Did you know that over 20,000 people visit the emergency room each year due to being injured by a garage door? Most of these visits are due to the improper repair of garage door torsion springs or garage door spring replacement.
Torsion springs are the coils that you will see above your garage door; though there are other types of spring systems for garage doors, we will focus on the torsion springs.
Torsion springs are made of oil-tempered steel, and attached to both ends of the torsion spring are the aluminum spring cones. One end of the cone is used to wind and “set” the spring, the other end cone is used to secure it to the spring bracket or anchor.
A common question we get is, “How long should a spring last?” To answer that question, you will need to know about the life span of a spring. Torsion springs are rated by cycles, which is how many times your garage door goes up and down. Most typical springs on a garage door are the standard 15,000-cycle springs, though it could be more or less depending on your typical set-up. The average household will use or cycle their doors approximately 1,460 times a year. If you divide 15,000 (the number of cycles a typical spring lasts) by 1,460 (the average cycles per year) you will get just over 10 years. We find that the typical spring in our area lasts anywhere from 8-13 years, depending on actual usage.
Once a torsion spring is broken, it is highly recommended that you have a trained and certified garage door repair professional replace these springs as they are under very high tension.
Most single car doors will have one spring, and most double car doors will have 2 springs, though there are exceptions to this. If you have a door with two springs or more, it is recommended that you have both or all springs replaced at the same time. For, if one spring has broken, the other(s) are not too far behind.
You can expect to spend any where from $120-$250 on a spring replacement, though it will depend upon your particular area.
If you are needing a spring replaced, call the spring replacement experts at Garage Door Guy.
