistance before non-opening doors inconvenience them.