Why You Should Replace Both Garage Door Springs When One Breaks

Based on estimates from the U.S. Department of Commerce, garage door spring repairs and replacements cost Americans more than $1 billion each year in service calls due to damage caused by broken springs.

This makes replacing both garage door springs when one breaks is an easy way to save yourself hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars over the lifetime of your garage door system. Whether your problem is with the torsion spring or the extension spring, here’s why you should replace both garage door springs when only one breaks.

How Garage Doors Work

Most people don’t know what makes a garage door go up and down. Garage doors are made up of many parts, including a chain or belt, gears, pulleys and springs. These all work together to raise and lower garage doors.

Garage door springs are a very important part of garage doors. Springs are responsible for nearly all of a garage door’s weight – more than 300 pounds on average. Being constantly under stress and tension, springs become weak over time and eventually break because of that weakness.

A broken garage door spring can be an expensive and dangerous problem, even if the spring itself was only one of two on your garage door. When one of the garage door springs breaks on your garage door, it might seem like the right thing to do would be to simply replace that broken spring with a new one. Unfortunately, this can end up costing you money and time in the long run if you don’t also replace the other side’s springs.

How to Recognize if Your Spring Broke

A broken garage door spring can be a frightening and potentially dangerous situation. It’s usually obvious when only one spring has broken because one side of your garage door won’t go up or down while the other remains stable. Your garage door may also stop working altogether.

Your garage door is no longer safe to use if only one spring is holding up your door. When one garage door spring breaks, it’s easy to assume you can save money and time by just replacing the broken spring rather than both of them. However, in order to ensure the safety of your garage door and avoid further damage, you should replace both springs immediately after one breaks.

Replacing Only the Broken Spring Can Cause the Other to Break Soon

Replacing your garage door springs when only one has broken is not a good idea. It can cause extra strain on an otherwise undamaged spring, leading it to snap sooner than expected. Make sure you always replace both springs when they snap, regardless of which side snapped first.

A broken spring without a repaired or replaced second spring can be problematic – as the garage door will now be subject to extra pressure on only one side. If you only replace a broken spring and don’t repair or replace both, there will now be extra pressure on just one side of your garage door.

Re-tensioning a Garage Door Spring Shortens the Life Cycle

When a two spring torsion system has a spring failure, the entire system must be dismantled to replace even one spring. If there are two springs on your garage door, and you decide to only replace the broken spring, re-tensioning the non-broken spring will shorten the life cycle of the spring.

Shortening the lifespan of a garage door spring is not safe because it could break down faster than expected – leaving you with yet another costly repair in order to get your garage door functional again. The only way to make sure that both springs are working at their best is to replace both springs when one breaks.

Weak Springs Can Cause Damage to Your Opener

Not only does a broken spring prevent your garage door from opening and closing properly, but it can also damage your opener motor. If a spring breaks, the motor will try to pull the full weight of your door. This shouldn’t cause serious damage to your opener motor if you fix it immediately, but repeated stress can wear out an internal part of an opener faster than you might think.

Ensuring a Properly Balanced Garage Door

Improperly balanced springs can cause damage to your garage door or even cause serious injury. Be sure to replace both springs, not just one, if they are broken. This will keep your springs balanced and your garage door running smoothly, increasing the lifespan of your door.

Save Money on Future Repairs

If you’re fixing one garage door spring and it breaks again, your garage door will start shifting and your garage door won’t be completely level anymore. This can lead to costly repairs in the future, so when one garage door spring is fixed, it’s a good idea to change the other garage door spring as well. You will ultimately save money from not having to repeatedly call a garage door technician for spring repairs.

Speak to a Professional Today

For safety reasons, you shouldn’t try to repair a broken spring by yourself – rather seek help from a professional garage door company like Top Notch Garage Door. We specialize in broken spring repair for all types of residential garage doors and offer same-day service. Speak to an award-winning team member today (770) 235-8189