Stop using the door. With one cable gone the other side is carrying double its load, and the door is one cycle away from coming off its track.
Stop the door where it is and do not run the opener again.
Unplug the opener so nobody cycles it out of habit.
Leave the loose cable where it hangs. It is attached to a drum under spring tension.
Keep the car in or out, wherever it already is. A crooked door is not worth driving under.
The cables run from the bottom corners of the door up to the drums on the spring shaft, and they are what actually lifts the door as the spring unwinds. They fail from the inside out. Strands rust and part quietly inside the winding for months, which is why a cable that looks fine can let go without warning, and why the frayed ones we catch on other visits are the cheap ones. When one goes, the whole door weight shifts onto the other cable and the tracks take the twist.
Cable replacement means letting the spring tension off, seating new cables on both drums, and rewinding the door back into balance. That is the same stored energy as a spring job, so it lands on the same side of the line. The yearly look is worth doing yourself, though. Frayed strands near the bottom bracket are the early warning and they are easy to spot with a flashlight.
| Job | Price | What it covers |
|---|---|---|
| Cable replacement | $200 to $350 | Cables are replaced in pairs. A frayed cable on one side means the other has done the same work over the same years. |
Every job we price is listed on the garage door repair cost page, and what each involves is under repair services.
$200 to $350, and cables are replaced in pairs. A frayed cable on one side means the other has done the same work over the same years, and changing one alone just schedules the next failure.
No. The remaining cable is carrying the full door weight at one corner, the tracks are being twisted with every cycle, and the usual next event is the door jumping the track entirely. That turns a cable job into a track and panel job.
Corrosion inside the strands, most of the time, helped along by age and cycles. The strands rust from the inside where you cannot see it, which is why failure looks sudden. Near the bay the salt air speeds this up noticeably.
A broken spring leaves a visible gap in the coil on the bar above the door and the door feels dead-heavy on both sides. A failed cable leaves the door crooked, heavy on one corner, often with slack cable dangling. Either way the answer is the same: stop using it and have it looked at, because the two failures load each other.
Other problems we get called out for: broken garage door spring , garage door off track , garage door opener not working , garage door will not close , garage door will not open , noisy garage door , garage door remote not working .
Call before early afternoon and we can usually get out the same day.
Call (650) 376-6070