In most cases if your garage door won’t open, or opens part of the way then shuts, one of the torsion springs has broken. First and foremost, you have to make sure that the springs on your garage doors are actually broken. There are other issues that may cause your garage door to not work properly. Sometimes it’s even possible that an adjustment to your garage door spring can help make your door work better, without actually needing to replace your garage door spring.

Secondly, if your garage door spring is indeed broken, there are several types of spring systems that are used on garage doors (the most common being torsion springs, but there are also extension springs and TorqueMaster “internal spring systems”)–what you have and what you want to put in place will have an impact on the price. And finally, because this isn’t something that you want to tackle yourself (because garage door springs can be very dangerous to work with), when asking about garage door spring repair costs, you need to factor in more than just the cost of an actual spring.

Keep in mind things like how quickly you can get your spring repaired, and making sure you have the right spring for your specific garage door are important so you can get the longest life out of it. Hiring a qualified garage door repair tech to make sure all the other critical parts of your garage door are in safe working order is important, too. For example you don’t want to have frayed garage door cables or worn out center bearings or broken rollers, as they will certainly lead to problems in the future. When you consider the fact that your garage door is probably the hardest working and most important door in your home, cutting corners on something as vital as the spring that keeps it working properly and safely is never a good idea.

How will I know if my garage door spring breaks?

It’s important to recognize when you have a broken garage door spring. Many people aren’t even aware that their garage door uses springs as the ‘muscle’ to open and close the door, day in and day out, year after year. Understand that the garage door opener / motor simply moves the door up and down under control–it is the highly tensioned springs that do all the heavy lifting. If your garage door is not opening or closing correctly (or if it’s not opening at all), you probably have a problem with the spring that needs attention as soon as possible.

The Basics of How Garage Doors Open and Close

Because of its’ name, many people naturally think that a “garage door opener” is responsible for opening your garage door. What they don’t realize is that garage doors are heavy, and the motor on an opener could never do its job without the help of the torsion springs. If you’ve ever manually opened or closed a garage door with proper springs, you’ll see that it is almost weightless and effortless to move, because the springs are doing all the work. Try again with the same door with broken springs… and you’ll experience something very different!

A garage door is pulled open by the torsion springs and pushed closed by gravity. The door’s weight, however, is not enough to overcome the force created by the coiled spring as it resists movement. Hence why a broken garage door spring will have you frustratedly putting your foot in front of one end of the track while pulling with all your might on the other side… or worse yet, needing help from someone else just to get the door open at all.

The Correct Garage Door Springs Will Give You a Balanced Door

The basics of garage door springs are just that – basic. They are tightly wound coils of steel that provide the counterbalance for your garage door. When they are broken or out of balance, it can cause all sorts of havoc with opening and closing the door. Garage door torsion springs are the main component of a garage door (depending on the size and weight of the door, you may only have a single garage door spring, while other garage doors need 2 or more). These torsion springs provide the tension necessary to lift the heavy weight and roll the door up into its storage position.

Tension in a torsion spring can be lost over time, which means that it will need to be replaced periodically. The typical life expectancy of a torsion spring can range from 7 years to as long as 20 years or more before they eventually break, depending on a variety of things such as how much it is used, weather conditions, and whether it was the appropriate spring for the job when it was installed. But not every garage door torsion spring is equal.

Just like there are options when choosing a garage door – from size to materials used, whether the door is insulated or not or if it has glass windows or not – there is no “one size fits all” approach to garage springs either. Each door must have it’s proper springs in order to work properly. When you hire qualified garage door contractors for replacing garage door springs, they will take all of these factors into consideration and make sure to select the correct spring (or springs) to give you a balanced door.

What is a balanced garage door?

A properly balanced garage door should allow you to manually open and close it easily. If left in the “half way open and half way closed” position, the door should stay in position without swinging open or closed on its own.

New Garage Door Springs Will Keep Your Garage Door Safe as Well

A properly balanced garage door should not have to be pulled very hard in order to open, even though it weighs a lot. And when closing, gravity will do its job and pull the door down when you let go. But it will do so in a controlled manner – it shouldn’t come crashing to the ground.

Can you fix a broken garage door spring?

A broken residential garage door spring needs to be replaced. Springs are made to bear an immense amount of tension, and like any mechanical object, they will eventually weaken with time. When they break and we talk of a ‘repair’, we are talking about replacing the spring (or springs), and returning the door to normal operation. Few homeowners are skilled in the intricacies of a garage door repair, especially when dealing with springs, and rightly so. If you don’t know what you’re doing, please contact a professional who is experienced in handling garage door springs.

What kind of garage door springs do you need?

There are two basic types of spring systems used to open a garage door; torsion springs and extension springs, with torsion springs being far more common. Among the torsion spring family, there are two variations to be aware of; the more standard, coiled torsion spring that you can see exposed above the top of your garage door, and the TorqueMaster.