Stop using the door
Broken garage door spring in Hollywood, FL
You heard a bang, maybe like a gunshot in the garage, and now the door will not lift. That is a broken spring almost every time. The springs carry the weight of the door, not the opener, so when one snaps the door suddenly weighs what those springs were holding. If your car is shut inside, leave it there for now and call. Do not try to muscle the door up.
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Springs go by cycle life, not by age. Every open and close counts, so a busy household in Hollywood Lakes or Driftwood that runs the door ten times a day will get through springs faster than a quiet one. Hollywood sits on the Atlantic with year-round humidity and salt-laden onshore breezes that reach well inland, and that salt air and moisture speed up corrosion on springs, cables, rollers and tracks. Add the original doors still hanging on a lot of 1950s-to-1970s block-and-stucco ranch homes here, and broken springs are a steady call in this city.
While you wait — please don't
- Stop using the door. With a broken spring the door is unbalanced and can drop, so leave it where it is until a technician looks at it.
- Do not touch the torsion springs. Torsion springs are under extreme tension and can cause serious injury to anyone who unwinds or unbolts them without the right tools.
- Do not force it open by hand. People hurt their backs, hands and shoulders trying to lift a door that is now carrying its full weight with no spring help.
- Do not keep pressing the opener. The opener is not built to lift the raw weight of the door and you can burn out the motor or snap a cable on top of the broken spring.
- Do not replace only the one that broke. The other spring has the same cycles on it and is next in line, which is why springs are replaced in pairs.
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 does not match the door will fail early and leave the door unbalanced.
- Springs replaced in pairsTorsion or extension springs are swapped as a matched set, not one at a time. That keeps both sides pulling evenly.
- Cables, drums and bearings checkedA spring rarely breaks alone, so the cables, drums and bearings are inspected for wear, fraying and rust. On a salt-air coast like this one, corroded hardware shows up often.
- The door is rebalancedOnce the new springs are on, the door is set so it holds its position partway up instead of drifting or slamming.
- Opener safety reverse testedThe technician tests the opener's safety reverse before leaving so the door backs off if something is under it.
- You see the price firstThe estimate is free. The technician looks at the door and gives you the price, and you approve it before any work starts.
Why this happens in Hollywood, FL
Hollywood's climate is hard on spring systems in a way inland cities are not. Humidity stays high all year, the wet season runs roughly May through October, and salt spray hits hardest within a mile or two of the Broadwalk and the Intracoastal. Hardware there rusts out years faster than it would inland, which is why coated or stainless hardware is worth asking about when a technician is already in the garage. Freezing weather is not a factor here, so corrosion and cycle count are what finish off springs in this city.
The housing stock matters too. Attached one- and two-car garages are common across Hollywood's single-family neighborhoods, from Hollywood Hills and Emerald Hills to Boulevard Heights and Beverly Park, and many of those homes still have doors and hardware from the original build. Calls pick up in late spring and early summer as people get ready for the June-to-November hurricane season, and again in the November-to-April snowbird stretch when seasonal owners come back and open up homes and condos that sat closed for months. If your property sits under an HOA or a condo association, which is common in the beach towers and the newer western subdivisions, check their rules before any work on a door that faces common area.
Questions people ask
- Can I just use the emergency release and lift it myself?
- Pulling the release does not make the door lighter. With a broken spring the door carries its full weight, and that is exactly how people get hurt. Leave the door down and let a technician handle it.
- Why does salt air matter for springs in Hollywood?
- Hollywood sits on the Atlantic and the onshore breezes carry salt well inland, which accelerates corrosion on springs, cables, rollers and tracks. Properties near the Broadwalk and the Intracoastal take the worst of it. The technician will check the surrounding hardware, not just the spring that broke.
- Does a spring replacement need a permit?
- In Florida a permit is typically required to replace a garage door, because the door is part of the building envelope and must meet Florida Building Code. Permits are issued locally, so rules vary by jurisdiction. Ask the technician what applies to your address and confirm with the local building department.
- I want a storm-rated door instead of another repair. What should I know?
- Broward County falls within the High-Velocity Hurricane Zone, where products typically require a Miami-Dade Notice of Acceptance or equivalent Florida Product Approval. Verify the exact rating required for your address with the local building department. The technician can go over door options when they are on site.
- 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. Licensing is the technician's own, and requirements vary by jurisdiction.
- What does it cost?
- The estimate is free. The technician looks at the door, sizes the springs and gives you a price before anything is started, and nothing happens until you approve it.
One call
One call to (866) 394-4210 gets a local technician arranged for your broken spring in Hollywood. The estimate is free, and the price is agreed with you before any work starts.
Something else in this area
One Call Garage Door arranges the visit; the technician does the work and gives you the price.