Stop using the door
Cable snapped in Hollywood, FL
If there is a cable hanging loose and the door is sitting crooked, one of the lift cables has come off or broken. One side still has tension. The other side does not. That is why the door tilts, binds in the track, and may look like it is about to drop. Leave it where it is.
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Hollywood sits right on the Atlantic, and salt-laden onshore air reaches well inland. Add year-round high humidity and the long May-through-October wet season, and the steel parts of a garage door corrode faster here than they do in drier places. Rust at the cable drum is a common cause of a snapped cable, and homes within a mile or two of the Broadwalk and the Intracoastal take a constant salt-spray beating — hardware there rusts out years faster than it would inland.
While you wait — please don't
- Stop using the door. A crooked door under tension is the most dangerous state a garage door gets into, so do not open or close it again, by hand or with the opener.
- Do not pull on the hanging cable. That cable may still be loaded or may snap taut without warning, and nobody should be holding it when it does.
- Do not try to force the door level. Pushing or lifting one side to straighten it can send the door off the track entirely or bring it down.
- Do not attempt the repair yourself. Cables, drums and springs are all under high tension and this is not a DIY job — leave it to a trained technician.
- Keep people and cars clear. Keep kids and pets out of the garage, and if your car is shut inside, wait rather than trying to free it.
What the technician does
- Both cables replaced, not just the broken oneCables are replaced in pairs. The surviving cable has seen the same salt air and the same wear, so matching new ones go on both sides.
- Cables sized to your doorThe new cables are sized to the height of your door. The wrong length will never wind correctly, no matter how carefully it is set.
- Drums re-seated and re-setThe drums are re-seated and re-set so both sides wind evenly. This is what brings the door back level instead of leaving it dragging on one side.
- Springs checked at the same timeThe springs are inspected while the door is apart. Springs and cables work together, and corroded or tired springs often explain why the cable went in the first place.
- Door re-squaredThe door is re-squared in the opening so the panels and rollers sit where they should and the track stops taking a side load.
- Cycle testedThe door is run up and down to confirm it tracks evenly and holds balance before the technician leaves.
Why this happens in Hollywood, FL
Much of Hollywood's housing stock dates from the 1950s through the 1970s — one-story concrete-block-and-stucco ranch homes with attached one- and two-car garages. Plenty of those doors still have original hardware on them. Decades of humidity and salt air work on the drum, the cable and the fasteners, and the failure usually shows up as a snapped cable long before anybody notices the rust. If you live in Hollywood Lakes, Hollywood Beach, Driftwood, Boulevard Heights or the North Beach area, that story will sound familiar.
Demand around here runs in seasons. It climbs in late spring and early summer as people get ready for the June-to-November hurricane season, and again from November through April when seasonal owners come back and open up homes and condos that sat shut for months. A door left unused in that humidity does not come back in better shape. If your place is in a condo tower or a gated community west of town, your association may have its own rules about work on common areas and doors — worth checking before anything is scheduled. And in Broward County, replacement doors fall under High-Velocity Hurricane Zone requirements, so a permit and approved product documentation come into play; the technician can talk you through what your address needs, and the local building department is the final word.
Questions people ask
- Can I just drive the car out first?
- No. Running the door with one cable off can pull it off the track or drop it, and your car is in the path. Wait for a technician to release it safely.
- Why does this keep happening to doors near the beach in Hollywood?
- Salt-laden air off the Atlantic reaches well inland, and Hollywood's year-round humidity keeps steel hardware damp. Cables, drums, rollers and springs corrode faster here than inland, and stainless or coated hardware is worth the upgrade on homes near the Broadwalk and the Intracoastal.
- Does the spring need to be replaced too?
- Sometimes. The technician checks the springs at the same time, because a worn or rusted spring often sits behind a cable failure. You will hear what was found before anything is done.
- What does it cost?
- The estimate is free. The technician looks at the door in person, gives you the price, and you approve it before any work starts. Nothing is charged on a guess over the phone.
- Are you the company doing the repair?
- No. One Call Garage Door is a referral and scheduling service that arranges garage door service with independent local technicians across all fifty states. We are not the contractor and we do not perform the work ourselves.
- Do you cover areas around Hollywood?
- Yes. We arrange service across Florida and all fifty states, including nearby Dania Beach, Hallandale Beach, Fort Lauderdale, Davie, Pembroke Pines and Miramar.
One call
One call to (866) 394-4210 gets a local technician scheduled to look at the cable and the door. The estimate is free, and the price is agreed with you before any work starts.
Something else in this area
- 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
One Call Garage Door arranges the visit; the technician does the work and gives you the price.