Garage Door Spring Repair & Replacement
Springs do almost all of the lifting. Here's what they are, why a broken one is a real safety issue, and how to tell yours is failing.
The part that actually lifts your door
Garage door springs are the heavy-duty coils — either torsion springs mounted on a bar above the door, or extension springs stretched along the upper tracks — that counterbalance nearly all of the door's weight. When you open the door, the springs are doing the actual lifting; the opener motor mainly guides the door along the track and provides a bit of extra pull.
Springs wear out from repeated cycling. Most residential springs are rated for somewhere between 10,000 and 15,000 open-close cycles, and after years of daily use they weaken, stretch, or snap outright — often with a loud bang that you can hear from inside the house.
Why a broken spring isn't a wait-and-see repair
A garage door can weigh anywhere from 150 to over 400 pounds. With a broken spring, that entire weight transfers onto the opener, which was never built to lift it — forcing the issue can burn out the motor or snap the drive gear, turning a spring repair into an opener replacement too.
It's also a genuine safety hazard. An unsupported door can slam down suddenly, and torsion springs in particular store enough tension to cause serious injury if handled without the right winding bars and technique. This is one of the few repairs on this list we'd actively discourage as a DIY project.
How to Tell It's Time to Call
- Door won't open, or only opens partway
- A loud bang from the garage (often the moment of failure)
- The door feels unusually heavy when lifted manually
- Visible gap or separation in the spring coil
- Door closes unevenly or drops suddenly
- Opener strains or makes a grinding noise trying to lift the door
Ready to get this fixed?
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