If Your Garage Door Won’t Open, It May Be Due to a Broken Spring

If Your Garage Door Won’t Open, It May Be Due to a Broken Spring

A Broken Garage Door Spring is a Likely Reason Why the Door Will Not Open

When a garage door suddenly refuses to open, homeowners are often bewildered – it was working just fine yesterday, so what could possibly have happened between then and now to cause this state of perplexity?  After a few unsuccessful attempts to lift the door either manually or using the remote for the automatic door opener, and perhaps a few choice words also, homeowners begin to accept the fact that something is mechanically wrong with their door.

In a majority of such cases, the likely culprit is a broken garage door spring that will need to be replaced before the door will be able to function properly once again.  Garage doors can weigh in excess of 250 or 300 pounds depending on their size and composition and it is the tension stored in the spring that actually allows that weight to move up and down so freely and smoothly – and why it can be so difficult for one person to open, or deadlift, a door when the spring is broken.

Other signs that a garage door spring has broken, cracked, or lost tension will include:

  • Door cables have snapped or become detached
  • Rollers may have popped/jumped out of their tracks
  • The door has become imbalanced/jammed at a slight angle
  • The automatic door opener is heard straining but without results
  • The door has crashed to the ground and panels have been damaged

When there is clear evidence of a broken garage door spring, it is an understatement to say that a new spring needs to be installed as quickly as possible.  Homeowners and their families need access to their garage for any number of reasons, including entry to the home and use of their vehicles.  However, despite any urgency to access the garage or the inconvenience resulting from a non-functioning door, it is not recommended that homeowners try to open the door when a spring is broken – as noted previously, garage doors can be extremely heavy and there may be other damage or issues at play as well, hence making such an action quite risky, dangerous, and potentially very expensive too.

In addition, garage door spring installation is not recommended as a do-it-yourself task for homeowners, regardless of how handy they might be, or perceive themselves to be, with any type of tools.  Garage door springs must be installed with significant tension or torque to compensate for the weight of the door; therefore for reasons of personal safety, these springs should be mounted and adjusted by trained professionals, such as the technicians from Markham Garage Doors.

Garage Door Spring Replacement Will Likely Be Required at Some Point in Time

In terms of life expectancy, it is estimated that a garage door torsion spring should last about 15,000 to 20,000 cycles under normal use, considered to be approximately 1,000 to 1,500 cycles per year – note that a cycle equates to the door being opened and closed one time.  For garage door expansion springs, life expectancy is somewhat lower, rated at 5,000 to 10,000 cycles.

In other words, even if homeowners open and close their garage doors just once or twice a day, the springs will likely break at some point.  And this so-called breaking point can be further impacted by the level of regular garage door maintenance that is practiced by the homeowner.

Proper garage door maintenance includes:

  • Annual or semi-annual inspections of all parts
  • Cleaning and lubricating moving/weight-bearing parts
  • Ensuring that the springs are exhibiting the proper tension
  • Minor adjustments/tightening/replacement of parts as needed
  • Identifying and addressing any issues before major problems arise

All of the above actions can have a positive influence on the life expectancy of a garage door spring, irrespective of how often the door is opened and closed.  For homeowners who may have concerns about the state of their garage door, and particularly that of the spring or springs, Markham Garage Doors offers maintenance and tune-up services for all makes and models of doors.

If you are being inconvenienced by a broken garage door spring and need immediate repair service, call the installation specialists from Markham Garage Doors today at (905) 472-9178 or (416) 570-3667 to book a service visit as soon as possible.





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