Green Garage Door Repair
Chicago IL

There are many different components on your garage door system that will need maintenance from time to time. The cables may go slack or fray, your opener may start to malfunction or stop working all together, the eye sensors may stop working or get out of alignment, springs may break, or the door itself may be damaged. We are going to focus on what the function of garage door springs are for, why they break, and why it’s important to fix them.

Depending on the type of garage door you have, you may have one big spring or two smaller springs. The function of these springs is to act as a counterweight to the force of gravity on the door. This means it will make the door light enough for you to lift manually and to make it easier for the opener to open and close the door. Ideally, the door will be balanced and not sagging or opening slower on one side than the other. If you are noticing this, you should call a technician to inspect the springs and see if it needs to be rebalanced. It could be a sign that one or both of the springs are starting to fail.

The life cycle of a spring can vary depending on the type of spring, how often you use the garage door, and if you have the spring maintenanced regularly. The average life cycle of a spring is 7-9 years or 10,000 cycles of the door opening and closing. If you have a lot of people in the home using the garage or you tend to use the garage as a front door, this may lower the life expectancy to 4-6 years. A spring may not actually break, but start to fail instead and need to be rebalanced or re-tensioned. The steel in the spring may start to weaken as time goes on or if rust causes corrosive damage to the spring. If your springs start to show wear and tear or break, call a technician to inspect the spring. They will be able to rebalance the spring or offer to replace your springs. If you have two springs verses one, you should have them replaced at the same time. Since springs are installed at the same time when the garage door is installed, it is wise to have them both replaced as they have the same life expectancy and the other spring will most likely fail soon.  If only the broken spring is replaced, one spring will be stronger than the other and cause the door to be unbalanced. This will cause further issues to the garage system by placing more stress on one side of the door than the other and further shorten the life cycle of the new spring.

Regular maintenance to prevent rust or provide re tensioning when needed along with only using the garage door when needed will help prolong the life of your springs. However, when a spring does need replacing, call a professional technician at Green Garage Door Repair in Chicago, IL. Not replacing your spring when they become weak or trying to replace a spring on your own can be very dangerous. If a spring suddenly fails, the door can come crashing down and potentially cause damage to the door, your car, or yourself. Our team at Green Garage Door Repair will be happy to set up a scheduled time to have a technician come out and maintenance or replace your springs.