Top Reasons Why Garage Door Springs Break

Have you ever pulled into your driveway after a long day at the office only to find that your garage door doesn’t open when you hit the button? Yeah, not a fun thing to have to deal with! Especially when you have no idea what went wrong or malfunctioned.

When your garage doors stop working it is likely due to the spring breaking—a totally common issue that is easy to have professionally fixed, so no worries! The spring can break for a handful of reasons, some which are preventable…

Wear and Tear
This is the #1 reason why garage door springs fail or break! The average, properly installed torsion springs will last for approximately 10,000 cycles. A cycle is when the garage door goes up and then goes back down. Even if you were to only leave and come back once throughout the entire day, that still equates to two cycles per day or 730 in a year. That being said a garage door spring would only last for a little over 13 ½ years. However, most people open and close the door many times throughout the day, running many cycles, shortening that life span to far less than 13 ½ years. It is even possible to go through 10,000 cycles in about a year!

Rust Buildup
When rust forms on the garage door springs it can cause the springs to easily break and the life cycle of them to be shortened. Rust causes friction on the coil and weakens it as well. You can prevent spring breakage due to rust by spraying down the coil with a lubricant every few months, Suburban Door can provide this lubricant which keeps it both lubricated and from building up with rust.

Poor Maintenance
Wear and tear can eventually cause the garage door springs to break down. If you practice proper maintenance you can prolong the garage door spring’s life. The first thing to do is spray down the coil with lubricant at least three times every year. Additionally, you should check up on the garage door balance every season. We have found that most people have spring failure issues in the winter, so checking it more frequently during that time is recommended.

How to Check the Garage Door Balance
Lift the garage door up halfway and then let go of it. If the door stays still without moving, then the springs are properly working. If the door falls down a bit, then the springs are beginning to wear down and should be fixed soon.

Incorrect Springs Used
When using the incorrect spring length or wire size, your garage door springs will likely fail sooner than later. Correctly maintained and constructed garage doors should have two torsion springs, one on each side. Some garage door installers use one long spring across the whole door, which is acceptable for smaller or lighter doors, but not the average one. It is better to use two springs to share the weight load of raising and closing the garage door, because single ones not only shorten the life cycle but will cause heavy damage when failure occurs.

Although broken garage springs are common due to the various reasons discussed above, that does not mean you should have to put up with that major inconvenience! Suburban Door Company offers quality, spring repair services for an affordable price! We guarantee that we can have your garage running again in no time.