2026-03-24 6 min read
Most garage door problems give you some warning before they get serious. Springs are no different — but because they're up near the ceiling and out of sight, most homeowners in Sandown don't notice the symptoms until something goes wrong at a bad moment.
With roughly 82% of Sandown's housing stock made up of detached single-family homes — ranch-styles, Colonials, raised ranches — the attached garage is practically universal here. That means the garage door often gets opened and closed three, four, sometimes five times a day between work commutes, school pickups, and weekend errands. At that usage rate, springs can wear out in as little as five to seven years. And with New Hampshire's dramatic seasonal temperature swings — from sub-20°F January nights to summer highs in the low 80s — the metal in those springs expands and contracts repeatedly, which accelerates wear over time.
Here's what to look and listen for before a broken spring turns into an emergency.
Your garage door — whether it's a standard two-car Colonial style or a single-car unit on a smaller ranch — weighs anywhere from 150 to 300 pounds. The torsion springs mounted horizontally above the door opening (or extension springs running along the side tracks in older systems) store tension and do most of the actual lifting. The opener motor is designed to guide the door, not carry its full weight. When springs are working correctly, you barely notice them. When they're failing, every other part of the system feels it.
This is the most reliable early warning. Disconnect your opener using the red emergency cord and try lifting the door manually to about waist height. Let go. A properly balanced door should stay exactly where you left it — it shouldn't drift up or drop down. If it feels like you're deadlifting it, or if it falls when you release it, the springs are losing tension and no longer counterbalancing the door's weight properly.
A torsion spring breaking under full tension releases a significant amount of stored energy — the sound has been compared to a gunshot or a car backfiring. If you've heard a sudden sharp bang from your garage and the door subsequently stopped working, that's almost certainly what happened. Look up at the spring bar above the door. A broken torsion spring will have a visible gap of two inches or more in the coil where it snapped. Do not attempt to use the door. Stop using it immediately and call a professional.
Most residential garage doors use two springs. When one fails while the other is still functioning, the door gets uneven support — it may tilt to one side, jerk during travel, or strain audibly as it moves. This uneven movement puts stress on the cables, tracks, and rollers simultaneously. Letting it go doesn't just mean a spring repair; it can mean a full system overhaul.
If your opener sounds like it's working harder than usual — humming loudly, reversing partway, or stopping before the door is fully open — the springs may no longer be providing adequate support. The opener is compensating for the missing lift, which means the motor is running under a load it wasn't built for. Continued use in this condition can burn out the motor or strip the gears, turning a spring repair into a much more expensive opener replacement. Homeowners in Derry and Exeter report the same pattern: what started as a "slow opener" turned into a full replacement because the spring problem wasn't caught early. You can learn more about what your opener should and shouldn't be doing on our FAQ page.
Spend sixty seconds looking up at your springs the next time you're in the garage. Rust weakens the metal and makes the spring more brittle and prone to snapping without much additional warning. A stretched or elongated coil means the spring has lost the tight tension needed to do its job. And a visible gap in a torsion spring means it's already broken — the coils of a healthy spring are wound tightly together with no separation.
Worn springs quietly put stress on your entire door system. The opener motor wears down faster. Cables go slack and can snap. Track alignment suffers. And a spring that breaks suddenly while the door is in the open position can cause the door to drop without warning — a serious crush hazard for anyone standing nearby. The safety implications are real enough that we'd always recommend reading up on garage door safety testing practices alongside any spring maintenance routine.
Spring lifespan is measured in cycles, not years — one cycle equals one full open and close. Standard springs are typically rated for 10,000 cycles. At four uses a day, that's roughly seven years. High-cycle springs (rated to 20,000+ cycles) cost more upfront but make sense for households that use the garage as the primary entry point.
Garage door springs are under extreme tension. Removing them requires specialized winding bars and specific technique. A spring released improperly can strike with enough force to shatter a windshield — or cause serious injury. This isn't a job where watching a YouTube video is adequate preparation. The tools matter, the technique matters, and the correct spring sizing for your specific door matters. Getting the wrong spring size installed is almost as bad as having a broken one. This is one repair where professional service isn't just convenient — it's the responsible call.
Sandown Garage Doors carries properly rated torsion and extension springs for the range of door sizes common in Sandown and surrounding Rockingham County towns. If you're seeing any of the signs above, contact us to schedule an inspection before the spring fails completely — a planned replacement is always less disruptive than an emergency one at 7am on a Tuesday.
For context on what to look for in any garage door service company before you hire one, our services overview explains exactly how we approach diagnostics and what a full spring replacement involves.
Q: Should I replace both springs at the same time, even if only one is broken? A: Yes — almost always. If one spring has reached the end of its life, the other is typically at the same wear stage. Replacing both at once saves you a second service call within months and ensures even, balanced door movement.
Q: How do I know if I have torsion springs or extension springs? A: Torsion springs are mounted horizontally above the center of the door opening on a metal bar. Extension springs run along the horizontal tracks on each side of the door. Newer homes and most modern garage doors in Sandown use torsion springs, which tend to be more durable and offer smoother operation.
Q: Can I use my garage door with a broken spring if I really have to? A: Technically the opener may still run, but you shouldn't. The door's full weight falls on the opener motor and cables, and a door that drops unexpectedly is a real safety hazard. Disconnect the opener, manually lower the door if it's open, secure it, and leave it closed until it's repaired.