My Garage Door Spring Snapped
Leave the door where it is and stop pressing the opener button. A broken spring drops the whole weight of the door onto the opener and the cables. Navarro Garage Door replaces broken springs across Fremont, Newark and Union City, starting at $200 installed. Open 24 hours, seven days a week. Call (510) 443-1883.
Right now
Do this before anyone arrives
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Stop using the opener
Every press puts the full weight of the door through the drive gear.
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Leave it where it is
If the door is open, leave it open and park outside rather than under it.
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Don't lift it by hand
A door with a broken spring can weigh over 150 pounds with nothing holding it up.
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Keep everyone out
Keep children and pets out of the garage until someone has looked at it.
How to tell
Signs the spring has gone
- A loud bang from the garage, often heard from inside the house
- A visible gap in the spring on the bar above the door
- The door won't lift, or feels impossibly heavy by hand
- The opener strains, lifts a few inches, then stops
Why
What causes it
Springs are rated in cycles, not years. A common 10,000 cycle spring on a door that opens four times a day reaches the end of that rating in about seven years. The spring does nearly all the lifting, and the opener only guides a door the spring has already balanced. When the spring goes, the opener is suddenly asked to lift the whole door on its own, which is the one thing it was never built to do.
Do it yourself?
Where the line is
Spring replacement is the one garage door job that is dangerous to attempt. A torsion spring holds several hundred pounds of stored force and has to be wound under tension with steel bars. It isn't a saving worth making.
The fix
Spring repair in Fremontfrom $200
Single torsion spring, installed. About an hour on site.
Spring repair in FremontReviews
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Questions
Broken spring questions
Can I use my garage door with a broken spring?
No. The spring carries the weight of the door, and without it the opener and the cables take the whole load. Running it that way is how a straightforward spring replacement turns into a bent track, a burnt-out drive gear and a snapped cable.
Is it safe to use the door with one spring?
Not on a two-spring door. With one spring gone, the other carries the whole door, the door rises unevenly and the cables take a twist. Leave it where it stopped and have both springs replaced together.
How much does a broken garage door spring cost to replace?
It starts at $200 installed for a single torsion spring, about an hour on site. On a two-spring door both are usually replaced together, and the pair price is on the spring repair page.
How long does a garage door spring last?
Seven to ten years for a standard 10,000 cycle spring on a door used four times a day. High cycle springs rated to 25,000 cycles cost more up front and suit a door with heavy daily use.