It's cold outside and you're already late for work.  At least the car is warm with a clean windshield then you hit the garage door opener. Opener hums and courtesy light flashes but the door stays put.  You try it again using that fancy phone app.  Nope still didn't open.

Odds are your garage door spring is broken.

Unfortunately,  garage doors don’t operate forever. The garage door spring does the heavy lifting and lowering of the garage door, and it only lasts so long.  Most garage door springs are designed to last approximately, 10,000 cycles (One complete cycle  = one up and down of the garage door).

Garage door springs tend to break most often during cold weather (which makes the metal more brittle) and usually when the door is in the down position because that’s when it’s under the most tension.

If you happen to be home when a spring breaks, it will probably startle you a bit because it makes a very loud and unexpected, popping sound. Unless someone is setting off M80's in your garage, more than likely the spring just snapped.

You can usually tell if your spring is broken by just looking at it. If you have a standard torsion spring, the kind that is centrally located over the garage door opening. Look up and see if the coil is physically separated into two pieces.

 If you have extension springs, they are attached on the side of the door along the top of the track. They will be stretched when the door is closed or have uneven spacing.  With extension springs there should be two, one on each side of the door.  It’s quite possible that only one of them is broken, but both springs should be replaced at the same time for smooth operation and door longevity.

Replacing a broken spring normally doesn’t take too long, our professional technicians can have the job done in about an hour. But do not attempt this repair on your own. Garage doors are heavy, springs are under great tension and this is a task best left to the professionals with the proper equipment and expertise.

Have a two-car garage or more than one garage door that gets a lot of use? You should consider replacing the other spring(s) at the same time, especially if the doors are the same age. It could save you another repair call in the near future.

Garage door acting up? Call Gerald Giel Garage Doors Inc. and schedule repair service.