1. You heard a loud bang from the garage
When a torsion spring snaps, it releases its tension all at once, and it makes a sound like a firecracker or a heavy metal clang. Many homeowners think something fell or someone broke in. If you heard that bang and the door will not work afterward, a broken spring is almost always the cause.
2. The door is too heavy to lift by hand
Your springs, not the opener, do the heavy lifting. A properly balanced door lifts with light effort. If you pull the release cord and the door feels like dead weight or will not stay up on its own, the spring has lost its counterbalance and needs replacing.
3. There is a visible gap in the spring coil
Look at the spring on the shaft above the door. A healthy torsion spring is one continuous tight coil. If you see a two-inch gap where the coil has separated, the spring has already snapped, even if the door still moves for now. That is a clear replace-now sign.
4. The door drifts, slams, or will not stay open
A door with weak or failing springs will not hold its position. It may drift downward when you stop it partway, or slam down faster than it should. Both mean the springs are no longer balancing the door's weight the way they should.
5. The door opens crooked or jerky
If one side lifts before the other, or the door jerks and hitches on the way up, a spring or its cable may be failing on one side. On a two-spring door this often means one spring has weakened ahead of the other, which is why we replace them in a matched pair. Our spring repair service handles that the same day.
6. Your springs are seven or more years old
Springs are rated in cycles, and a standard spring lasts near 10,000 open-and-close cycles, roughly seven to twelve years for an average home. A busy family door reaches that sooner. If your door is in that age range and showing any of the signs above, the spring is near the end of its life. Do not try to replace it yourself, since the tension is dangerous, and our guide on why you should never DIY a torsion spring explains why. Catching a failing spring early means you replace it on your schedule instead of when your car is trapped inside. A quick look at the spring above the door once a month takes only a few seconds, and spotting a gap or a rough-running door early can save you an emergency call at the worst possible time.
Seeing any of these signs in Dunwoody? Call (470) 558-1427 for same-day spring service.