Broken garage door spring
One bang from the garage, and the door has not lifted since. That is usually the torsion spring, and it is the one part on the door to leave alone until our technician is with you.
Leave this one alone until we have looked at it.
A torsion spring holds a great deal of energy, and a door off its track can fall. Neither is a job to try with the tools in a garage. Do not force the door or touch the release cord while it is up.
This is emergency work. Leave the door where it is and tell us what it did.
A broken torsion spring announces itself. There is a bang from the garage, loud enough to hear from inside the house, and then nothing looks wrong. The next time you press the button the door will not lift, or it rises two or three inches, stops and settles back down.
Signs it is the spring
- A bang or metallic crack from the garage, often when no one was operating the door.
- The opener runs and strains while the door stays put.
- A gap of an inch or two in the coiled spring on the shaft above the opening.
Some of that overlaps with other faults. A motor that runs while the door stands still can also be a stripped gear or a disconnected trolley. A door hanging crooked, or a cable off its drum, is off track or cable. Grinding in the weeks beforehand is on noises. Other symptoms are on garage door problems.
What the spring is doing
The spring carries the weight of the door. It sits on a steel shaft above the opening, wound under tension at installation, and that stored energy counterbalances the door so a small motor can move it. Break the spring and the full weight lands on the opener, the cables, and anything underneath.
An unbroken spring still holds all of that energy. Do not wind, adjust or replace a garage door spring yourself.
What to do until our technician is there
- Stop pressing the button. Repeated attempts against a broken spring strip opener gears, bend the top section and pull cables off their drums.
- Do not pull the release cord. Leave a stuck-open door open, and keep people, pets and cars out from under it.
- Do not prop the door with a ladder or a length of lumber.
- If the car is shut in, leave it there. Do not try to lift the door by hand.
Cycle rating, and why two quotes differ
A torsion spring is a specified part. Wire size, inside diameter, wound length and direction all have to match your door, and every spring also carries a cycle rating. One cycle is one open and one close, so a busy household works through them faster.
Two springs that look alike can be rated very differently, since a higher rated spring is wound from heavier wire. If two quotes both say "torsion spring" and they are far apart, ask each company what cycle rating it is installing and whether the figure covers one spring or both. We write the installed part and its specification on the invoice. What affects the price covers the rest.
Getting it replaced
Spring work is garage door spring repair, and a door left standing with a snapped spring is emergency work anywhere in Los Angeles County. The inspection and estimate are free whether or not you approve the work, and you can ask about financing.
If the spring is one item on a longer list and the door is old, price a new door beside the repair. You can see one on your own house first, or ask for a free estimate and decide then.
Get the door looked at.
The price is written down before anything is touched, and it holds. Nothing else is done without your say-so.