How to Repair Broken Garage Door Springs: A Homeowner's Guide

A broken garage door spring is the most common reason a door suddenly stops working. The spring carries almost the full weight of the door, so when one fails the door becomes too heavy for the opener to lift and unsafe for you to raise by hand. Repairing or replacing a spring means working with a component under extreme stored tension. That is a job for a trained technician with the right tools, not a weekend project.

This guide walks through the two spring systems you are likely to have, how to spot a broken spring, what the repair process looks like, and what it costs in the Denver area so you can go into the call informed.

What type of spring does your garage door use?

Before anything else, it helps to know which system you have, because the repair method and cost differ. Look above the door when it is closed. The comparison table below shows the key differences at a glance.

Torsion springs sit on a horizontal steel bar centered above the door. They store energy by twisting as the door closes and release it smoothly as the door rises. Most homes built in the last two decades use torsion springs because they last longer and run more quietly. Extension springs run along the horizontal tracks on each side of the door. They stretch when the door is down and snap back to pull it up. They cost less but wear out faster and must have safety cables through them so a broken spring does not fly across the garage.

For a deeper look at how the two systems compare, see our pillar on garage door spring repair.

How do you know the spring is broken and not something else?

Several symptoms point directly to a spring rather than the opener or sensors:

• A loud bang from the garage. A snapping spring releases all its stored energy at once. It sounds like a gunshot or a firecracker. If you heard that and the door stopped working, the spring is the likely cause.
• A visible gap in the coil. Look at the spring above the door. A two-inch gap where the metal has separated is a definitive sign it has broken.
• The door will not open, or opens only a few inches. The opener strains and hums or the safety reversal kicks in because the spring is no longer bearing the weight.
• The door feels dead heavy by hand. Disconnect the opener by pulling the red release cord. A door with a good spring should lift with light effort and stay in place at waist height. A door with a broken spring slams down the moment you let go.
• Slack or dangling cables. When a torsion spring breaks, the cables that run off the drum often go slack and hang loosely.

If you are not certain whether the spring or another part is the problem, our guide on deciding if you need a spring repair walks through each check step by step.

Why is spring repair dangerous to attempt yourself?

A wound torsion spring holds enough stored energy to lift a door weighing 150 to 300 pounds in an instant. If a winding bar slips or you loosen the wrong fastener, that energy releases all at once. The result can be a broken wrist, facial lacerations, or worse. Safety bodies including OSHA specifically caution against untrained individuals handling high-tension mechanical components.

Beyond injury, getting the sizing wrong causes real problems. A spring that is too light leaves the door unbalanced, which burns out the opener motor early and puts extra stress on the cables. A spring that is too heavy can cause the door to fly open. Sizing a spring correctly requires knowing the door's exact weight, which most homeowners cannot easily measure without a scale. Our guide on opening a door with a broken spring explains why running the door in that state makes things worse.

What does a professional spring replacement involve?

A trained technician follows a specific sequence to replace a spring safely:

1. Secure the door. The door is clamped to the tracks so it cannot move during the work.
2. Carefully unwind the old spring. Using properly sized winding bars, the technician slowly releases the stored tension before removing the damaged spring.
3. Size the replacement correctly. The new spring is matched to the door's weight, width, and the drum and shaft dimensions. An undersized or oversized spring leaves the door unbalanced.
4. Install and wind the new spring. The spring is placed on the bar and wound to the correct number of turns for the door's height, usually 30 to 36 quarter-turns for a standard 7-foot door.
5. Balance check and cable inspection. With the clamps removed, the technician disconnects the opener and lifts the door by hand to the halfway point. A properly balanced door stays put. Cables, rollers, and tracks are also checked while everything is accessible.

If both springs are present and only one has broken, a good technician will recommend replacing both. The second spring is the same age and has the same wear, so it will likely fail within a few months. Doing both at once avoids a second service call and keeps the door balanced. For the full discussion of that trade-off, read our guide on spring replacement versus repair.

What does spring replacement cost in Denver?

Cost depends on whether you have torsion or extension springs, whether you replace one or both, and whether you upgrade to high-cycle springs. The chart below shows typical installed prices for the Denver metro area. High-cycle springs (rated for 20,000 to 50,000 cycles) cost more up front but can double or triple the time before the next replacement, which saves money over the long run for a busy household.

We carry common spring sizes on our trucks and handle most replacements in a single visit. To get a precise number for your door, contact us for a free estimate or call (720) 421-6489. For same-day garage door spring repair across the Denver metro, we are ready to help.