Some garage door repairs are safe to do yourself, but dealing with broken torsion or extension springs is not one of them. This is something we’re pretty adamant across the board. It’s not like you couldn’t figure out how to do it yourself; it’s that it’s not safe to. A compromised garage door spring is a hazard to life, limb, and all the stuff in your garage. Why risk it when you can have specialists in garage door repair over for a quick service visit to replace it safely and correctly?
Garage door springs are under a lot of pressure. Extension springs use tension, torsion springs use torque, and both are hundreds of PSI, if not more; it’s how they make opening and closing the door so easy. Your garage door opener doesn’t actually do a whole lot more than guide the up-and-down process; the springs do almost all the work. If an extension spring snaps or a torsion spring suddenly unwinds, the door can come crashing down and the wayward springs can do damage to anything in their path.
Not to be scary.
But it is a little scary.
How Do You Know Your Garage Door Springs Need Replaced?
So, how to we avoid wildly-broken springs and a garage door that cannot be moved? Proper maintenance and an understanding of the symptoms of compromised garage door springs. Signs your springs are about to go include:
- The garage door opens, but only a little bit and then stops.
- The door is crooked when it raises and lowers.
- You can hear the garage door opener running but the door doesn’t move.
- The door opens and lowers in a jerky motion.
- The garage door lowers way too fast and/or slams when it’s fully-closed.
But if you hear a loud bang in the garage and there’s no reason for it; that’s a sign you should call for spring service ASAP.
The way to lower your risk of being surprised by a sudden spring snap is to pay attention to your garage door. And that means all the door’s parts and hardware, not just the springs. Seasonal visual inspections, regular lubrication, and yearly professional tune-ups will extend the life of your garage door and its spring system.If you’ve noticed some of these warning signs and think it might be time to have your garage door springs serviced, give us a call. A quick home visit will tell us everything we need to know so we can repair and replace the spring issue, getting your garage door back to safe and working order.