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Garage door spring repair

Springs do the actual lifting. The opener only guides a door that the springs have already balanced. When a spring breaks, the door becomes its full dead weight, and neither the opener nor a person should be trying to move it.

Heard a loud bang from the garage? A snapped spring is the usual cause. Do not operate the door. Call and describe what you heard.

CALL NOW — (516) 687-6171

Torsion or extension — which do you have?

Torsion springs

Mounted on a steel shaft above the door opening

One or two springs wound around a bar running horizontally above the door, with a cable drum at each end. Most doors installed in the last twenty-five years use this system. It is more controlled, lasts longer, and balances the door more evenly.

A broken torsion spring usually shows a visible gap of two or three inches in the coil. The door will feel extremely heavy and often will not lift at all.

Extension springs

Long springs running alongside the horizontal tracks

A spring stretched along each side track, working under tension rather than torsion. Common on older installations and on lighter single doors.

When one breaks, the door typically rises crooked because only one side is still assisted. Safety cables running through extension springs are there to contain a break — if yours do not have them, mention it when you call.

What a failed spring looks like

A loud bang, often mistaken for something falling in the garage
The door will not open, or opens a few inches and stops
A visible gap in a torsion coil, or a stretched extension spring hanging loose
The door is crooked when it moves
The opener strains, hums or reverses immediately

Do not operate the door with a broken spring. The opener is not built to lift an unbalanced door, and forcing it can damage the opener, bend the track, or cause the door to drop. Keep people and vehicles clear of the opening and arrange service.

How springs wear

Springs are rated in cycles, not years. One cycle is one full open and one full close. A household that opens the door twice a day consumes cycle life at a quarter of the rate of one opening it eight times a day, which is why two identical doors installed on the same street can fail years apart.

Wear is not usually visible until failure. The steel fatigues internally, and the first outward sign is often the break itself. What can be assessed is whether a spring is near the end of its expected service life given the door’s age and usage, and whether corrosion has shortened it further.

Doors that are out of balance wear their springs faster, because the spring is fighting a load it was not sized for. That is one reason a technician checks balance by hand with the opener disconnected before doing anything else.

Why this is not a DIY job

Torsion springs are wound under very high tension and are released using winding bars sized to the spring. Using the wrong tool, or releasing tension in the wrong order, can cause serious injury. Extension springs store energy along their length and can travel if they fail during handling.

Spring work is also paired work. Replacing one spring on a two-spring door leaves a new spring working against an old one that is near the end of its life, and the second failure usually follows within months.

What often goes with a spring

Springs rarely fail in isolation on an older door. When a spring breaks, the components that shared its working life are usually worth checking at the same time:

Lift cables — they carry the spring force to the door and wear at the drum
Cable drums — grooves wear, and a worn drum will chew a new cable
Bearings and the torsion shaft — a dry or seized bearing adds load the spring has to overcome
Rollers — seized rollers make the door drag and put that resistance back onto the spring

None of that is automatic upselling. A technician should show you the condition of each part and explain what will happen if it is left, and you decide.

What replacement involves

A technician measures wire size, inside diameter and length to match the spring to the door’s actual weight — not to what was fitted last time, which is often wrong. The door is then balanced by hand with the opener disconnected, cables and drums are checked for wear, and the opener force settings are reset to the corrected balance.

You see what is wrong and approve the price before any work is done.

On an old door with badly damaged panels, a new door can make more sense than another repair — see garage door replacement. A technician will tell you honestly which it is.

Tell us what the door is doing and we will tell you what it usually means.

CALL NOW — (516) 687-6171

What happens when you call

You callTell us what the door is doing and what you heard.
A technician takes a lookSomeone comes out, finds what failed and shows you.
You get the price firstNothing starts until you say okay.
It gets fixed and testedThe door is checked to make sure it opens, closes and reverses properly before the technician leaves.

What customers say on Google

5.0 on Google

Dror V.★★★★★ Google review

Our garage door spring snapped and the noise scared the hell out of our dog 😂 They came out quickly, replaced both springs, and adjusted the door so it was balanced correctly again. Very professional job.

Sapir G.★★★★★ Google review

I originally called for what I thought would be a small repair, but I was really impressed with how professional the whole experience was. The technician arrived on time and walked me through what needed to be done before starting. Great service overall.

Reviews shown exactly as customers wrote them on Google.

Common questions

How long do garage door springs last?

Springs are rated by the manufacturer in cycles, where one cycle is one full open and one full close. That rating varies by spring specification, so the useful point is the relationship rather than a single number: a door opened twice a day reaches the end of its spring life far later than an identical door opened eight times a day. Two doors installed on the same street in the same year can fail years apart for that reason alone.

Should both springs be replaced at once?

On a two-spring door, yes. The springs were installed together and have done the same number of cycles. Replacing only the broken one leaves a new spring paired with one at the end of its service life.

Can I open the door manually with a broken spring?

You should not. Without spring assistance the door is carrying its full weight with nothing holding it up if it slips. Leave it where it is and arrange service.

Is a spring repair expensive?

It depends on the spring type, size and whether one or both are being replaced, and whether cables or drums also need work. The technician measures on site, explains what is needed, and you approve the price before anything is done.

Where we work

Queens: Jamaica · Forest Hills · Flushing · Bayside · Whitestone

Nassau County: Great Neck · Port Washington · Manhasset · Roslyn · Mineola · Garden City · New Hyde Park · Floral Park · Hempstead · Valley Stream

Suffolk County: call to check your town

Locally owned & operated · Free estimates · Same-day service when available · 1-year warranty where applicable