Garage Door Springs: The Unsung Heroes You Never Thank

This is the largest and heaviest moving object in your home, and you walk right under it every  single day without a shred of hesitation. Would you believe it’s your Garage Door. If most  people really stopped and thought about that, they’d pause before strolling under it with a cup of  coffee and a bag of groceries. That’s the confidence a well-maintained garage door gives you. 

Your garage door opens and closes because of its springs. Located either on the sides of the door  (called extension springs) or mounted above the door (called torsion springs) they perform the  same basic job lifting hundreds of pounds smoothly just with slightly different personalities. If  extension springs were a duet, torsion springs would be a sophisticated solo artist with a little  more torque and attitude. 

Now, here’s where reality enters the chat. 

Over time, we begin to forget that a garage door is a mechanical system. We maintain our cars  because they move and make noise and occasionally leave us stranded at awkward moments, but  we tend to assume our garage doors will quietly serve forever without so much as a thank-you, a  tune-up, or a spot of grease. 

Just like any machine, garage doors have wearable parts and springs are at the top of that list.

The Lifecycle of a Garage Door Spring (Spoiler: They All Break  Eventually)

A spring’s useful life is measured in cycles, meaning one up and down equals one cycle.  Reputable Garage Door companies will install springs rated for at least 10,000 cycles. If your  garage door only opens when you leave in the morning and return the evening you can expect  your springs to last 12 to 13 years. However, after 25 years in the garage door industry, I have  found most home owners use the garage as their primary entrance and exit to their home. You  leave and return, the kids leave and return, your spouse leaves and returns; now your garage  opens and closes 6 times a day. The expected life of the springs is 4 to 5 years. 

In commercial garage doors a high cycle count should be expected like 50,000 to 100,000 cycles  on a firehouse garage door. It will go up and down many times a day. But I’m seeing a trend in  new constriction, especially in new “Affordable Housing developments” to install springs that  only have a 3000 cycle life. Normal usage means your spring will break in 1.5 to 2 years.  While we cannot stop what large construction companies do, OCS will not replace springs with  less than 10,000 cycles. 

People often ask: 

“When will my spring break?” 

I always tell them: predicting the exact moment a spring will fail is somewhere between weather  forecasting and crystal-ball fortune-telling. We don’t know the day — but we can estimate when  and replace the springs before they break.

That’s where a Balance Test comes in. We do this during our Safety & Reliability inspection. The balance test lets us understand how your spring is behaving and whether it’s losing tension;  just like a rubber band that slowly stretches, weakens, and eventually snaps.

What a Spring Failure Sounds Like

When a garage door spring breaks, there is no polite “excuse me” about it. The sound is sharp,  startling, and very loud. Some people describe it as a gunshot, others like a 2x4 being snapped in  half by a superhero having a bad day. The moment it happens, every pet in the neighborhood  suddenly remembers they have legs. 

Aside from the noise, a broken spring is dangerous. And often, it stops your entire day in its  tracks: 

• You can’t leave the garage 

• You can’t park inside 

• You can’t run errands 

• You can’t get to work without explaining to your boss that you lost a wrestling match  with physics 

This is where stress levels rise faster than your door can without a functioning spring.

How We Estimate Spring Health

The Balance Test tells us what your door does when it’s disconnected from the opener. If the  door stays parked halfway or near the middle, the springs are still pulling their weight (literally).  If the door drops like a bowling ball into the basement or refuses to hover anywhere except fully closed, your garage door is not in balance. Bottom line, the springs are living on borrowed time or they were not installed correctly in the first place.

At that stage, replacing springs isn’t a convenience, it’s a necessity. When springs reach the end  of their life, there isn’t a gentle decline, no soft landing, no 30-day notice. They simply stop  cooperating, usually at the most inconvenient moment possible.

Why Preventive Replacement Matters

At OCS, we’d like to stop the stress before the emergency. As a part of our Safety and  Reliability Inspection we perform a balance test. We’re giving you insight into how much  useful life remains not as a scare tactic but as a smart, proactive decision. 

Let’s face it: nobody wants to hear a loud bang in the garage, especially when you’re holding a  steaming cup of coffee and planning to be anywhere except stuck at home. 

Replacing springs before they fail isn’t just safer it’s easier, cheaper, calmer, quieter, and  generally better for your heart rate.

A Final Thought From Your Friendly Garage Door Expert

Your garage door springs work hard every single day without applause, recognition, holidays, or  weekends. And unlike most household items, they do a job you really depend on. 

So, if you want your garage door to stay smooth, safe, reliable, and peaceful, give those springs some professional attention ever so often. Your nerves and your schedule will thank you.

Written by: Jay Holloway 

Jay Holloway has owned OCS Garage doors, Hurricane Protection and Shade for over 25 years.  His experience and knowledge has made him an Expert in both the Garage Door and the  Hurricane Protection industries. He and his family live in the Lowcountry of South Carolina. You  can reach him through the office number: 843-521-0102 or on line at: 

ocsfrontdesk@ocsontheweb.com