Garage Door Repair Questions, Answered

It carries the weight of the door. A sectional garage door is counterbalanced by springs, so the opener only guides it up and down. Torsion springs on a shaft above the opening twist and turn the cable drums, while extension springs along the tracks stretch and pull the lift cables over pulleys. When the springs are right, the door lifts by hand with moderate effort and stays put halfway.

More than most people expect. A double steel door can weigh well over 100 pounds, an insulated steel door weighs more, and a wood door more again. Balanced springs make that weight feel light, which is why a door with a broken spring suddenly feels immovable. Never try to lift a door that feels far heavier than usual, and never ask the opener to lift it.

A balanced door stays put when lifted halfway by hand with the opener disconnected, because the springs carry its weight. When the springs weaken or the tension is off, the opener does their work: the drive gear wears faster, the top section can bow or crack around the opener bracket, and the door can drop when released. Balance is set by adjusting spring tension, which is a job for a technician.

DASMA, the door industry association, publishes official color codes. On torsion springs the paint identifies the wire size, and on extension springs it identifies the door weight the spring is made for. DASMA also cautions that color alone is not enough to order by, so a technician confirms a replacement by measuring the wire size, inside diameter and length of the old spring.

No. A spring breaks because the steel has fatigued after thousands of cycles, so there is nothing sound left to mend. The broken spring is replaced with a new one matched to the door by wire size, inside diameter and length, then wound and balanced, and on a two-spring door both are replaced together. Never try to clamp, weld or rejoin a broken spring.

On Chamberlain-made openers, Chamberlain lists a few usual causes. The light button on the wall control may have been pressed, a motion-sensing wall control keeps the light on while it detects movement, and on older units the light comes on each time someone crosses the safety sensor beam while the door is open. If none of those explains it, the logic board or the wall control may be at fault.

Yes, on many newer openers. LiftMaster and Chamberlain offer a timer-to-close setting on some wall controls, and opener apps such as myQ and Aladdin Connect can close the door on a schedule. Before the door moves on its own, the opener flashes its light and beeps, and the feature only works with the safety sensors installed and lined up. Use it on sectional doors only.

Usually because the door is working harder than it should. Worn or dry rollers and hinges, a bent or dirty track, or springs that no longer carry their share of the weight make the door drag, and the opener strains to move it. A door that hesitates at one spot points to the track; one that labors the whole way points to the springs. A tune-up with a balance check finds which.

Rolling code means the remote sends a new code with every press, so a copied signal will not open the door later. Older openers set a fixed code with a row of DIP switches, which Chamberlain dates to before 1993. On Chamberlain-made openers, a red, orange, purple, round yellow or round white learn button means rolling code; a green one is the earlier Billion Code. Genie calls its rolling code Intellicode.

A chain drive is durable and the loudest of the four. A belt drive does the same job with a reinforced belt and runs much quieter, which matters when a bedroom sits over the garage. A screw drive lifts the door with a threaded rod. A wall-mount, or jackshaft, opener bolts beside the door onto the end of the torsion shaft, leaves the ceiling clear and needs a torsion spring door.

Clopay gives 8 feet wide by 7 feet high and 9 feet wide by 7 feet high as the two most common single-car sizes, and 16 by 7 feet as the classic double. Seven feet is the standard height, though 8 foot tall doors are widely available. Springs, cables and tracks are sized to the height and weight of the door, so measure the door itself before ordering parts.

Shaking usually comes from worn rollers or cracked hinges that let the sections wobble in the track, loose track or hinge bolts, or a door out of balance that the opener jerks along. A chain opener slapping its rail can shake the door too. Look for cracked hinges and rollers with chipped wheels, and stop using the opener if a cable looks slack or the door rides crooked.

No. We are not a licensed contractor. Garage door repairs under $1,000 in labor and materials do not require a California contractor license (Business and Professions Code section 7048), and we stay inside that line. A new garage door is a job for a licensed contractor, and we say so. We fix the door you already have, and if it is rusted through, badly bowed or cracked in several sections, we tell you before you spend anything on it.

A sectional door is a row of horizontal panels hinged together that roll up on rollers in curved tracks and sit flat under the ceiling, balanced by torsion or extension springs. A one-piece tilt-up door, common on 1950s to 1970s San Diego homes, swings out as a single panel on pivot hardware with a pair of extension springs. Both are repairable, and parts are still available for most tilt-ups.

Yes. We fit T-handle locks, inside slide locks and deadbolts on the garage side door, starting at $139, parts and labor. On a door with an opener, a slide lock left engaged when someone presses the remote can bend the top section or the track, so we talk through which lock suits how you use the door.

The opener pulls on the top section through a bracket, and on a wide door that section needs a strut, a steel brace across its width, plus an operator reinforcement bracket to spread the load. Without them, or when the door is out of balance and the opener is doing the work of the springs, the section bows or cracks around the bracket. We add struts and rebalance the door.

Spring & Cable prices are parts and labor for a standard residential sectional door and opener, and the number is agreed before we drive out. A spring job includes the springs, winding and balancing the door, lubricating the moving parts and testing the safety reverse. One torsion spring starts at $229 and a pair at $329. Anything else found on the visit is priced separately for you to approve.

A little, if the door is closed and level. Move bikes, bins and boxes back from the door so there is room for a ladder under the spring shaft and along both tracks. A car parked inside can stay where it is. If the door is crooked, stuck open or has a cable hanging, leave everything where it is and stay clear, and the Spring & Cable technician secures the door first.

Not for the job you booked with Spring & Cable. The price you agree to on the phone is the price you pay for that repair. If we find something else, such as a frayed cable next to the broken spring, we show it to you, price that part separately and let you decide. Oversized, custom wood, commercial and high-cycle setups are priced after a photo or a visit.

Spring & Cable hours are Mon to Sat 7am to 7pm [verify], so Saturdays are covered. A broken spring or a door stuck open is the kind of call we move other work around for, so in most cases we fix it the same day, Saturday included, though we cannot promise that every day. Call or text a photo of the door, and we give you a real arrival window.

Yes, for most jobs. Send Spring & Cable a photo of the springs above the door, one of the whole door from inside the garage, and one of the label on the opener if the opener is the problem. From those we can usually tell torsion from extension springs, spot a frayed or loose cable, and name the parts and the price before booking. Unusual doors are priced after a visit.

An adult should be there to open the garage for the Spring & Cable technician, agree to the price and watch the door run up and down at the end, including the reverse test. If you cannot be there, a landlord, property manager or neighbor can stand in, as long as they can approve the work and know where the remotes are kept.

Spring & Cable takes payment once the door is fixed and you have opened and closed it yourself. Ask about payment methods when you book, so the technician arrives ready for the way you want to pay. Landlords, property managers and HOAs can ask for an invoice instead of paying at the door.

Spring & Cable books an arrival window rather than an exact minute, because the visit before yours can run long when a door needs more than expected. If you need a particular part of the day, such as first thing in the morning or after work, say so when you book and we fit the visit into it where we can.

Never unwind, adjust or remove a torsion or extension spring, a lift cable, a cable drum or a bottom bracket. Together they hold the stored energy that lifts the door, and loosening the wrong bolt can release it into your hands or drop the door. The safe checks are the power, the lock and manual release, the remote battery, the sensor lights and a look at the springs and cables.

Yes, which is why the safety systems matter. A double steel door can weigh well over 100 pounds, and openers sold in the United States since 1993 must stop and reverse when something is in the way, usually through photo-eye sensors near the floor. A door with a broken spring, or one released from the opener, can fall with nothing to stop it. Run the reverse test monthly and never walk under a moving door.

Once a month, lay a 2x4 flat on the floor in the middle of the doorway and close the door with the opener. It should reverse when it touches the board. Then close it again and pass an object, not your body, through the sensor beam; the door should stop and go back up. If either test fails, stop using the opener to close the door and book a repair.

Look before you press the button. From the floor, check that both lift cables are tight and seated on their drums, the springs show no gap, the tracks are straight with their wall brackets tight, and the door sits level. If all of that looks right, run the door once with the wall button and watch it. If it binds, rides crooked or a cable is slack, stop and book a repair.

We are not a licensed contractor. Garage door repairs under $1,000 in labor and materials do not require a California contractor license (Business and Professions Code section 7048), and we stay inside that line. A new garage door is a job for a licensed contractor, and we say so.

Pull it with the door fully closed whenever you can. The cord, usually with a red handle, disconnects the door from the trolley of the opener so you can move it by hand, but if a spring is broken or the door is out of balance, an open door can fall fast once it is released. If the door is stuck open, keep clear of it and call instead.

Mount the wall button at least 5 feet off the floor, as most opener manuals call for, and keep remotes out of small hands. Teach children never to run under a closing door, ride it or play with the button. Run the monthly reverse test, because the reverse system is what protects someone caught under the door, and stop using the opener if the door fails it.

During strong Santa Ana winds, SDG&E can cut power in high fire-risk areas as a Public Safety Power Shutoff. Before it starts, find out whether your opener has battery backup, and test it by unplugging the opener and running the door once. With no backup, practice the emergency release with the door closed, or park the car outside so leaving does not depend on the opener.

Yes, every adult and driving teen, once, on a calm day. Do it only with the door fully closed and the springs and cables intact: pull the emergency release cord, then lift the door from the bottom section with fingers out of the joints. A balanced door rises with moderate effort and stays put halfway. If it is too heavy for someone, book a spring check before you need it.

In designated fire hazard areas, California wildland-urban interface rules (Chapter 7A of the building code and section R337 of the residential code [verify]) call for garage doors that resist embers, with the gaps at the bottom, sides and top held to 1/8 inch [verify]. Your local building department can say whether the rule applies to your house. On an existing door, a new bottom seal and perimeter weatherstrip close most gaps.

It helps. A strut is a steel brace across a section. A 16 foot door usually has one or two across the top section, and added struts on the lower sections stiffen the door so strong east winds are less likely to bow it or push rollers out of the track. Tight track brackets and sound rollers matter as much. If a gust has bowed the door or popped a roller, do not run the opener.

Yes. The logic board, the control circuit of the opener, is the part a surge usually damages. Afterward the opener may not respond at all, respond only to the wall button, or behave erratically. Reset the GFCI outlet and the breaker first, since a tripped outlet looks the same. If the opener is still dead, a newer unit can take a new board; on an older one, price the board against a new opener.

It can. Ash, dust and dry leaves settle on the safety sensor lenses about six inches off the floor and block the beam, so the door reverses or will not close from the remote. Wipe both lenses with a soft, dry cloth, clear the path and check that both sensor lights glow steady. If they still blink after cleaning, the sensors may be out of line or a wire may be damaged.

In most rentals the owner or property manager approves and pays for garage door repairs. Damage a tenant causes, such as backing into the door, may be billed back if the lease allows it. The lease decides the details, so check it first, and ask an attorney about any dispute. We confirm who approves the work before any repair starts.

Tenants can call us and describe the problem, and we confirm the job with the owner or property manager before any repair, since in most rentals they approve the work and pay for it. If the door is stuck open or a spring has broken, tell the manager right away and keep cars and people clear of the door until it is fixed.

Repairs that keep the same door, such as springs, cables, rollers, openers, sensors and bottom seals, change nothing anyone sees from the street, so they usually do not need architectural approval. Replacing the door, or changing its color, panel style or windows, usually does under the CC&Rs. Check yours before ordering anything that changes how the door looks.

When the maker still offers that section, yes. We identify the make, model, color and panel design, measure the section and order a matching one, so the door still looks like its neighbors. Panel work is a measured quote. If the design is discontinued, the HOA may require a whole new door, which is a job for a licensed contractor.

It is a sensible habit, because tenants often do not mention a door that is getting heavy or noisy until a spring breaks. A yearly tune-up covers lubrication, tightening hardware, checking the springs and cables, and running the balance and reverse tests, and it leaves you a record that the safety reverse worked. Tune-ups start at $99 per door.

Only with the owner's written permission, since the opener belongs to the property. Replacing an opener is the owner's decision, and any new opener installed in California must have battery backup (Health and Safety Code section 19892). If app control is the goal, the tenant should ask the owner first. When that tenant moves out, remove their app access and erase the opener's remotes.

Yes. We can schedule a day of tune-ups across a row of townhome garages, and each door gets the same balance, reverse and sensor checks with its own short note. Anything worn, such as a fraying cable or a tired spring, is listed with its price for the owner or the board to approve before we replace it.