You hear a loud bang like a gunshot coming from your garage. You run to take a look and you notice that the spring above your garage door has broken in two.
Anxiously, you wonder if you could perhaps change the garage door spring yourself. Well, we strongly advise against it, and here’s why.
“My brother‑in‑law did it, so I should be able to do it, too.”
The counterweight system, which is secured by the springs, is connected to the hinge at the bottom of the door, to the lifting cable and to the steel shaft (tube) housing the spring. The entire system is under extreme tension, equivalent to the total weight of the door. Trying to lift the bottom hinge that is solidly bolted to the door is like lifting anywhere from 125 lb (single door) to 225 lb (double door). If you also have a row of windows on your door, add about 5 to 15 lb per window. One false move and you could end up injuring your face or hand.
“Only one of the two springs is broken!”
Even if you think it’s only 50% of the weight of the door that’s being held, you should know that it’s still too much. The most important thing is your safety‑especially avoiding any serious injury. In the end, you also have to properly balance the two springs in order to prevent your door from rebounding.
“My door opener will hold the door.”
The drive mechanism that pulls the door to lift or lower it wasn’t designed to hold that much weight. A door opener is simply a substitute for human action, as if you were to lift your door with one hand. A well‑balanced door weighs between 8 and 10 lb and the acceptable variance for proper balance is around 5% of the total weight of the door.
Do business only with licensed professionals
Garage door spring repair requires experience and expertise. It’s important to correctly calculate the total weight of your garage door, including any attached parts and also accounting for weight of the windows, if any.
Our technicians are qualified to do the work efficiently and have the necessary tools to do it professionally. Our service trucks are stocked with all the necessary replacement parts to put everything back in working order. At the same time, we can even perform a full tune‑up on your garage door.
So why make things complicated? Give us a call at 616-453-0164 for work that is guaranteed and done right!
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