Farmington Hills particulars
Farmington Hills' 'When is a Permit Required' page lists 'Garage.' and 'Window and exterior door replacement.' among the cases that need a building permit. It does not name garage door replacement, so reading an overhead door into 'exterior door' is our inference, not the city's statement. Ask the Building Division at 31555 W. Eleven Mile Rd, 248-871-2450, which way it goes. On LARA's Statewide Jurisdiction List, enforcement sits with the city itself.
Farmington Hills has a median home value of $333,200, and 53.7 percent of its homes were built before 1980. An opener of any age still needs checking. If the door does not reverse promptly on an obstruction, the sensitivity may be set wrongly, which DASMA calls dangerous, and it recommends a trained door systems technician for that adjustment. DASMA says the wall button should be at least five feet above the floor.
For cold months, its technical sheet says a door in a climate of extreme heat or cold should be kept closed where possible and lubricating as the manufacturer directs. Pay a deposit as work begins and the balance as it progresses, not the whole job up front. The distance to Farmington is 1.7 miles.
Opener repair in Farmington Hills: what to know
Michigan's Part 8 electrical rule says no electrical permit is required to install or replace electric utilization equipment approved for connection to a suitable permanently installed receptacle. A cord-and-plug opener on an existing outlet fits that wording, though openers are not named in it. A new circuit or outlet is different: MCL 339.5731 says only a licensed individual may install electrical wiring, subject to exceptions.
So ask the company what it plans to do about power. If there is no suitable receptacle, the federal installation instructions tell you to contact a licensed electrician. After any repair the door should reverse on a 1 1/2 inch object or a 2 by 4 laid flat, and DASMA wants a trained technician to handle sensitivity settings. Farmington Hills' Building Division can tell you whether the city wants a permit for your specific change.
Permits for opener repair in Farmington Hills
The Part 8 electrical rule says no electrical permit is required to install or replace equipment approved for connection to a suitable permanently installed receptacle.
Many cities run their own building department, so start by asking the City of Farmington Hills building department who issues garage door permits.
Opener problems that cannot wait
- The door does not reverse on the test object or on contact.
- A person or vehicle is trapped, or the door closes on something.
- The door is stuck open and the property cannot be secured.
- The door is heavy, drops or will not hold itself up.
- A remote or keypad that has stopped working while the wall button works.
- A worn light bulb or a noisy opener with the door working normally.
What to check before you call
Try this first: find the opener's power cord and look for the outlet it plugs into before the visit.
- Check that the opener is plugged in and the outlet is live.
- Replace the remote battery and try the wall button.
- Clear the path of the photo eyes, wipe both lenses and check that each shows a steady light.
- Run the reversal test with a 2 by 4 laid flat, and stop using the opener if it fails.
- Note the opener's make and the date on its label.
What opener repair costs
The estimate below is the Michigan-wide one, adjusted for Michigan wages and not for Farmington Hills in particular. The same table is on the opener repair page. How we estimate costs. Prices as of Oct 19, 2026.
| Item | Figure | What it is |
|---|---|---|
| Estimated range, not a quote | $105 to $270 per job | Built from two national published ranges, adjusted by the Michigan garage door technician median wage ratio (0.94). Too few Michigan garage door companies publish a price to show a range, so none is shown. |
| Michigan median hourly wage, mechanical door repairers | $25.18 an hour | Nearest BLS code (49-9011, mechanical door repairers), read through O*NET OnLine. Pay, not price. |
| Michigan 25th to 75th percentile hourly wage | $21.73 to $33.03 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| Michigan median annual wage | $52,370 a year | Pay, not price. |
| Detroit-Warren-Dearborn median hourly wage | $24.12 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| Grand Rapids-Wyoming-Kentwood median hourly wage | $28.65 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| Kalamazoo-Portage median hourly wage | $29.42 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| Lansing-East Lansing median hourly wage | $30.96 an hour | Pay, not price. |
| United States median hourly wage, same occupation | $26.79 an hour | Same occupation, national, comparison only. Pay, not price. |
How we estimate costs: the Estimated range row is a model, not a quote. It takes two published national ranges for this job (cost guides from third-party sites that we have not verified and do not cite) and multiplies them by Michigan's garage door technician median wage ratio to the US (0.94, BLS May 2025 data read through O*NET OnLine, using mechanical door repairers as the nearest occupation). The wage rows in the table are what that occupation is paid, which is not a price. Where a Michigan company publishes a price, it only keeps the low end of the range from sitting above it. We have not collected quotes, and only two Michigan garage door companies published a regular dollar price we could count, so no range of Michigan prices is shown. A real quote can land outside the range. Full method.
Questions about opener repair
What do you do when your garage door opener stops working?
Check the power, the remote battery and the photo eyes first. If the opener runs but the door does not move, or you heard a bang earlier, stop and call a company, because a broken spring can cause both. The federal rule says to have a qualified service person repair springs and cables.
How do I test the auto-reverse on my garage door opener?
Lay a 2 by 4 flat on the floor, or use a 1 1/2 inch object, and close the door: it must reverse on contact. The federal rule says to test monthly and after any adjustment. If it fails, stop using the opener.
Do all garage door openers have to reverse?
Openers made on or after January 1, 1993 for sale in the United States must meet the federal standard, which includes reversal on contact within 2 seconds. An opener made earlier is outside that federal standard, so check the date on the label.