Known Garage Door Spring Issues

Even though you may be the owner of a home with a garage, this doesn’t mean that you know anything about how your garage door actually functions or its various parts. If you want to continue using your garage without interruption then there are parts of your garage that need to be well-maintained. One of the things that our garage door repair technicians have to always check is the garage door springs. This is because they can be very dangerous is they are weak or worn. You might think that you can watch some DIY videos to determine how to replace or repair your garage door springs. This might be the case but why take the chance of harming yourself or someone else when you do not have to. The videos posted do not usually show you everything needed to effectively and safely replace your garage door springs. This is why it is better to just allow a qualified garage door professional to handle this for you.

How The Springs Function

Your garage door springs are made of metal and they are the ones that do all the lifting. In order to effectively hold the weight of your garage door, the springs must be strong and sturdy. While the garage door opener actually operates the door, the springs hold the door so that the vehicles are able to safely move in an out. There are two types of garage door springs that we use, torsion and extension.

The torsion garage door springs are installed horizontally and just above the top of your garage door. The extension springs are installed parallel to the horizontal tracks. Each of these types of springs has a life cycle. The torsion springs life cycle is usually 10,000 and this means that you’ll be able to get a lot of uses out of them before they need to be replaced. However, the extension springs are the ones that you’ll often find on older garage doors and they last longer than the torsion springs. The torsion springs are made of hardened steel and can withstand years of continuous use. If you are not having your springs taken care of then they will eventually break and cause your door to fall down unexpectedly. Even one bad spring can cause your garage door to come falling down. They need to be serviced routinely so that no tragedy comes to you or anyone else using your garage.

DIY Spring Repairs

We know that it is tempting to make something like this a DIY project but we wouldn’t suggest that you do that in the case of your springs. Whenever you need to have new springs installed or repaired, we suggest that you call on an expert. Springs can be very dangerous and we would hate for you to have to find out the hard way just how dangerous they are. The springs hold a lot of tension and this tension could cause you serious injury if you are not careful. The springs could just break when you are attempting to repair or install them. This could be tragic! It could break and hit you in the face or cause damages to any vehicles in the path of your door. You shouldn’t take unnecessary chances when you can easily just give one of our qualified repair technicians a call to make the needed repairs to your garage door. The chance that you would be taking to save a couple of dollars just isn’t worth it. However, if you want to check out the springs on your own to make sure that they are in good working condition, here’s what you’ll have to do:

Things to Check

One of the easiest ways to check the springs of your garage door is to close your garage door and disconnect the opener. The simplest way to do this is by pulling down on the release lever. If you don’t know where this is located on the garage door opener, consult your owner’s manual. When the garage door is disconnected try lifting and lowering the door manually. If the door moves slowly and it doesn’t use too much effort to open or close it, your springs are fine. However, if you notice that it is taking more than the usual amount of time to raise the door and close it again, there is likely a problem with your springs.

Springs That Are Damaged

If your garage door immediately falls down when you try to open it or it makes a loud noise when it falls, this could be due to weak springs. If you notice that your garage door opened slightly, about 6 to 8 inches, and then stopped, this could be due to the springs. Have you noticed your garage door start opening slowly and then suddenly speed up, going faster? Is there a loud sound when you operate your garage door? You might hear a loud sound but don’t give it much consideration. You should because this is usually some indication of a problem. You might not know what it is but it could be there is a problem with your garage door springs that need to be addressed. The longer you wait the worse off the springs will be.

Are you noticing your garage door open and close at an angle? When there is a broken extension spring, this will often occur because the one is pulling away from the other spring. If the one breaks, the other one will work much harder to do its job.

If you have a garage door that is jerky when you open it then there is likely an issue with your garage door spring. Again, one spring is weaker than the other and the other spring is working hard to compensate.

Have you tried to close your garage door and it just suddenly fell down? This means that your garage door opener is trying to do the job that your springs are no longer able to do.