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Garage Door Spring Repair Services
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Do you suspect you may have a broken garage door spring? Certified Garage Door is here to help in any way we can with your garage door regardless of whether you have a broken garage door spring. If you’re in the Tampa Bay area, the fastest way to get an answer to any of your garage door-related questions is just to give us a call. We will answer any questions you have regarding your garage door and will never pressure you into hiring our company for garage door repair services.
Our goal is to help you achieve your objective in the most efficient manner possible whether it is to:
- Schedule a Garage Door Repair Service Call
- Find Answers to Your Questions About Garage Door Springs
- Learn More About Our Company
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Frequently Asked Questions About Garage Door Springs
How Can I Tell if My Garage Door Spring Is Broken?
If you’re in Tampa Bay, call us at (813) 949-2330 today.
Gap in the Spring — When a torsion spring is broken there are times when you will be able to look at the garage door spring and see a visible gap. This is by far the easiest way to identify whether or not there is a broken spring. There are many reasons we recommend sticking with a torsion spring system and this is one of them. Other garage door spring system types like Torquemaster will not allow you to see the garage door spring until it is removed from a long zinc tube.
Cables are Unraveled — When a garage door spring breaks, it is not uncommon for the garage door to crash to the ground. When that happens, there is a high probability that the lifting cables will become unwound from what is called the drum. The drum is a small, gray, wheel-like cylinder that can be found next to the top of the garage door opening. If you see the steel cable wire is unraveled, it is likely that your garage door spring has broken.
Crooked Garage Door — Each side of a two-car garage door has its own spring. When a garage door spring breaks on a two car garage door, one side of the door will no longer be able to be supported by the spring. When that happens, the door will sag on one side. It’s critical to be extremely cautious when your garage door is crooked. When a broken garage door spring causes your garage door to sag on one side, it puts extra tension on the tracks and rollers of the other side. There is a higher probability of your garage door falling off the track when your garage door is crooked. We do not recommend walking under your garage door if it is crooked; it’s extremely dangerous.
Garage Door Does Not Move When the Emergency Release Is Pulled — Every garage door has an emergency release rope. The emergency release rope can be found hanging from the “trolley” right in the center of the garage door. It is usually red and attached to a multi-colored cord. If your power ever goes out and you’re unable to open your garage door, you can pull the emergency release cord. Once you have pulled the cord you will be able to lift your garage door manually with your hands. Since a garage door spring carries most of the weight of your garage door (it’s a counterbalance), you will not be able to lift your garage door. It’s also extremely dangerous to attempt to lift your garage door when the spring is broken. If you suspect you have a broken garage door spring, do not attempt to lift your garage door. Your safety and well-being is more important than removing your vehicle from your garage. If you or a loved one is elderly, disabled, or unable to lift a garage door manually, you may want to consider a battery backup unit for your garage door opener. It will ensure that the garage door can be opened even if the power goes out.
Garage Door Falls Quickly — Most garage door springs break as a garage door is being opened. Since a garage door spring carries most of the weight of a garage door, if a garage door spring breaks, the garage door will crash to the ground quickly. When a garage door spring breaks and the garage door falls to the ground, you will typically hear a loud booming sound. A falling garage door poses a serious risk of injury to you, your family, and your pets. That is why we strongly urge you to never walk under your garage door while it is in the process of opening. Once a garage door has fallen to the ground it can cause other problems such as the cable coming unwound from the drum or even the garage door partially falling off the tracks.
Torquemaster — The second type of spring is called a Torquemaster spring system. The Torquemaster spring system is usually only found on Wayne Dalton garage doors. It’s difficult to see if a spring is broken on a torquemaster system because the entire spring system is enclosed in a hollow tube known as a torsion tube. There are only a couple of effective ways to determine whether a spring is broken on a Torquemaster system. The first way is to remove the springs from the torsion tube. Another indication that you may have a broken garage door spring on your Wayne Dalton Torquemaster system is if the door refuses to move. The Torquemaster system has a safety mechanism located within the drum that will prevent it from moving if a garage door spring breaks. Give us a call and we will be able to assist you in deciding what your options are.
What Causes Garage Door Springs to Break?
Wear and Tear — Every garage door spring has a certain number of cycles it can make. Garage door springs are made of large gauge steel wire that is coiled into a spring using specialized equipment. If you have ever bent a paperclip back and forth, you know that it can only be bent a certain amount of times before it breaks. Garage door springs are similar. When a garage door is opened and closed, the garage door springs are compressed and decompressed. As the springs are compressed and decompressed they bend and twist. Inevitably, all garage door springs will break with regular garage door use.
Wrong Spring Size — When the wrong size of spring is used on a garage door, it can cause a garage door spring compressed beyond what it should be. If a garage door is heavier than what the spring can handle, the spring is forced to twist more than a properly sized spring would. This excess twisting of the garage door springs will cause the garage door springs to wear out faster. Additionally, undersized springs will stress the other components of the garage door, especially the garage door motor. The spring is designed to carry a majority of a garage door’s weight. If the spring is unable to carry the garage door’s weight, the garage door motor has to compensate for the spring’s inability to do so.
Rust — Garage door springs are made out of large gauge steel wire. Steel will start to show signs of wear as it is deteriorating which gives you an opportunity to have your garage door springs replaced prior to them breaking. Garage door springs will rust faster in Florida and other places with high humidity. Therefore, we recommend visually inspecting your garage door springs for signs of rust. If your garage door springs are starting to accumulate rust, it is a good idea to apply grease to your garage door springs to protect them from further damage. Applying grease to your garage door springs will also allow them to operate more smoothly and lengthen the lifespan of the spring. Do not apply WD-40 to your garage door springs to attempt to lubricate them. WD-40 is a degreaser and can strip your garage door springs of lubricants needed to allow them to operate more efficiently.
Why Are Garage Door Springs So Dangerous?
Garage door springs are under an enormous amount of tension. If you do not have the proper expertise, tools, and experience required to safely work on a garage door spring, there is an extremely high risk of being injured. Most people who are not garage door professionals do not know how to safely release the tension on a garage door spring. The average garage door spring has over 265 lbs of torque when it is fully tensioned. If the tension on a garage door spring is not released correctly, more than 265 lbs of torque can be released instantly. Listed below are just a few reasons people get severely injured when they’re attempting to work on garage door spring systems.
Tensioning Cone — When a garage door spring’s tension is released, the garage door tensioning cone will spin rapidly around the torsion tube. The tensioning cone has two set screws with square heads that stick out from the tensioning cone. When garage door spring tension is released, the square set screws have sharp corners that are known for causing severe damage to someone’s hands.
Winding Bar — Another way people get severely injured when working on their own garage door springs is when they are hit with a Winding Bar. A Winding Bar is a specific tool that is used to turn the tensioning cone to safely add or take away tension from the garage door spring. A Winding Bar is a steel rod designed to fit perfectly into the holes of a winding cone. We do not recommend experimenting with or performing maintenance on your own garage door springs. However, if you choose to do so, it is imperative that you use the proper equipment. Injuries from winding bars usually take place when someone is attempting to use another tool as a substitution for a winding bar or they do not have the proper number of winding bars. When winding bars are used improperly, and the tension from a garage door spring is released, the winding bars are quickly converted from a tool to a weapon. Never get in the path of a winding bar that is inserted into torsion cone. The best thing and safest thing you can do if you need a garage door spring replacement is to call an experienced garage door professional like Certified Garage Door.
Loose Clothing — This is something that does not get mentioned enough when it comes to the dangers of garage door spring replacement. Loose clothing, specifically long sleeve shirts, can easily get snagged on garage door parts such as the square bolts on the garage door tensioning cone. If tension is released from the garage door spring, it’s easy for your shirt sleeve to get snagged on something like the garage door tensioning cone. If that happens the best case scenario is that you will make a fashion statement with your one-sleeved shirt. The worst case scenario would result in a visit to the emergency room.
How Can I Tell What Type of Garage Door Springs I Need?
If a garage door spring is not the proper size it can cause a garage door to malfunction and experience more issues. It is imperative that the right size garage door spring is used. Our garage door company follows the Door & Access Systems Manufacturers Association (DASMA) guidelines for garage door springs.
Wire Diameter — The thicker the wire that is used to make the spring, the more capacity it will have to help lift the weight of a garage door. If the diameter of a garage door spring is too small for your garage doors’ weight, the garage door springs will be far more likely to break. Additionally, it will put additional strain on your garage door opener and may lead to other problems with your garage door motor. If a garage door spring is too large of a diameter for your garage door it too can cause issues with your garage door system. Garage door springs are designed to be a counterbalance for the weight of your garage door system. If garage door springs are too large for the weight of your garage door it can prevent the garage door from making a full seal on the ground. It also causes all of the other components of the garage door, such as the garage door opener, to work a lot harder when the garage door is closing. Additionally, the garage door may open too quickly causing the garage door to move at inconsistent speeds which could place a strain on some parts of the garage door system.
Weight of the Garage Door — Garage door springs are meant to counter the weight of a garage door. The more your garage door weighs, the larger diameter garage door spring you are going to need. Knowing your garage door’s weight is critical to finding the correct garage door spring size. The manufacturer of your garage door will usually have the weight of the garage door in their product specification data. If you’re unable to find the weight on your garage door on your product manufacturer’s site, you can try the following method as long as your garage door is functioning and can operate safely. We never recommend changing out your own garage door springs because it is extremely dangerous and can even be lethal. However, this may be useful for do-it-yourselfers who need to have a rough calculation of the garage door’s weight. The first step is to pull the red emergency release cord located at the center of your garage door. Then place your bathroom scale on the ground an equal distance from the left and right side. Make sure it is lined up with where the garage door touches the ground when it is closed. You can then close the garage door until it touches the top of the scale. That will give you a rough weight. Since some of the weight of the door is still being held by the garage door rails, the weight will be under the actual weight of the garage door, but it will give you a ballpark estimate.
How Long Do Garage Door Springs Last?
The length of time a garage door spring lasts depends upon the quality of the springs and how often you often you open your garage door. A cycle is an industry term used to describe a garage door opening and closing one time. Each type of garage door spring has a certain number of cycles it will be able to make. The average torsion garage door spring can last anywhere from 8,000 – 15,000 cycles. If you open your garage door 4 times a day your garage door spring could last between 5-10 years. There are several things that can drastically reduce the lifespan of a garage door spring. For example, if any of the three bearing plates are not working properly and making it harder for the spring to turn, it will significantly lower the lifespan of your garage door springs. The garage door rollers that are not working efficiently can also create more resistance for garage door springs which will cause them to wear out faster. High cycle garage door springs can last longer than standard torsion springs. High cycle springs can last 2-3 times longer than standard torsion springs. You can find more information about high cycle garage door springs below.
What Are the Best Garage Door Springs?
The most important thing when it comes to garage door springs is choosing the right size garage door springs. You can find more information about identifying the correct size of garage door spring above on this page. Once you have identified that correct size of garage door spring, you can then choose the lifespan of garage door spring you would like to purchase. Once you have identified the correct size garage door spring, you can choose whether you want high cycle garage door springs or standard garage door springs. The primary difference between high cycle garage door springs and standard torsion springs is the length of time that they last. Standard torsion springs last between 10,000-15,000 cycles. However, high-cycle garage door springs can last up to 30,000 cycles. The primary reason the high cycle garage door spring lasts longer is due to a thicker gauge spring wire and they are a few inches longer too. It’s important to note that it is difficult for a consumer to distinguish between standard-cycle or high-cycle garage door springs. That may lead to consumers being told they are receiving high-cycle garage door springs when they are really getting standard cycle garage door springs. Since standard garage door springs last 30,000 cycles (approximately 10-15 years) it would take a homeowner a long period of time before they were to suspect that normal torsion springs were installed instead of high cycle garage door springs. We recommend only purchasing high cycle garage door springs from a garage door company that you trust whole heartedly.
Learn More About Certified Garage Door
“What makes this garage door company different from others and why should I hire them?”
Integrity — Unfortunately, the garage door industry has changed drastically since we founded our company in 2009. The garage door industry has become inundated with companies who mislead customers and do not genuinely work in their client’s best interests. Certified Garage Door’s commitment to customer satisfaction is at the core of every task we do at our company. Certified Garage Door has always maintained the highest level of integrity throughout all of our years in business. The support we have received from members of our community has made us the company that we are today. We value our community above all else.
Accurate & Competitive Pricing — Certified Garage Door has always had fair and competitive prices. Less reputable garage door companies will intentionally mislead homeowners about the condition of their garage door. They do that in order to charge them more money. Certified Garage Door will always provide you an accurate assessment of what is wrong with your garage door. We will never mislead a customer or attempt to sell you services that you really do not need.
Our goal is not just to earn your business for a single garage door repair. Our goal is to be your trusted, local, and affordable garage door company for as long as you reside in Tampa Bay. We are so grateful for all of the referrals that we receive from past customers. Our company will continue to provide the highest quality of customer experience so you will always feel comfortable referring us to neighbors, friends, and family.
Experienced & Professional — Certified Garage Door prides itself in having the most knowledgeable and professional garage door repair technicians in Tampa Bay. Our garage door repair technicians, are a wealth of knowledge of you have questions regarding your garage doors, how they work, or garage door options that are available to you. They all have extensive experience in the industry and are dedicated to continuing to improve upon their craft. In addition to our technician’s level of expertise, you’ll also find that they are extremely personable. Our technicians are not just garage door professionals, they are also members of the community. We treat our customers like they are our neighbors, because they are.
Reviews — The best way to learn more about our company is to read reviews from other local residents in Tampa Bay that has used us for garage door installation and garage door repair. We are proud of the quality of company we have built over the last 15 years and we are thrilled to have been able to grow with our community. If our customers ever have a problem with a garage door repair or garage door installation project we have completed, we work in an efficient and proactive manner to resolve those issues. Take some time to read reviews on Google from past customers.
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