Stop using the door
Broken garage door spring in Gainesville, FL
You heard a bang, maybe from the garage, maybe from inside the house. Now the door will not lift. The opener strains and stops, or it lifts a few inches and drops back. If you look at the shaft above the door, you may see a gap in a coiled spring, like a break in a spiral. That is a broken spring, and the door is now sitting at close to its full dead weight.
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This happens in Gainesville for ordinary reasons. Springs are rated by cycles, not by age, so a busy household that runs the door many times a day will get through them faster than a quiet one. Gainesville's very high year-round humidity also works against the hardware, rusting springs, hinges and fasteners over time. And when one of our occasional hard freezes drops into the upper 20s, a spring that was already fatigued often picks that morning to let go.
While you wait — please don't
- Stop using the door. With a broken spring the door is unbalanced and can slam down, so leave it where it is and park outside if your car is still in there.
- Do not force it up by hand. The door suddenly weighs what the springs were carrying, and people hurt their backs, hands and feet trying to muscle it open.
- Do not touch the torsion springs. Torsion springs are under extreme tension and will release violently if the wrong bolt is loosened, so this is not a DIY job.
- Do not keep running the opener. The opener is not built to lift an unsprung door, and repeated attempts can strain the motor, bend the top section or pull the cables off their drums.
- Do not replace just the one that broke. Springs are replaced in matched pairs so the door stays balanced, because the surviving spring has the same wear on it.
What the technician does
- The door gets weighed and measuredThe technician checks the door's weight and size so the replacement springs are sized correctly. A spring that is wrong for the door will fail early or leave the door badly balanced.
- You get the price firstThe estimate is free. The technician looks at the door, tells you the price, and you approve it before any work starts.
- Springs replaced in pairsTorsion or extension springs are swapped out as a set so both sides carry equal load. That keeps the door square in the opening and stops the next failure from following right behind.
- Cables, drums and bearings checkedA spring breaking often shock-loads the lift cables and drums. Those parts and the end bearings get inspected while the system is apart.
- The door is rebalancedOnce the new springs are wound, the door should hold its position partway up instead of sinking or flying. That balance is what keeps the opener from doing work it was never meant to do.
- Opener safety reverse testedThe technician tests that the door reverses as it should before finishing up. On a door this heavy, that test matters.
Why this happens in Gainesville, FL
Garage doors in Gainesville live in two different worlds. In the newer concrete-block-and-stucco subdivisions west and northwest of town, around Haile Plantation, Town of Tioga, Jonesville and the Millhopper area, attached garages with two-car double doors are standard, and those big doors need heavy springs that get a hard workout. Closer to downtown, the Duckpond, Pleasant Street and the older streets near the University of Florida, you are more likely to find carports, detached garages and smaller single doors, often on homes dating back to the early 1900s through the 1940s.
Gainesville also has a heavy share of student duplexes, townhomes and condos, and the door on a rental with several people coming and going racks up cycles fast. Turnover in July and August puts even more use on hardware that is already fighting constant humidity. The oak canopy and summer storms add their own problems, but a broken spring is usually just a part that reached the end of its cycle life. If you are in Alachua, Newberry, High Springs, Archer, Micanopy, Hawthorne, Waldo or Ocala, the same service can be arranged there.
Questions people ask
- Can I still get my car out?
- Sometimes, by pulling the emergency release and lifting by hand, but with a broken spring the door is extremely heavy and can come down hard. If the car is shut in, it is safer to leave it and wait. Do not stand under a partly raised door.
- Why did it break on a cold Gainesville morning?
- Gainesville winters are mild, but we do get several frosts and the occasional hard freeze in the upper 20s. Cold snaps tend to finish off springs that were already fatigued from normal use. The cold did not cause the wear, it just found it.
- Does the humidity here really matter?
- Yes. Gainesville sits about 50 to 60 miles inland so there is no salt air, but the very high year-round humidity rusts springs, hinges and other door hardware. Florida's heat and moisture also degrade weatherstripping and wood components over time.
- Do I need a permit for this?
- In Florida a permit is typically required to replace a whole garage door, since the door is part of the building envelope and must meet Florida Building Code requirements. A spring replacement is a repair rather than a door replacement. Permits are issued locally, so check with the Alachua County or City of Gainesville building department if you are unsure.
- Who actually shows up?
- One Call Garage Door is a referral and scheduling service. We arrange your job with an independent local technician who does the work; we are not the contractor. Licensing is the technician's own, and requirements vary by state and by county or city.
One call
One call to (866) 394-4210 gets your broken spring in Gainesville scheduled with an independent local technician, and the estimate is free. The technician looks at the door and gives you the price before any work starts, and nothing happens until you say yes.
Something else in this area
One Call Garage Door arranges the visit; the technician does the work and gives you the price.