What this service covers
You will usually know the moment it happens. A breaking torsion spring makes a bang loud enough to be mistaken for a gunshot, often heard from inside the house. Afterwards the door will not lift, or the opener strains, hums and gives up a few inches off the floor.
Hamilton Same Day Garage Door replaces broken springs seven days a week with springs sized to the door's actual weight and travel — not the nearest thing on the truck.
Signs you need spring repair
If any of these describe your door, this is the service you want. If you are not sure, describe the symptom on the phone and we will tell you which it is.
- A loud bang from the garage, followed by a door that will not open
- A visible gap in the coiled spring above the door — the clearest confirmation
- The opener runs, strains and reverses without lifting the door
- The door lifts a few inches, then stops or slams back down
- The door is extremely heavy to lift manually after pulling the release cord
- One side of the door rises faster than the other
- Loose, slack or unwound cables hanging beside the door
- The door drops fast instead of staying where you leave it
What the technician does
- 1
Identify the system and measure the spring
Torsion springs mount on a shaft above the door; extension springs run along the horizontal tracks on each side. The technician measures wire diameter, inside diameter, overall length and wind direction, because a spring that is close but not correct will fail early and strain the opener.
- 2
Safely release stored tension
Remaining tension is unwound with proper winding bars before any hardware is touched. This is the step that injures people who attempt the job themselves, and it is done first for a reason.
- 3
Replace springs as a matched pair
When one spring in a two-spring system breaks, both are replaced. They have completed the same number of cycles, so the surviving spring is at the same point in its life — replacing only the broken one usually means a second call-out within months.
- 4
Wind, balance and test
The new springs are wound to the correct turn count for the door's height and weight, then the balance is verified: a correctly sprung door held halfway should stay there. Opener force limits are reset and the auto-reverse safety is tested.
Parts and brands we handle
Springs are stocked in the standard residential sizes that cover the large majority of Hamilton doors:
- Torsion springs in common wire gauges from .207" to .262", left and right wind
- High-cycle torsion springs rated to roughly 25,000 cycles for heavily used doors
- Extension springs in standard weight ratings for single and light double doors
- Safety containment cables for extension spring systems
- Torsion tubes, winding cones, centre bearing plates and end bearings
- Lift cables and drums, replaced alongside springs when worn
How long it takes
A standard torsion spring replacement takes 60 to 90 minutes, including re-balancing and safety testing. Extension springs are usually quicker. A door needing a non-standard spring size, a new torsion tube or converting from extension to torsion takes longer and is quoted before work starts.
Safety warning
This is the repair where DIY goes wrong most often. A wound torsion spring stores several hundred pounds of force. Using screwdrivers or rebar instead of proper winding bars, or unwinding in the wrong sequence, causes the bar to kick back at speed — the documented injuries include broken hands, facial fractures and worse. If a spring has broken, do not use the door, do not pull the emergency release while the door is up, and keep children and vehicles clear.
Why this comes up in Hamilton
Spring failures in Hamilton follow the calendar. Steel loses ductility as temperature drops, and a spring already near the end of its cycle life is far more likely to break during a January cold snap than in July. Every winter brings a run of calls from the Mountain, Ancaster and Stoney Creek in the same week the temperature falls sharply.
Cycle count matters more than age. A spring is typically rated for around 10,000 cycles — one open plus one close is a cycle. A household using the garage as its main entrance can run four to six cycles a day, reaching that rating in roughly five to seven years. A detached garage used on weekends may go fifteen years on the same spring. If your door is the family's front door, budget for the spring accordingly.