The request came in on a Saturday in August. The homeowner was coming home and pressed the remote from the car. The spring broke as the door started up, and the top of the door bent inward. They managed to get it down by pulling the red release cord, but after that the garage was shut. The trash cans and the lawn equipment were stuck inside.
What Steve found
Steve, the technician on this job, wrote up the door before we quoted it. His notes list a lot more than the spring:
- The torsion spring over the door was broken clean through.
- The top two sections were caving in, and the bottom two were buckling.
- Several panels had tears in the steel.
- The stiles, the vertical steel pieces that hold each section together, were separating and some were bent.
- The reinforcement strut across the top section was bent.
- The cables were off their drums and damaged.
- The rollers were old and jamming in the track.
Why a broken spring bends a door
A garage door opener is not built to lift the door. The springs do that. A balanced door feels like it weighs a few pounds, and the opener only has to guide it up and down.
When a spring breaks, the full weight of the door lands on the opener. The opener arm is bolted to the top section, so that one section takes all the pull. On a steel door with some age on it, the top section folds right where the arm attaches. That is what happened here. The strut that is supposed to keep the top section stiff bent with it.
Why we replaced the door instead of repairing it
On paper you can fix this door. You would need a new spring, new cables, rollers, a strut and four new sections. In practice that is a new door built one piece at a time, with new parts bolted to old track and old hinges.
Replacing a damaged section usually runs $650 to $1,100, and a complete new door usually runs $1,000 to $1,900 installed. Once most of the door is damaged, a new door costs less than rebuilding the old one and lasts longer. You can see our full replacement price breakdown if you want the numbers by door size.
There was one more wrinkle. The old door had been painted a custom almond color by hand. New sections in factory almond would never have matched it. A complete door in factory almond was the closest match, and it looks even across all four sections.
The install
The new door went in four days after the first call. It was a 16x7 C.H.I. steel door in almond, with new sections, hardware, tracks, a new spring system, a slide lock and a reinforcement strut on the top section.
After the door was up and balanced, Steve worked on the opener. It needed its travel limits reset and the trolley and safety sensors adjusted, and then it was reset and reprogrammed.
If your spring breaks
Most people hear it first. It sounds like a loud bang in the garage, sometimes like a gunshot. Here is what we tell people on the phone:
- Stop pressing the remote and the wall button. Every try puts the full weight of the door on the opener and the top section.
- Leave the door where it is if you can. Pulling the red release cord with a broken spring can let the door drop hard, because nothing is holding it up anymore.
- Keep people and pets out from under the door.
- Call us at (713) 324-8950. The emergency line is answered 24/7.
If the door has not bent yet, it is usually a spring job and nothing more. Most spring replacements around Houston run $400 to $650 with parts and labor. See spring replacement for how that visit goes.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can a broken spring really bend a garage door?
Yes. If the opener keeps running after a spring breaks, it tries to lift the full weight of the door by the top section. Older steel doors often fold at that section, and the strut on top bends with it.
Should I replace the whole door or just the bent sections?
If one section is bent and the rest of the door is in good shape, a section replacement makes sense. If two or more sections are damaged, or the door has tears and loose stiles like this one, a complete door is usually the better value.
How long does a new garage door take?
The install itself takes most of a day for a two-car door. On this job the new door went in four days after the first call.
Do you work in Cypress?
Yes. Cypress is a real drive from our shop in Sugar Land, and we work there regularly. See our Cypress garage door repair page for the areas we cover.
