What Should You Do When a Garage Door Spring Breaks?

Can You Still Use a Garage Door With a Broken Spring?

No. Once a spring breaks, nothing counterbalances the door, so moving it loads the opener, the cables, and whoever is lifting. Leave the door alone until garage door spring replacement is done.

What you do in the first hour depends on where the door stopped.

Where the Door Is	What to Do Now	What to Avoid
Closed, car can wait	Leave it closed, unplug the opener, and call us	Pulling the release or testing the door
Closed, car needed now	Call us first and say a car is trapped	Lifting the door or running the opener
Open or stuck partway	Keep people, pets, and cars out from under it	Pulling the red emergency release
Extension spring snapped	Stay clear and see if a safety cable caught it	Touching the spring or its cable

How to Tell a Garage Door Spring Is Broken

Most spring failures announce themselves with a loud bang, often while nobody is touching the door. From a safe distance, look for:

• A gap in the coils of the spring on the bar above the door.
• A door that suddenly feels much heavier by hand, or won’t stay up.
• An opener that hums briefly without moving the door, which often means the springs have broken.
• Slack lift cables or a door sitting crooked in the opening.
• An extension spring hanging from its cable along the track.

Why the Garage Door Opener Should Stay Off After a Spring Breaks

An opener is built to move a balanced door, not lift dead weight. The springs do the heavy lifting, and without them the motor takes the full load.

Running an opener on a door that far out of balance can overwork the motor until it fails and even let the door fall rapidly. An unbalanced door may also fail to reverse when it should.

Unplug the opener, and switch off any battery backup, so nobody taps a remote out of habit.

What to Do if a Broken Garage Door Spring Traps Your Car

Call us first, and say a car is trapped. We treat these calls as urgent and often fit them in the same day, and our technician calls when on the way.

While you wait, you can pull the red emergency release with the door fully closed, but only to disconnect the opener. If the door feels heavy or a spring is visibly broken, don’t lift it.

Once help is on the way, the next decision is how many springs to replace.

Should You Replace One Garage Door Spring or Both?

Replace both. The springs on a two-spring door went in together and have run the same number of cycles, so the survivor is usually close behind. We recommend replacing both in one visit, which saves you a second service call and a second labor charge.

A torsion pair is also wound in opposite directions. Right-wound parts are marked red and left-wound parts black, so a replacement set needs one of each.

With that settled, a few details will speed up the call.

What to Have Ready When You Call About Garage Door Spring Repair

Our office will ask for your address, whether the door is a single or double, and the spring type. These extras can save a second trip:

• The spring type. Torsion springs sit on a bar above the opening, and extension springs run beside the tracks.
• The door tag or serial number. For a door we built, our office can look up the spring spec and call you back.
• Spring measurements. Length, inside diameter, and wire size, or the old spring itself for matching.
• Who installed the door. We special-order springs for doors from another company or a retail store.
• Plans to add garage door windows. New panels change the door’s weight, so the springs often need recalculating.

Our service manager or one of our technicians then calls you back to set a time, which depends on the schedule. A busy stretch, like the week after Labor Day, can push a visit later in the week. If a car is trapped inside, say so up front and we’ll prioritize it.

Price usually comes up on that same call.

Can You Get a Garage Door Spring Replacement Cost Estimate Over the Phone?

Often, yes, once our office has your door’s details. When those details are incomplete or don’t match the door, an exact price waits for one of our technicians to measure.

The springs have to match the door’s weight, and garage doors range from about 90 pounds to over 500.

Schedule a call with us to get your spring replacement cost.

What Changes the Cost of Garage Door Spring Replacement?

Cost Factor	Tends to Cost Less	Tends to Cost More
Door weight	Single, lighter door	Wide, insulated, heavier door
Spring availability	Standard size in stock	Odd size or custom-made
Spring rating	Standard cycle rating	High-cycle springs
Related parts	Cables and hardware still sound	Worn parts replaced too

What Happens During a Professional Garage Door Spring Replacement?

Our technician secures the door, installs a matched pair, balances it, and tests the opener, usually in this order:

1. Secure the door before releasing any remaining spring tension.
2. Measure the door, and weigh it if needed, so the new springs match its actual weight.
3. Install and wind the new pair. In garage door torsion spring replacement, each spring gets the direction and number of turns the door maker specifies.
4. Check the balance by hand. The door should hold still when raised 3 to 4 feet.
5. Inspect the cables and test the opener’s safety reversal, a feature federal safety rules have required on residential openers made since 1993.

If you aren’t sure the spring is the problem, our service call covers diagnosis, adjustments, and an opener check in about an hour.

What to Expect When a Replacement Garage Door Spring Has to Be Ordered

Expect to sign our written quote and pay a deposit before we order the spring. If it has to be made or cut, our technician may clamp the door and measure it on the first visit. That keeps the garage usable while the right part is sourced.

We stock standard springs and make custom ones, which can take a few business days.

The Federal Trade Commission’s advice on hiring a contractor says to get materials, warranties, and payment terms in writing. Check that your quote lists the spring size, both springs, labor, tax, and any related parts.

Can You Replace a Garage Door Spring Yourself?

You can buy one, but you shouldn’t install it. We’ll sell you a spring on its own and still advise leaving the installation to a technician. We don’t recommend adjusting springs, cables, or brackets yourself.

The injuries can be permanent. A 2023 case series from Massachusetts Eye and Ear described seven people hurt while trying to repair their own garage doors when a spring dislodged at high speed. All had open globe injuries, meaning wounds through the full wall of the eye. The authors concluded this injury “appears to be a risk of attempts to repair a garage door” by inexperienced people.

Where to Get Garage Door Spring Replacement in Northern Colorado

At Front Range Raynor Garage Door & Service, we’ve worked on Northern Colorado garage doors since 1987, serving Fort Collins, Loveland, Greeley, Windsor, Longmont, and surrounding communities. Our factory-trained technicians measure the door before matching springs.

We stock standard springs, build custom ones, and order springs for doors we didn’t install. Our quotes include parts, labor, and taxes.

Not sure the spring is the whole problem? Book a spring and balance inspection, and we’ll tell you what the door needs before any work starts.

What You Should Do Next

1. Stop using the opener and keep everyone clear of the door. Leave a closed door closed unless something you need is trapped inside.
2. Gather what our office will ask for. Note the door size, spring type, and door tag or serial number, and photograph the broken spring.
3. Schedule your spring replacement. Contact us to open a service ticket, and we’ll call back to set a time.

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