Garage Door Spring Repairin Chicago & Suburbs
A snapped spring is the most common reason a garage door suddenly won't open — and the most dangerous one to try fixing yourself. Torsion springs are under heavy tension; this is a job for a trained tech with the right bars and clamps.
A torsion spring does nearly all the work of lifting a garage door. The opener only guides a balanced door along its track; the spring is what carries the weight — 150 to 250 pounds of it on a typical double door. When the spring snaps, the opener is suddenly asked to lift the whole door on its own, which it was never built to do. That is why a door with a broken spring either will not move at all or rises a few inches and stops.
Springs fail by cycle count, not by age. One cycle is one open and one close. A standard spring is rated for about 10,000 cycles, so a household opening the door four times a day uses it up in roughly seven years; a household with two drivers and a teenager gets there considerably faster. This is why springs seem to break “suddenly” — the count simply ran out, and cold weather is usually what finishes the job.
This is also the repair we most strongly advise against doing yourself. A wound torsion spring stores enough energy to break bones, and the winding bars have to be the right diameter and length for the cone. Every year emergency departments across Chicagoland see hands and faces injured by a slipped winding bar. The part is inexpensive; the mistake is not.
When we replace a spring we replace it as a matched system. On a two-spring door, if one has gone the other is the same age with the same cycles on it — leaving it in place means a second failure and a second call-out fee within months. We will always quote both and let you decide, but we will tell you plainly which we would do.
Signs you need this
- Loud bang from the garage (that's usually the spring letting go)
- Door feels heavy or won't budge, even with the opener
- You can see a visible gap in the coil above the door
- Opener strains, reverses, or trips its safety sensor trying to lift the door
What the visit includes
- Weighing the door and measuring wire size, inside diameter, and length so the new spring matches the door rather than the old spring
- Replacing the torsion spring (or both, on a two-spring door) with a correctly rated part
- New bearings and centre bracket where the old ones are worn — they wear at the same rate as the spring
- Rebalancing the door so it holds at waist height with the opener disconnected
- Checking cables, drums, and rollers while the tension is off, because that is the only safe moment to do it
- Full cycle test with the opener, and resetting force and travel limits if they drifted
What changes the price
One spring or two
Double doors usually carry two. Replacing the pair costs more up front and less over the next few years.
Door weight and size
An insulated steel double door needs a heavier spring than an uninsulated single. We weigh rather than estimate.
Standard or high-cycle
High-cycle springs cost more but last several times longer. Worth it on a door that opens eight or more times a day.
Condition of the rest of the hardware
Seized bearings or frayed cables found during the job are quoted separately — we tell you before we fit anything.
Most spring replacements take 45 to 90 minutes on site, including the rebalance and test.
Three-year manufacturer's warranty on the parts we install, plus a one-year local warranty on our labour. If something we touched fails inside that window, we come back and put it right.
Questions we get asked
Can I still open the door with a broken spring?
You can sometimes lift it by hand, but you should not. The door is unbalanced and heavy, and if the second cable lets go it drops. Do not run the opener either — that is how you strip a gear or bend the top section.
Should I replace both springs if only one broke?
On a two-spring door, almost always. They were installed together and have the same cycles on them, so the second one is usually months behind the first. Replacing both now costs less than two separate visits.
Why did my spring break in the cold?
Steel loses ductility as it gets colder, so a spring already near the end of its cycle count is most likely to fail on the coldest morning of the year. The cold did not cause it; it just chose the moment.
How long do garage door springs last?
About 10,000 cycles for a standard spring — roughly seven to twelve years for a typical household. High-cycle springs are rated to 30,000 or more.
Do you carry springs on the truck?
We carry the common sizes, which covers most Chicagoland doors on the first visit. Unusual sizes are ordered, and we tell you the timeline before you commit.
What to expect
- 1Confirm the spring size and door weight on-site
- 2Replace with a properly rated torsion spring, not a generic swap
- 3Rebalance the door and test full open/close cycles
- 4Check cables and pulleys while we're in there — they take the same stress
Where we do this
Get a price
Name and a number is all we need. We call you back — we don't email you a form letter.