5 Signs You Need Garage Door Spring Repair
Your garage door springs do the heavy lifting every time you open and close your door — literally. These tightly wound components bear the full weight of the door (often 150 to 250 pounds or more), and when they start to fail, the signs can range from subtle to impossible to ignore. Here are five warning signs that your garage door springs need professional attention.
1. Your Garage Door Feels Unusually Heavy
When your springs are in good shape, you should be able to lift your garage door with one hand using minimal effort. If you disconnect the opener and try to raise the door manually, it should glide up smoothly and stay in place about three to four feet off the ground.
If the door feels like it weighs a ton or slowly sinks back down when you let go, your springs have likely lost tension. This means they’re no longer counterbalancing the weight of the door properly. A door with weakened springs puts extra strain on your opener motor, which can burn it out prematurely and lead to an even more expensive repair.
2. You Can See a Visible Gap in the Spring
Take a look at the torsion spring mounted above your garage door (the long, tightly coiled spring that runs along a metal shaft). If you notice a visible gap — a space where the coils have separated — the spring has snapped.
A broken torsion spring is one of the most obvious signs of failure. You’ll typically see a gap of one to two inches where the spring has separated into two pieces. If your spring looks like this, do not attempt to operate the door. A broken spring means the door is unsupported and could come crashing down unexpectedly.
3. Your Garage Door Opens Unevenly or Crooked
If one side of your garage door rises faster than the other, or the door looks crooked or tilted as it moves along the tracks, you likely have a spring problem. Most double-car garage doors use two springs, and when one weakens or breaks while the other is still functional, the door becomes unbalanced.
An unbalanced door puts uneven stress on the tracks, rollers, and cables, which accelerates wear on those components. It can also cause the door to get stuck or jump off the tracks entirely. If your door isn’t moving straight, call a technician before the problem gets worse.
4. You Heard a Loud Bang Coming from the Garage
One of the most startling signs of spring failure is a loud bang — like a firecracker or a gunshot — coming from your garage. This sound is the spring breaking. Because the spring is under tremendous tension, the release of energy when it snaps produces a surprisingly loud noise.
Many homeowners hear this sound and think something fell over in the garage or that someone tried to break in. If you heard a loud bang and your garage door suddenly won’t open, check the springs first. You’ll almost certainly find that one has snapped. This is not something to investigate by trying to force the door open — call a professional.
5. Your Garage Door Won’t Stay Open
A properly functioning garage door should stay open on its own, whether fully raised or at any point along the tracks. If your door slowly slides closed on its own or won’t stay up without being held, the springs are no longer providing enough lifting force.
This is more than just an inconvenience — it’s a safety hazard. A door that drops unexpectedly could injure a person, pet, or damage a vehicle beneath it. If your door won’t stay put, it’s time to have the springs inspected and likely replaced.
Why You Should Never DIY Garage Door Spring Repair
We understand the temptation to save money with a do-it-yourself approach, but garage door spring repair is one job that should always be left to trained professionals. Here’s why:
- Extreme tension: Torsion springs store a massive amount of energy. An improperly handled spring can unwind violently, causing severe lacerations, broken bones, or worse.
- Specialized tools required: Proper spring repair requires winding bars, torque calculations, and calibrated tools that most homeowners don’t have.
- Risk of improper installation: An incorrectly installed spring can fail again quickly, damage your door, or create an unsafe operating condition.
Every year, emergency rooms across the country treat serious injuries caused by DIY garage door spring attempts. The money saved is never worth the risk.
What to Do Next
If you’ve noticed any of these warning signs, don’t wait for the problem to get worse. A failing spring can damage other components of your door system and pose a real safety risk to your family.
Flatirons Garage Doors offers fast, professional spring repair and replacement throughout the Colorado Front Range. Our technicians arrive with the parts and tools needed to complete most spring repairs in a single visit.
Ready to get your door working safely again? Contact us today or call (720) 810-1615 to schedule a free estimate. We offer same-day service for emergencies and stand behind every repair with a warranty on parts and labor.