Quick answer: It is strongly discouraged. The springs are under high tension and can cause serious injury. This is one repair that should always be left to a trained professional.
Springs do roughly 90% of the work of lifting a garage door — the opener just guides it. When a spring breaks, the whole system stops working safely, which is why it is the single most common garage door failure in Middletown. For dependable garage door repair across Middletown, NJ, reach us at (732) 702-8076.
A two-to-three-inch gap in the coil, a door that opens a few inches then stops, an opener that strains or reverses, or a door that feels like dead weight by hand all point to a spring. You don't always hear the bang.
Torsion springs hold tremendous stored energy and the winding bars can become projectiles if they slip — every year emergency rooms see DIY spring injuries. A trained technician has the right winding bars and the correctly sized spring and finishes the job safely in under an hour.
Springs are rated in cycles — one up-and-down is a cycle, and a standard spring lasts about 10,000 of them, or 7-10 years for a typical family. Rust from {state} humidity, cold snaps that make steel brittle, poor balance, and undersized springs all shorten that life.
Torsion springs sit on a bar above the door, last longer, and balance the door more smoothly — the modern standard. Extension springs run along the horizontal tracks and should always have a safety cable so broken pieces can't fly. Knowing which you have helps describe the problem.
If your door has two springs and one broke, replace both. They share the same cycle life, so the second is right behind the first, and doing both at once saves a second service call. A good technician also checks the cables and bearings while they are there.
Can I replace a garage door spring myself?
It is strongly discouraged. The springs are under high tension and can cause serious injury. This is one repair that should always be left to a trained professional.
How long do garage door springs last?
A standard spring is rated for about 10,000 cycles — roughly 7-10 years of normal use. High-cycle springs rated for 20,000+ cycles last much longer and are worth it for busy households.
When you're ready to get it handled, our Middletown technicians are standing by. Explore our garage door services, read more on the blog. Call (732) 702-8076 for a free estimate.
Your garage door can be up to a third of your home's street-facing surface, so it has an outsized effect on curb appeal
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