You’re about to leave the house, you hit the garage door opener, but nothing happens. Now what?

Well, there’s a good chance your garage door spring may be broken and needs replacing.

Don’t attempt to fix broken garage door springs yourself. Only certified garage door technicians can do this work. Replacing broken torsion springs is too dangerous, and it takes years of experience and technical skills to do it.

Call your nearest garage door specialists for any of your garage door spring repair concerns.

Torsion Springs 101: What are these?

Look at your garage door from inside the garage. You’ll see a long spring mounted along the top of the door. That’s the torsion spring. This mechanism plays a big part in opening and closing your garage door.

Cables attached to the spring wind up as the garage door opens. A wound spring has a lot of tension and houses a large amount of mechanical energy (built-up power from the winding motion). When you open the garage door, the energy is transferred, lifting the door up.

The spring’s average life span is seven years or 10,000 cycles. Keep in mind that rust and cold weather can weaken the springs which can lead to damage. That’s why we highly recommend a yearly garage door planned maintenance and tune-ups.

How do you tell if the torsion spring is broken?

1. Check the spring’s appearance

A simple way to detect a broken spring is just by looking at it. Here are some major red flags:

• The spring is stretched out, which indicates that there’s no mechanical tension or energy. You’ll notice this when the garage door is closed.

• A two-inch gap in the spring. When a spring is at the end of its life span, the tension is lost, causing the spring to snap. There should be a visible gap where the break occurred.

2. Check the garage door’s appearance and how it functions

Another way to tell if your torsion spring needs replacing is by checking the garage door itself. Check for these signs:

• The garage door looks crooked or off track when opening and closing

• The top section of the door is bent or misaligned

• The garage door opens up a couple of inches then closes

• The garage door falls harshly when closing

• The garage door doesn’t open at all

• The cables attached to the springs are dangling

3. Watch out for a loud noise

If your torsion spring has snapped, you’ve likely heard a loud bang. The torsion spring contains vast amounts of pressure and energy and are bound to make quite the noise when they break.

Torsion springs rotate around a shaft above the door. When the torsion spring breaks, you’ll also hear a rapid, harsh sound as the spring spirals out of the shaft.

Garage doors typically create a buzzing mechanical sound. Don’t mistake this as the sound from a broken spring.

Don’t touch. Call the pros.

We can’t stress enough the dangers of replacing your own garage door torsion spring. Just don’t do it. That’s why we’re here—to fix it and prevent any injuries.

Repairing a broken torsion spring requires special tools and expertise. Safety measures are needed for proper replacement. Contact your nearest Creative Door Services location for our garage door repair services, and we’ll get it done properly and safely.