Garage Door Springs

Garage door springs will wear over time and it's not a pretty sight when they do go. While they are made to withstand tremendous amounts of pressure, opening a garage door twice a day over a several years will cause your garage door springs to lose their spring and snap. The damage can be severe to items in your garage or at worst to someone who happens to be in the area when a spring goes. Installing them can be just as dangerous and there are many accounts of poor installations resulting in fatalities. As the springs are essential to the functioning of your garage door it is wise to have a professional perform any repairs or replacements that you need so that you can avoid any risk of serious injury.

You may not think much about it but garage doors are extremely heavy objects without the springs that help you open them. Some can weigh up to 375 pounds. Even light weight aluminum doors will weigh at least 100 pounds. To make it easy on you to open your garage door, a counter balance system is used that is comprised of either torsion springs or extension springs. When your garage door is closed the springs are stretched, making them very dangerous should they wear out at the unfortunate moment that you are in the vicinity. In this stretched state, the natural reaction of the springs is to want to contract. This helps you open the door as the garage door spring is doing what it would do in a natural state. When your garage door is open the springs are in a less strenuous state although they are pushed together. The springs in this position want to expand away from themselves, so this makes it easy on you to close the door. This counter balance system works so that minimal effort is needed by you to open them or close them.

There are basically two types of garage door tension springs: torsion springs or extension springs. Garage door torsion springs are the more dangerous of the two types of springs. You can find these directly above the door at the entrance of your garage. They are fit onto a horizontal rod across your garage door and look like a long coil. They are typically installed on double garages, garages wide enough for two vehicles. They use the rod shaft, drums and cables to provide equal pressure on both sides to open the doors evenly. These are the springs that cause serious injury when they snap or an inexperienced person tries to replace them. Replacing garage door springs of any type is dangerous but torsion springs can cause fatal injuries because the tension that the springs are under is extreme in any position.

The other type is garage door extension springs. These are found on one car garages and run parallel to the door tracks at the back. They work separately of each other and use tension to open your door evenly. These springs don't break as much as they lose their spring and become relaxed to the point of ineffectiveness. Sometimes they can be serviced but usually it's time to purchase some garage door replacement springs. While these are not as dangerous as the torsion springs you should still consider hiring a professional. Installing garage door springs is no joke when it comes to your personal safety and while I have done it myself I would not recommend it for anyone else. You have to be careful too of any information you find online that describes the process should you want to attempt it yourself. I can't stress enough how dangerous garage door springs can be.

I will however post this video for you on how to measure for your replacement garage door springs. Enjoy.