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Broken garage door spring
A broken spring is the most common serious garage door fault and the easiest to identify: the door suddenly weighs what it actually weighs. A double door is 150 to 250 pounds, and the springs are what make it feel like forty. When one goes, all of that lands on the opener, which is why the opener then fails too.
Do this first
Look at the spring on the bar above the door. A broken one has a clean gap of an inch or two in the coil. Do not try to lift the door. Do not run the opener again — you will burn out the gear.
Before you touch anything
Never change your own springs
A torsion spring on a double garage door holds enough stored energy to break an arm, take out teeth, or worse. It is wound under tension with two steel bars, and if one slips it goes at the speed of the thing it was holding up. People are seriously injured doing this every year, and some are killed. There is no YouTube video that makes this safe, and the part costs less than the emergency room.
0 of 3 are yours to fix
What it usually turns out to be
| Cause | How to tell | What happens next | Yours? |
|---|---|---|---|
| The spring reached the end of its cycle life | A clean break, and the door is seven to twelve years old on a standard spring. | Both springs are replaced together even when only one has gone, because the second is the same age and will follow within months. | Call somebody |
| Rust | The break is flaky and orange rather than clean, and the coil is dry. | Replacement, and a lubrication schedule afterwards. Coastal Florida is hard on springs. | Call somebody |
| The wrong spring was fitted | It failed inside a couple of years, or the door has always been hard to hold halfway. | The spring has to be matched to the door's weight and height. A high-cycle spring costs a little more and lasts two to three times longer. | Call somebody |
What it costs
$220 – $400
For one torsion spring, supplied and fitted. National guide range, checked September 2026 — get it in writing.
Exact price
Want somebody to look at it?
The range above is a guide. Tell us what you need and somebody who works your area will price it properly.
If the door will not move and a car is stuck behind it, do not wait on a form — leave the door where it is and ring somebody. Do not pull on the spring or the cable.
Your details are used to quote this job and nothing else.
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