What to Do When a Garage Door Spring Breaks
When a garage door spring breaks, stop using the opener immediately. The springs carry the weight of the door, not the motor, so running the opener will strain it, bend panels and can drop the door. Leave the door closed if it is closed, and do not attempt the replacement yourself.
Confirm it
Look at the horizontal shaft above the door opening. A broken torsion spring shows a clean gap in the coil, typically an inch or two, with the two halves apart.
If you have extension springs instead, they run along the horizontal tracks on each side. A broken one is usually obvious: stretched, snapped, or hanging.
If you heard a bang and the door will not lift, it is almost certainly this.
The next ten minutes
Do not press the opener button. Not once. The springs carry the door and the opener guides it. Without spring support, the opener will strain, crease the top section, and can pull the door off its track. Every attempt makes the eventual repair larger.
If the door is closed, leave it closed. This is the good outcome. Your car may be stuck inside but nothing is going to deteriorate overnight.
If the door is open, get it down carefully. Two people, hands flat on the bottom section and clear of the joints between sections, lower it slowly. Fingers get caught in section joints and that is a common injury.
Do not pull the manual release with the door raised. Without spring support, disconnecting a raised door lets it come down under its own weight.
Getting a trapped car out
If you need the car and the door is closed:
- Pull the manual release with the door down.
- Lift with a second person. Expect it to feel like 130 to 350 pounds.
- Prop it properly. Locking clamps on the track below the bottom rollers on both sides, or a pair of stepladders. Not a broom.
- Move the car, then lower the door slowly and leave it closed.
If you cannot lift it, stop. Call for emergency service and say the car is trapped, because it changes how the call is prioritised.
What it costs
| Job | Price |
|---|---|
| One spring replaced | $170 to $400 |
| Both replaced together | Adds $150 to $300 |
| Cables at the same time | $100 to $250 |
| Emergency or after-hours dispatch | $200 to $350 on top |
The both-springs conversation
If your door runs two springs, expect to be told the second should be replaced too. On this occasion that is genuine.
Both springs were fitted on the same day and have taken the same number of cycles. The survivor is at the same point in its life as the one that just failed, and in practice it follows within months.
Doing both together adds $150 to $300 rather than doubling, because the visit and most of the labor are shared. You are allowed to decline it, and an honest company will do just the one and tell you what a return visit costs.
Why it happened
Springs fail on cycles, not on age. A standard spring is rated for about 10,000 open and close cycles, which is seven to ten years for a typical household and considerably less for a busy one.
Cold accelerates the end of that life, which is why New York sees a clear spike in broken springs between December and February. There is usually nothing you did wrong.
Related questions
How do I confirm the spring is broken?
Look at the shaft above the door opening. A broken torsion spring has a visible gap in the coil, usually an inch or two, with the two halves separated. It is obvious from the floor once you know what to look for.
Is it an emergency?
It depends. Door closed and the car is outside: it can wait until morning and you save the $200 to $350 emergency premium. Car trapped and needed, or door stuck open on an attached house: it cannot.
Can I just replace it myself to save money?
No. A wound torsion spring stores enough energy to break bones and it releases instantly if not unwound under control with winding bars. It is the single most common serious injury in this trade.