Springs, Cables & Hardware · Tuscaloosa, AL
Broken garage door spring replacement in Tuscaloosa
Heard a bang and now the door will not lift? That is almost always a broken torsion spring. We replace springs sized to your door, check the cables and drums that took the shock, and balance the door before we leave.
- Answered 24/7
- Tuscaloosa, Northport and West Alabama
- Torsion and extension springs
Updated October 2026
A broken garage door spring in Tuscaloosa is replaced, not repaired: the snapped torsion spring, and usually its partner on a two-spring door, comes off the shaft and a new pair sized to the door's weight goes on. Standard springs are rated for about 10,000 cycles. Keep the door closed, leave the opener off and call.
Warning signs
How to tell the spring is the problem
A gap in the coil
Look at the spring above the door. A broken torsion spring shows a clear gap of a few inches where the coil separated.
The door feels dead heavy
With the opener released, a balanced door lifts with one hand and stays put halfway. A broken spring leaves you lifting the full weight.
The opener strains, then quits
The motor hums or the door rises a few inches and stops, because the opener's force limit trips against a door it cannot lift.
Cables hanging loose
When a spring lets go, the tension that held the lift cables on their drums disappears and a cable can slip off.
The door drops too fast
A door that falls the last few feet or slams shut is no longer being held back by its spring.
Spring replacement
Why springs break and what replacing them involves
Torsion springs do the lifting. They sit on a steel shaft above the door, wound tight, and store enough force to make a heavy door feel light at the handle. Every open and close is one cycle, and a standard spring is rated for about 10,000 of them.
Replacing one means unwinding the old spring under control and fitting a new one with the right wire size, diameter and length for your door, wound to the correct turns. We also look at why it broke: a spring that failed early on a door with dry bearings or a dragging roller means something else is adding load, and a roller replacement in Tuscaloosa at the same visit can save the next spring.
How the job runs
What happens during a spring replacement
Make the door safe
We clamp the door in place, confirm the opener is disconnected and note anything that shifted when the spring broke.
Measure and match
Wire size, inside diameter, length and wind direction come off the old spring and are checked against the door's weight and height.
Swap and wind
The old springs come off the shaft and the new ones go on, wound to the right turns for the drum size and door height.
Balance and test
The door is balanced to hold halfway, cables are checked on the drums, and the opener's force and auto-reverse are tested.
The jobs inside this job
Broken Torsion Spring
This is the call we get most. The spring breaks with a bang, usually while the door is down, and the opener cannot lift the door afterward. We fit a spring matched to your door, and on a two-spring door we recommend replacing both, because the second has run the same cycles. We also check the cables and drums, which take a jolt when a spring lets go, and look for a bent top section if the door was forced up after the break.
One Spring to Two Springs
Many builder doors leave the factory with a single torsion spring. When it breaks the door is dead, and one spring carries the whole load. Splitting that load across two springs gives a smoother lift, and if one breaks the door is still partly counterbalanced, so it does not slam. The change needs a center bearing plate and a second winding cone, and the pair is sized to the door's weight together.
High-Cycle Spring Upgrade
If the garage is how everyone comes and goes, the door runs far more cycles than average. High-cycle springs use heavier wire and more length to spread the stress, and Clopay's door specification rates its optional high-cycle spring at about 20,000 cycles against 10,000 for its standard spring. They cost more and need room on the shaft, so we check the door and hardware can take them first.
Tuscaloosa springs
Cold mornings and older garages
Springs fail more often on cold mornings, and Tuscaloosa sees freezing lows on about 46 days a year. Steel that has already run thousands of cycles is at its least forgiving then, so the first open of a cold day is when a tired spring tends to go. Housing age matters too: 42.2 percent of Tuscaloosa homes were built before 1980, so an older garage may still be running an original spring, or a single spring sized for a lighter door than the one hanging now. Both are worth checking at the same visit.
Cost
What a garage door spring replacement costs
Typical ranges from published cost guides, so you can plan. Your price depends on the springs your door needs.
| Job | Typical range | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Both torsion springs, installed | $150 to $350 | HomeGuide |
| One torsion spring, installed | $75 to $150 | HomeAdvisor |
| Both extension springs, installed | $120 to $200 | HomeGuide |
| Spring replacement, Birmingham AL (2022 data) | $200 to $330 | HomeBlue |
Planning ranges from the publishers listed, not quotes. We price your door after checking the springs, cables and drums.
What moves the price
- Spring size. Heavier and taller doors need thicker wire and longer springs, which cost more.
- One spring or two. Two-spring doors are normally done as a pair because both springs are the same age.
- Cycle rating. High-cycle springs cost more up front and last longer on a door that runs many times a day.
- Cables and drums. Frayed cables or a cracked drum found during the swap add parts and time.
- Extension or torsion. Side-mounted extension springs are priced differently and need safety cables if they are missing.
Before we arrive
What you can safely do, and what to leave alone
Fine to do yourself
- Keep the door closed and switch the opener off at the wall control or unplug it.
- Look for the gap in the coil from a safe distance so you can tell us what you see.
- Check whether there is one spring or two on the shaft above the door.
Leave these to a technician
- Unwinding or winding a torsion spring. The stored force can break a wrist or worse.
- Loosening the set screws on a winding cone.
- Lifting a door with a broken spring, by hand or with the opener.
Options
Standard springs versus high-cycle springs
| Standard spring | High-cycle spring | |
|---|---|---|
| Rated cycles | About 10,000 (Clopay spec) | About 20,000 (Clopay spec) |
| Suits | A door opened a few times a day | A door that is the main way in and out |
| Up-front cost | Lower | Higher |
| Build | Sized to the door | Heavier wire, longer spring |
Cycle ratings from Clopay's residential sectional door specification. A cycle is one open and one close.
Common questions
Questions about garage door spring replacement
Look above the door. A gap in the coil means the spring. A whole spring with a humming opener points to the opener, covered on our opener troubleshooting page.
We can, but on a two-spring door we recommend both. They went up together and have run the same cycles.
Worn spring steel is least forgiving on the first open of a cold day, so that is when many tired springs go.
Yes. Closed is the safest place for it. Keep the opener off and keep people clear until it is fixed.
Not automatically. We check the cables at every spring job and replace them when they are frayed, kinked or rusted at the bottom brackets.
A spring with heavier wire and more length that lasts more cycles. It suits a garage that is the main way in and out.
Usually, if there is headroom above the door. Our spring conversion page explains what it involves.
Yes. Springs are sized to the weight and height of the door, so we measure rather than guess.
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