How do you know a spring broke?
The most common sign is a loud bang from the garage. It sounds like a gunshot or a heavy object hitting the floor. After that, the door may not move at all. Sometimes it goes up a few inches and drops back down.
You may also see a gap in the coil of the spring above the door. The coil sits on a metal bar called the torsion bar. That bar runs across the top of the door opening. If the coil has a visible split or the spring hangs loose, it is broken.
Some doors have two springs. With a broken spring, one side may hang lower than the other. The opener may also sound like it is straining harder than usual. These are signs something is wrong even before a full snap.
Why do springs break in Todd Creek?
Todd Creek sits on the Front Range of Colorado. It is in Adams County, just east of the Rockies. The weather here is hard on metal parts. Winters bring hard freeze-thaw cycles. Metal expands when it warms and contracts when it freezes. Repeat that a few hundred times and the metal starts to fatigue.
The dry air on the Front Range removes the oil film that protects metal coils. Springs that are not lubricated every year wear faster than springs in more humid climates. Chinook winds and blowing dust add grit to the coils, which speeds up corrosion.
Todd Creek homes have a median age of about 43 years. Many have the original garage door hardware from when they were built. Springs have a cycle limit, and once you hit it, they snap. If your spring has never been replaced, it may be overdue.
Is it safe to use the door with a broken spring?
No. Do not try to open the door by hand or with the opener. A standard residential garage door weighs between 150 and 300 pounds. The spring carries most of that weight. Without it, the door is a dead load that the opener has to lift alone.
Garage door openers are not built to lift a door without spring assist. Running the opener with a broken spring can burn out the motor or strip the drive gear. It can also cause the cables to jump off the drums, which bends the track and makes the door completely unusable.
A door without a working spring can also drop without warning. Keep the door closed and do not use it until the spring is replaced.
Can you replace a garage door spring yourself?
We have to be straight with you: torsion spring replacement is not a safe DIY job. The spring is wound under several hundred pounds of tension. If it releases suddenly, it can cause severe injury to your hands, face, or eyes.
We get calls from homeowners who have already attempted this. In those cases we often have additional damage to repair on top of the original spring. Please call a technician for this one.
If you want to understand what the repair involves, our garage spring and cable repair FAQ walks through it in plain terms.
What does a spring replacement cost in Todd Creek?
Torsion spring replacement starts at $129. Most repairs in Todd Creek fall somewhere in the $129-$599 range depending on the repair. The price depends on the spring type, the door size, and whether cables or other parts need attention at the same time.
Springs on heavier or wider doors cost more because they carry a larger load. If the cables jumped the drum when the spring snapped, we replace those at the same visit so you do not need a second service call.
We carry common spring sizes on the truck. Most Todd Creek jobs are finished the same day you call.
What happens during the repair?
We look at the door before we touch anything. We check the spring, the cables, the drums, and the rollers. A broken spring sometimes takes a cable with it, so we inspect the full system before we quote anything. We tell you what we find before we start work.
Then we release the remaining tension in the old spring safely, remove it, and install the new spring wound to the correct tension for your door's weight. We test the door by hand before we connect the opener. A door that is off-balance wears out the opener motor faster.
Most replacements take about an hour on site. If cables also need replacing, add 30 minutes.
Nearby areas we serve
We cover Todd Creek and the surrounding communities in Adams County and beyond. We also repair garage doors in Westminster, Thornton, Brighton, Commerce City, and Broomfield.
If you need urgent help today, see our emergency garage door repair page for what to expect on an emergency call.