The bang you heard was the spring, and the door is not going anywhere without it
Torsion springs do almost all the lifting; the opener only guides. So when one breaks, a perfectly good motor suddenly cannot raise a 200-pound door, and nothing you do with the remote will change that. It is the single most common call we take, and it peaks in January.
Here is what happened. The spring above your door is wound under heavy tension and stores the energy that counterbalances the door's weight. Every open-and-close is one cycle, and springs are rated for a number of them — the standard fitted to most houses is 10,000, which on a door used four or five times a day works out at roughly six years. When it reaches the end it fails suddenly and loudly, and you will usually find a clean two-inch gap in the coil if you look at the bar above the opening. After that the opener either does nothing, strains and stops, or lifts the door a few inches before the safety force cuts in.
Cold is what decides the exact morning. Steel loses flexibility as the temperature drops, winter grease stiffens, and a spring that was going to fail this year fails on the first morning near 20 degrees. That is why the week after a cold snap is the busiest week we have, and why we carry winter-weight stock rather than ordering springs in.
Two things not to do. Do not try to lift the door by hand expecting it to behave: with the spring gone there is no counterbalance and you are lifting the full weight, which is how people hurt their backs and trap their fingers. And do not pull the red release cord while the door is part-way open — without the spring it will come down hard. If the door is already up and a car is under it, leave it up and ring us.
When the technician arrives they weigh up the door properly: wire gauge, inside diameter and wound length have to match what your door actually weighs, not what was on it before, because a surprising number of doors have been fitted with whatever the last company had on the van. Getting this right is the difference between a door that glides and one that eats openers. We nearly always recommend replacing both springs on a two-spring door even when only one has gone, because the second has done exactly the same number of cycles and is weeks behind its twin — the labour is already being spent, and coming back in March costs you a second call-out.
What's included
Sized to your door, not guessed
Wire gauge, inside diameter and length matched to the door's measured weight, so the balance is right and the opener is not fighting it.
Replaced in pairs as standard
The second spring has the same cycles on it as the one that failed. Doing both now saves a second call-out within months.
High-cycle option offered
A 25,000-cycle spring costs modestly more up front and roughly doubles the service life — worth it on a door the family uses constantly.
Cables and drums checked with it
A spring failure often takes a cable or unseats a drum. Both get inspected and reset while the shaft is being worked on.
Door rebalanced and tested
It should hold wherever you leave it by hand, and the opener's force reset to suit the restored balance.
Winter stock on the truck
The common sizes for the doors on these streets are carried, so the usual answer is same day rather than next week.
Broken spring repair prices on the Kansas side
| Job | Typical price | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Torsion spring, one | $215 – $340 | Standard 10,000-cycle, fitted and balanced |
| Torsion springs, matched pair | $310 – $495 | The usual recommendation on a two-spring door |
| High-cycle pair (25,000) | $395 – $640 | Roughly double the life for a modest premium |
| Extension springs, pair | $180 – $330 | Older single-car doors; safety cables included |
| Spring plus both cables | $395 – $650 | Common when the break took a cable with it |
| Spring, cables and roller set | $520 – $830 | Full refresh on a door that has done its years |
| Conversion, extension to torsion | $480 – $880 | Where headroom allows; quieter and safer |
| Emergency out-of-hours spring | $340 – $640 | Includes the stated after-hours call-out |
These are 2026 ranges for the Kansas side of the metro, to give you a figure to plan around. What you pay is agreed in the driveway before work starts, with parts and labour listed separately; new doors and openers get a written figure that holds for 30 days.
Recent work
Questions we get about broken spring repair
How do I know for certain it is the spring?
Look at the bar running above the door opening. A broken torsion spring shows an obvious gap of an inch or two in the coil, and often the two ends have sprung apart. On older single-car doors the springs run along the horizontal rails on either side instead, and a break there is just as visible. If the coil looks continuous but the door is still dead, it is more likely the opener.
Why replace both when only one broke?
Because they were fitted together and have lifted the same door the same number of times. The survivor is typically within months of the same fate, and you would be paying a second call-out and a second lot of labour for a part that costs a fraction of the visit. If you would rather do one, we will — you just hear the honest odds first.
How long do springs last here?
A standard 10,000-cycle spring on a door opened four or five times a day lasts about six years. Open it ten times a day, as a family with two cars and a teenager does, and you are nearer three. High-cycle springs rated at 25,000 are the sensible upgrade for a busy door, particularly on an attached garage that doubles as the main way into the house.
Can I just replace a spring myself?
Please do not. Winding a torsion spring takes proper bars and a feel for how much tension is going in, and the common accident is a bar escaping the cone at speed. The parts are cheap online precisely because the skill and the risk are not included. This is the one job on a garage door where the professional premium is genuinely about safety.
Will the new spring make the door quieter?
Partly. A correctly sized spring stops the opener straining, which removes the groaning sound people describe. If the door still rumbles afterwards, that is usually the rollers — steel rollers on a 1990s door are loud by design, and a nylon set is a cheap fix while the technician is already there.
How fast can you get a spring on?
Same day in the great majority of cases, because the common sizes are on the truck. Unusual doors — very wide, very heavy, or something custom — can need an order, and you are told that on the first visit rather than after a week of silence.