A loud bang from the garage, like a gunshot, is usually a garage door spring breaking. Check from the floor. Safety: leave the door where it is and keep the opener off. Torsion: a gap of about two inches in the coil above the door. Extension: a spring hanging loose along the track. Cables: slack, or off their drums.
Likely causes
- A spring at the end of its rated cycles, about 10,000 on a standard residential spring
- Rust and pitting on the coils, which shortens spring life near the coast
- An extension spring stretched out and snapped along the horizontal track
- A spring sized wrong for the weight of the door, so it works harder every cycle
What you are seeing and hearing
Most people describe it as a gunshot or a heavy board dropped on concrete, coming from the garage with nobody near the door. It often happens with the door closed, which is when a torsion spring is wound tightest.
Look up at the shaft above the door. A broken torsion spring shows a gap of about two inches somewhere in the coil. A broken extension spring, on doors with springs running along the horizontal tracks, hangs loose or lies in pieces, held by its safety cable if one was fitted.
The lift cables may hang slack, and the door may not move or may sit crooked. If you see a solid tube across the opening and no visible springs, it is likely a Wayne Dalton TorqueMaster, which hides its springs inside the tube.
What usually causes it
Cycles. Springs are rated in cycles, one open and one close. Standard residential springs are commonly rated around 10,000. At four cycles a day that is roughly seven years, and a household that runs the door ten times a day gets there far sooner. Our guide to how long garage door springs last works through it by household.
Rust. Corrosion pits the wire, and the spring breaks at the weak spot, often early. Near the coast it is the first thing we look for.
Sizing. A spring too small for the weight of the door works harder every cycle. This happens when an earlier repair used whatever spring was on hand.
Type. Most doors built since the 1990s use one or two torsion springs on a shaft above the opening. Older and lighter doors use a pair of extension springs along the horizontal tracks.
Need a broken spring replaced today?
Call or text with your address, single or double door, and what the door is doing. The price is firm before the truck leaves the yard.
What you can safely check in two minutes
Do not run the opener, and keep everyone out from under the door: the cables and any spring still in one piece hold stored tension.
Why the opener stays off: the springs do the lifting and the opener only guides the door. Without a spring, the opener strains against the full weight. The drive gear strips, the top section bends where the opener arm attaches, or a cable jumps off its drum.
- Unplug the opener or switch off its breaker so nobody presses a remote.
- Look at the springs and cables from the floor with a flashlight. Do not touch.
- If the door is stuck open, leave it and do not pull the release cord. It can drop all at once.
- Take a photo of the springs from below so we can see the type and how many.
Which repair fixes it
- A broken torsion spring: spring replacement, which also covers whether to replace one spring or the pair. A standard pair of torsion springs takes 45 minutes to an hour.
- Broken extension springs: replaced as a pair, with safety cables through them. One-piece tilt-ups run these.
- Cables that went slack and came off the drums: reseated or replaced through cable and drum replacement on the same visit.
- A gear stripped by running the opener after the break: opener repair.
- A TorqueMaster door: the springs sit inside the tube and need their own parts and tools.
When a repair stops making sense
A broken spring on its own is nearly always worth fixing. The spring is the wear part, and the door usually has plenty of life left in it.
The answer changes when:
- The door is a one-piece tilt-up with a rotted or warped frame.
- The bottom section is rusted through or several sections are cracked from an old car impact.
- The springs, cables, drums and rollers are all worn out at once on an inexpensive builder-grade door.
A new garage door is a job for a licensed contractor, and we say so. Our spring replacement cost guide covers what is typical in San Diego.
Across San Diego
Spring calls come from every corner of the county, but what wears the spring out changes. In Bonita, where many owners never moved, the springs can be as old as the house, and the cables and opener tend to be close behind.
In Solana Beach, marine air rusts spring coils, and a rusted spring can break well before its cycle rating. In the older Mission Valley complexes with a row of individual garages, doors replaced one at a time leave springs of every age side by side, so one breaking says little about the door next to it.
Loud Bang or Broken Spring: common questions
What does it sound like when a garage door spring breaks?
A loud, sharp bang, often compared to a gunshot or a firecracker in the garage, usually with nobody touching the door. Afterward you will see a gap of about two inches in a torsion spring above the door, or a loose extension spring along the track, and the door will be very heavy to move.
How do I know if my garage door spring is broken?
Look at the shaft above the door from the floor. A broken torsion spring shows a gap of about two inches somewhere in the coil, and a broken extension spring hangs loose or lies in pieces along the track. Other signs are a loud bang earlier, slack cables, and a door that will not lift or feels very heavy. If you see any of that, leave the opener off.
Can a garage door spring break while the door is closed?
Yes, and that is when most torsion springs break. With the door closed, the spring is wound tightest and under the most stress, so a worn or rusted spring often gives out with nobody near the door. People hear a bang, find nothing obviously wrong, and only learn about it when the opener cannot lift the door. Look above the door before pressing the button.
Why won't my garage door open if only one spring broke?
On a two-spring door, each spring carries about half the weight of the door. With one broken, the door is far heavier than the opener is built to lift, so it strains, lifts a few inches and stops or reverses. The remaining spring cannot balance the door alone. Stop pressing the button, because the opener gear and the top section can be damaged.
Why are the cables hanging loose after my garage door spring broke?
The spring keeps the cables tight by turning the drums on the shaft. When a torsion spring breaks, the shaft loses its tension, so the cables go slack and can slip off the drums. Do not pull or rewind them: they will be under load again once the spring is replaced. Leave the door closed and the opener unplugged, and the cables are reset in the same visit.
The FAQ page has more answers. Not sure which part failed? Send a photo and we will name it.
Where we see this
We cover all of San Diego County, same day in most cases. Some of the places we work:
Related guides
- Broken Garage Door Spring: What to Do Right Now: Heard a loud bang in the garage? How to spot a broken spring, why the door stays shut and the opener off, and what to do while you wait for the repair.
- How Long Do Garage Door Springs Last? Cycles, Years and Signs: Garage door springs are rated in cycles. See how many years 10,000 and 20,000 cycles last at 2 to 8 a day, coast versus inland wear and the warning signs.
- Garage Door Spring Replacement Cost in San Diego: What garage door spring replacement typically costs in San Diego: one spring or two, torsion or extension, high-cycle upgrades and what a fair quote shows.
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