Garage Door Spring Repair in Albuquerque

Garage door springs carry the weight of the door. A typical double door is far too heavy to lift by hand without them, which is why a broken spring stops everything. In Albuquerque it is one of the most common garage door calls, and one of the few that should never be a do-it-yourself job.

How to tell a spring has gone

• You heard a sharp crack or bang in the garage, maybe in the middle of the night.
• Looking at the bar above the door, one coil has a gap of an inch or more in it.
• The opener whines, the door lifts a little and stops, or the opener light flashes.
• The door looks crooked or the cables have gone slack.

Once you see any of that, stop using the opener. A motor trying to lift a door with no spring help can burn out or strip its gear within a few tries.

Two kinds of spring

Torsion springs sit on a metal shaft right above the door opening. They wind up as the door closes and unwind to lift it. Most Albuquerque homes built in recent decades have them.

Extension springs run along the top of each horizontal track and stretch when the door closes. They show up on many older doors. If yours have no safety cable threaded through the middle of each spring, ask the technician to fit one. A snapped extension spring with no cable can fly across the garage.

With 47.0% of Albuquerque homes built before 1980, plenty of local garages still have extension springs.

Please leave it to a technician

Springs hold enough stored force to break bones. Winding a torsion spring takes proper winding bars, the right spring for the door's weight and height, and practice. Screwdrivers and locking pliers are how people end up in the emergency room. That goes for the cables and the brackets at the bottom corners of the door too. If you need to, unplug the opener and leave the door closed.

What the repair looks like

The technician will usually:

1. 1
   Measure the door and the old spring, or weigh the door, to pick the right replacement.
2. 2
   Safely let off any tension that remains.
3. 3
   Fit the new spring or springs and wind them to the right number of turns.
4. 4
   Check the cables, drums and bearings, and replace any that are worn.
5. 5
   Test the balance. Lifted half way by hand and let go, the door should stay put.
6. 6
   Lubricate the moving parts and test the opener's reverse feature.

If your door has two springs and only one broke, expect the technician to suggest replacing both. The second one has done exactly as many cycles and is usually not far behind.

Dry air, dust and spring wear

Springs are rated in cycles. One open and one close is one cycle. Albuquerque's dry air dries out the lubricant on the coils, and spring dust sticks to whatever is left. Dry, gritty coils rub as they wind. Wipe old dirty grease off and use a light garage door lubricant a couple of times a year. If the garage is your main way in and out, ask about higher cycle springs so you are not back here in a few years.

What spring work costs

Housecall Pro gives a national range of $200 to $600 for torsion spring replacement. That is a national figure. The price for your door depends on the number and size of springs and whether cables or drums need replacing as well. See the Albuquerque cost guide.

Common questions

Other services