2026-04-10 7 min read
If you've ever walked into your garage and heard a loud bang. like a gunshot. followed by a door that suddenly won't budge, there's a good chance a spring just let go. It's one of the most jarring things that can happen to a homeowner on an otherwise ordinary morning in Los Gatos, and it happens more often than most people realize.
Spring failure is the single most common reason garage doors stop working. Understanding how springs work, what warning signs to watch for, and what you'll realistically pay for a fix will save you from panicking. and from getting overcharged.
Your garage door is heavier than it looks. A standard single steel door can weigh 100,150 pounds; a solid wood carriage-style door. the kind you'll find on a lot of the custom homes in the Surrey Farms neighborhood off Kennedy Road. can weigh well over 300 pounds. Springs do the heavy lifting, counterbalancing all that weight so your opener motor (and your arms) don't have to strain.
There are two types of springs used in residential garage doors:
- Torsion springs. mounted horizontally above the door opening on a metal shaft. These are the modern standard and the safer of the two types. - Extension springs. run along the sides of the door tracks and work by stretching. Common in older homes and less expensive, but they carry more risk if they snap.
If your home was built in Los Gatos in the 1970s or 1980s. many of the ranch-style homes in areas like Belwood and Belgatos were. there's a reasonable chance you still have extension springs. Homes built more recently, or those that have been remodeled, typically have torsion springs.
Springs don't usually fail without warning. Here's what to watch for:
- The door feels unusually heavy when you lift it manually. This is a classic sign of spring tension loss. - The door doesn't stay open. it slowly drops back down when you let go at waist height. - You hear grinding or squeaking during operation, especially near the top of the door. - Visible gaps in the spring coil. a torsion spring that has snapped will show a clear separation in the coil above the door. - The door closes unevenly, with one side dropping faster than the other (common when one extension spring fails before its pair).
If you're noticing any of these, it's worth reviewing our guide on signs your garage door needs professional repair before the problem gets worse.
Most standard residential springs are rated for about 10,000 cycles. one cycle being one open and one close. If you use your garage door four times a day (a realistic number for a busy Los Gatos household), that's roughly 1,460 cycles per year. Do the math and a standard spring lasts roughly seven years. Higher-cycle springs rated for 20,000+ cycles are available and worth asking about if you're already paying for a replacement.
Los Gatos sits at the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains and experiences mild but genuinely wet winters. January is the wettest month, with humidity regularly climbing above 75,80%. That moisture accelerates rust and corrosion on older springs. particularly extension springs that run along the tracks and are more exposed to air movement in the garage. If your garage faces the prevailing south or southwest winds that come through during winter storms, your springs may wear faster than the rated cycle count suggests.
Being in the South Bay means labor costs run a bit higher than national averages, so use these ranges as a starting point:
- Extension spring replacement: $120,$250 per job, including labor - Torsion spring replacement: $150,$350 for a single door, including labor - Replacing both springs on a double door: $275,$500+ - Converting from extension to torsion springs: $400,$800. a worthwhile investment for safety and longevity
Most reputable companies will recommend replacing both springs at the same time, even if only one has broken. Springs are installed in pairs and wear at the same rate, so if one goes, the other is likely close behind. Replacing both in one visit also saves you a second service call fee.
Be cautious of very low quotes. Springs need to be correctly sized for your specific door's weight and height. Undersized or generic springs fail faster and can cause your opener to burn out prematurely. You can check our services page to understand what a professional spring replacement includes.
This is the one garage door repair where the answer is a firm no. and not just a liability disclaimer. Torsion springs store an enormous amount of energy. When they release unexpectedly during a DIY attempt, the results can be severe: broken fingers, facial injuries, or worse. Professional technicians use specialized winding bars and follow strict procedures because even small mistakes are dangerous.
Extension springs are slightly less technical to replace, but they can snap with significant force and become dangerous projectiles if not handled correctly. The $150,$350 you pay a pro is genuinely worth it for this particular repair.
Don't try to operate your garage door on a broken spring. and especially don't use the automatic opener. The motor is not designed to lift the full dead weight of the door and will likely burn out, turning a $200 spring replacement into a $400,$600 opener replacement. In some cases, the door can drop suddenly and damage your vehicle or injure someone standing nearby.
If a spring breaks and your car is stuck inside, most doors can be manually opened in an emergency with two people. but treat it as a one-time necessity, not a workaround. Contact us to get same-day or next-day service scheduled before the situation gets worse.
When a technician replaces your springs, they should measure your door's weight, height, and cable drum size to select the correct spring. not just grab a "standard" replacement from the truck. If you have a heavier custom door, like a wood carriage-style door common in higher-end neighborhoods around Monte Sereno or the Rinconada Hills area, make sure your tech accounts for that extra weight. Oversized doors often need commercial-grade springs.
Also worth asking: do they offer high-cycle springs? Standard springs are fine, but if you use your garage as your primary entry point. as most Los Gatos families do. upgrading to a 20,000-cycle spring for a modest price increase is smart long-term thinking.
For more on keeping your entire garage door system in good shape between service calls, check out our garage door maintenance tips.
Look above your closed garage door. If you see a horizontal spring mounted on a metal bar running across the width of the door, that's a torsion spring. If you see springs running along the horizontal tracks on either side of the door, those are extension springs.
Technically yes, but most professionals. including the team at Garage Door Company Los Gatos. will recommend replacing both at the same time. Springs wear at the same rate, and the second spring is likely to fail within weeks or months of the first, costing you another service call.
For a standard torsion spring replacement, a professional technician typically completes the job in 45 minutes to an hour. Extension spring jobs on older doors can take a bit longer if the hardware needs inspection or adjustment.