Stop using the door
A cable has snapped or come loose
The lift cables share the door's weight with the springs. When one goes, that side drops, the door sits crooked, and running it makes everything worse.
Phones answered around the clock · free estimate
While you wait — please don't
- Do not operate the door. A crooked door under tension is the most dangerous state a garage door gets into.
- Do not pull on a hanging cable.
- Cables and springs are a matched system. Replacing one and ignoring the other is how people pay twice.
What has probably happened
- The cable frayed through where it wraps the drum — usually rust or age.
- A spring broke and the sudden slack let the cable jump off its drum.
- The door was run while something blocked it, and the cable unwound.
- The drum set screws slipped, letting one side pay out.
What the technician does
- New cables in pairs, sized to the door's height.
- Drums re-seated and re-set so both sides wind evenly.
- Springs checked at the same time — a cable rarely breaks for no reason.
- The door re-squared, balanced and cycle-tested.
Questions people ask
- Can just the one cable be replaced?
- Technically yes, but the other is the same age and has done the same work. Replacing the pair is standard practice and avoids a second call-out.
- Why is the door crooked?
- One side is still being carried and the other is not. That twist is also what damages rollers, hinges and track if the door keeps being used.
Get a technician out
Free estimate. The price is agreed before the work starts.
Something else going on?
- Loud bang, door won't lift
- Door won't open or close
- Door is off its track
- Opener or remote dead
- Stuck half open
- Loud, grinding or shaking
- Dented or damaged panel
- I want a new door
One Call Garage Door arranges the visit; the technician does the work and gives you the price.