Short answer: Garage door springs do the heavy lifting, not the opener. When one breaks, the door gets too heavy to open safely. We replace the broken spring (and its partner, on two-spring doors) with springs sized to your door's measured weight, then balance and test the door. Same-day service is available across the Bay Area.
Signs your spring is broken
- A loud bang from the garage, often when nobody was using the door
- A gap of an inch or two in the coiled spring above the door
- The opener runs, the door lifts a few inches and then stops or reverses
- The door feels extremely heavy when you try to lift it by hand
- The door goes up crooked, or one cable hangs loose
- On older doors with springs along the side tracks: a stretched or snapped spring hanging from the track
Please don't try to fix this yourself. A torsion spring on a standard double door holds enough wound-up energy to break bones. The winding cones and set screws are where most DIY injuries happen. And don't keep pressing the opener button. It wasn't built to lift the full door weight and you'll likely strip the gear or burn out the motor.
Torsion vs. extension springs
Most Bay Area homes built or re-doored in the last 25 years have torsion springs: one or two coils on a steel shaft right above the door. Older homes, especially a lot of ranch houses in the East Bay and South Bay, still have extension springs that stretch along the horizontal tracks on each side.
| Torsion springs | Extension springs | |
|---|---|---|
| Where | On a shaft above the door | Along both upper tracks |
| How it feels | Smoother, more controlled lift | Can be jerky as springs age |
| When it breaks | Stays on the shaft | Can whip unless safety cables are installed |
| Typical life | About 10,000 cycles standard, more with high-cycle springs | About 10,000 cycles |
If you have extension springs without safety cables running through the middle, we'll add them. It's a cheap fix that keeps a snapped spring from flying across the garage. Some homeowners convert to torsion while we're there. That's optional, and we'll tell you honestly whether it's worth it for your door.
What we do on a spring repair
- Weigh and measure. We don't just match the old spring, because the old spring may have been wrong. We check the door weight, height and drum size, then pick the wire size, inside diameter and length that balances it.
- Replace both springs on two-spring doors. Springs wear at the same rate. If one broke, the other is close behind, and replacing both now saves you a second service call next year.
- Inspect the rest of the system. Cables, drums, bearings, bottom brackets and rollers all get looked at. A broken spring often means the cables took a shock too.
- Balance and test. A balanced door stays put when you let go of it halfway up. We set the tension so it does, then reset the opener's force and travel limits and check the safety reverse.
How long should garage door springs last?
A standard spring is rated for roughly 10,000 open-and-close cycles. A household that uses the garage as its front door can hit four or five cycles a day, which works out to around six or seven years. Use it more and you'll get less.
If you've replaced springs more than once, ask us about high-cycle springs. They use a longer, heavier spring that's rated for 25,000 cycles or more. They cost more upfront but often make sense for busy families or for doors that double as the main entrance.
Spring problems we see around the Bay Area
Coastal rust. In San Francisco's Sunset and Richmond districts, Daly City, Pacifica and Alameda, the fog and salt air rust springs much faster than inland. Rust adds friction between the coils and hides small cracks. Coastal customers do well with oil-tempered or galvanized springs and a quick lubrication once or twice a year.
Heavy wood doors. Plenty of older homes in Berkeley, Palo Alto and Los Gatos still have custom wood doors that weigh far more than steel. Those need properly sized springs. An undersized spring on a heavy wood door wears out fast and makes the opener strain.
Cold mornings. Springs tend to fail on the first cold mornings of the year, when the steel is a bit more brittle. Spring calls across the trade tend to spike right then.
Brands and parts
We replace springs on Clopay, Amarr, Wayne Dalton (including TorqueMaster systems), C.H.I., Raynor, Martin and most other residential doors. Our trucks carry the common wire sizes, so most spring jobs get finished on the first visit.
Spring repair questions
Can I open my garage door with a broken spring?
It's not safe to try. Without the spring, a double door can weigh 150 to 300 pounds and can drop suddenly. If your car is stuck inside, call us and we'll make a same-day visit our priority. Don't pull the emergency release while the door is open. It can come down hard.
Should both springs be replaced at once?
On a door with two torsion springs, yes. They've done the same number of cycles, so the second one is usually near the end of its life. Replacing both keeps the door balanced and saves you another service call.
Why did my spring break when nobody was using the door?
Springs are under tension all the time, not just when the door moves. A spring that's been fatigued by thousands of cycles, or weakened by rust, can finally crack while the door is sitting closed. That's why so many people hear the bang in the middle of the night.
How much does garage door spring repair cost?
It depends on the door's size and weight, whether you have one or two springs, and whether you choose standard or high-cycle springs. We'll measure, give you a written price on site, and wait for your OK before starting.
Do you offer a warranty on springs?
Yes. Ask about our current parts and labor warranty when you call. [WARRANTY DETAILS]
