If you don’t give much thought to your garage door, you’re not alone. Most people take their garage doors for granted until they need to be repaired or replaced, not realizing that some simple garage door maintenance and seasonal inspections can save you time, bother, and garage door repair costs.

We’re not asking you to become experts on garage door repair! That’s what we’re here for. We’re trained, licensed, and certified garage door experts — repairing and installing garage doors for the Sacramento and Seattle areas for decades. We know all the ins and outs of garage door parts; our customers come to us for service they can trust. And one service that’s really important not to take on by yourself? Garage door torsion springs and extension springs. If you need to repair your garage door’s springs, or replace them entirely, give us a call. But first, let us explain a bit about your garage door’s springs and why it’s so important to have this garage door repair done by a qualified professional.

Broken Garage Door Springs are Not a DIY Repair

While some garage door repairs (like repairing the garage door bottom seal, for instance) are easy to DIY, we don’t recommend that approach for garage door springs. If your garage door springs need repaired or replaced, we strongly encourage you to call a garage door professional. They have both the training and the tools to repair your garage door springs safely and effectively.

Keep in mind that garage door springs are under an incredible amount of tension. This tension raises and lowers your garage door — makes the door feel light as a feather, despite the fact that it weighs hundreds of pounds. If the spring should suddenly snap, it can cause serious bodily injury, even death.

One thing you can do for your garage door springs is to inspect them occasionally. Check the springs for signs of rust, brittleness, slacking or looseness. If you notice a problem, contact a garage door repair professional for a more thorough inspection. Leaving what looks like minimal damage on your garage door springs has potential to become a bigger issue and cause harm. For instance, if an extension spring snaps, it can damage people or property in its vicinity. Likewise, if your garage door’s torsion spring goes, that door is coming down, and fast.

But a broken garage door spring isn’t the only danger; you attempting to buy replacement garage door parts and just fix the issue yourself is where the real danger comes in. All that torque and tension we mentioned? If you were to loosen the wrong parts or fail to properly secure the spring during repair or replacement, it could cause serious injury or even death. This is not a DIY garage door repair – just don’t do it.

Now, let’s take a closer look at the differences between garage door torsion springs and extension springs.

Garage Door Torsion Springs

Torsion springs are the more modern variety of garage door spring. In a torsion spring system there is a spring bar/torsion tube mounted on the header on the inside of the garage door opening. They are mounted with a center bracket that holds the springs in place. A drum is connected at each end of the torsion bar holding the torsion spring. Cables attach to the bottom bracket on each side of the garage door. The cables run along the side of the door and wrap around the drum as the garage door opens and closes. The torsion springs use torque to open and close the door. The cables are what do the heavy lifting.

Garage door torsion springs come in a variety of sizes — the size of the spring depends on the size and weight of the garage door. Most torsion springs get about 20,000 to 30,000 cycles — which measures the lifespan of the door: up to 20 years. Torsion springs tend to last longer than extension springs, but cost a little more. Because of their longer life span, torsion springs’ extra cost is well worth it.

Garage Door Extension Springs

Extension springs are your more classic garage door spring. You’ll most often see this type of garage door spring on older garages and on single-car garage doors. They’re mounted on both sides of the garage door attaching to the track supports at one end and to the tracks at the other end via the cables. With extension springs, the cable is still attached to the bottom bracket on the bottom panel of the garage door, and then through a series of pulleys attached to the springs. Finally, these attach to the track, with adjustment clips to balance the door. Extension springs stretch as the garage door is closed and contract as the garage door opens.

You’ll want to replace extension springs in pairs in order to maintain balance. If you have a legacy extension spring system, we recommend upgrading your springs to torsion springs because they are more efficient and last longer. They are also much safer.

How to tell if Your Garage Door’s Springs Need Replaced

This is where regular garage door maintenance, inspections and repairs come in. Because the springs are arguably the most important (and most volatile) garage door part, you really should be monitoring the condition of them over time. With both types of springs, surface rust and debris can be gently scrubbed away with a wire brush, and then lubricated to protect the surface and function of the garage door spring. Also with both types of springs, if you notice irregularities in the coils, like stretching or becoming misshapen, it’s time to replace it. As far as the cost of garage door repairs, replacing the springs isn’t expensive. It’s going to cost you a lot more (and not just in money) if you try to replace them yourself and something goes wrong.

So if the condition of your garage door’s springs are making you nervous, stop using your garage door immediately and give us a call. We can have a technician out to you ASAP, any time of day or night.