Repairing Broken Garage Door Springs

Do-it-yourself home repairs and renovations are all the rage right now. There are entire television networks dedicated solely to DIY projects, but that doesn’t mean that all projects are created equal. Unless you’re a licensed professional with extensive experience, there are some projects you just shouldn’t attempt on your own. 

One such project is the repair of broken torsion or extension springs on your garage door. The springs that help your door open and close are under an enormous amount of tension. Torsion springs especially are tightly wound and potentially dangerous, especially to the inexperienced homeowner attempting to make a repair. Not only could you cause significant injury to yourself in the event of an attempted repair gone awry, but also anyone standing in close proximity. Attempting to repair broken garage door springs may also lead to more significant damage to the door itself. In the end, DIY garage door spring repairs can be much more expensive that simply calling a professional from the outset. 

Because torsion spring repairs and replacements are considered very dangerous, it’s often difficult for a non-licensed individual to obtain the correct replacement springs. Working with a professional garage door installation and repair technician ensures not only your safety, but also that you’ll be able to get the right parts for the job. If you suspect that your garage door is in need of repair, be sure to contact a competent technician in your area to ensure that repairs are conducted in a safe and timely manner. Your local garage door installation and repair professional is trained and equipped to handle this dangerous repair, and to do so in a way that mitigates risk to your person or property.

 

Spring Repair of Your Garage Door Can Be Dangerous

While there are certainly many maintenance tasks that the handy homeowner can do themselves when it comes to overhead garage doors, replacing the garage door springs isn’t one of them. Garage door springs are dangerous. Avoid unnecessary risk – garage door spring repairs or replacement is one job you should leave for your local garage door service professional. 

If you are having trouble with your garage door not functioning smoothly and quietly, you can test the door by opening and closing it manually. If it still seems to operate with difficulty, then your springs may possibly be out-of-balance. If the door does not move at all when the garage door opener is activated, yet you hear the motor of the opener trying to move, then your springs  may have broken. 

All garage doors will have one of two different types of springs. Torsion springs can be seen over the top of your closed garage door, whereas extension springs can be found on both sides of the door above the tracks. The springs are the most important part of actually raising and lowering your garage door and, as such, they are tightly wound and under a great deal of tension. Just think of weight they carry as they raise and lower the door. 

Regardless of the type of spring on your garage door, should they snap or break while you are attempting to work on them, they can potentially cause serious injury. Furthermore, the springs of your garage door are attached to brackets at the bottom of the door. Like the springs, these brackets are also under a lot of tension and should only be adjusted by a professional garage door service technician with the experience necessary to do the job safely.

Garage Door Replacement Torsion Springs (Truth & Lies)

For those of you who have a broken garage door torsion spring and are trying to sort through what’s true and what’s a sales gimmick here is some garage door torsion spring fact and fiction, I hope you’ll find very helpful.

There are two types of garage door replacement torsion springs available. The most common type is the “oil tempered spring”, this particular construction has been around since the beginning of garage doors and is the most commonly found torsion spring. The other type of torsion spring that you’ll find is a galvanized torsion spring that is shiny and is touted to last longer and not get your hands dirty. On a side note we don’t recommend consumers handle the springs so who cares about dirty.

Now assuming that you have two identical doors and one door has oil tempered torsion springs and the other has galvanized torsion springs if they are installed at the same time and used the same amount of cycles then the oil tempered torsion spring would break before the galvanized torsion spring, this is a fact. Now here is where it gets tricky.

It’s extremely important that the proper springs are installed on your garage door the same as it would be that you wear the proper size shoe that fits you. It’s also extremely important for safe operation of the garage door manually and with an automatic garage door opener that the door be balanced so here is why “Oil Tempered Springs” are the only way to go.

The keywords here are a “balanced garage door”. The oil tempered garage door torsion springs installed today will still have essentially the same tensile strength one year from now and if the garage door was balanced it will still be balanced a year later. The galvanized garage door torsion springs will have lost approximately 9-15% of their tensile strength causing the garage door to no longer be balanced. In order to re-balance the door a service visit will be required at an added cost to you and tension will be added to the door. Each time tension is added to your garage door you shorten the life of the spring and since galvanized torsion springs continue to lose their tensile strength you’ll need to re-balance the door every year until the spring breaks.

Oil tempered garage door torsion springs cost a few bucks more but you’ll save big in the long run!