Spring snapped

It might seem obvious when a garage door spring has snapped but not always. All main up/over garage door manufacturers rely on springs held under tension to open and shut the door. These are typically situated in 3 main places, namely above the door, inside the door frame to the left and right of the door and finally, externally at the bottom of the door. The most common is with either one big spring across the top of the door (to which the cables are attached to lift the door up & down - see cable problems) or with two springs in a box above the door, imaginatively called a spring box! Essentially, if a spring has snapped then it has to be replaced but sometimes, in the case of a spring hanging down (see below), it might not be the spring but the cable. Most springs are still available, even on doors 40+ years old, but are very specific in terms of size and tension so we advise a service call to measure and fit.

Spring hanging down

If the spring is hanging down from the top of door, and is covered with grease with a pulley wheel on the end, this is a Garador Mk3c and whilst these do snap, the most common cause for this is a snapped cable rather than the spring.

Spring loose - Garage door won't stay open

This usually means that there isn't enough tension on the spring, which, depending on the manufacturuer, could mean an adjustment to the spring or a replacement of the spring. 9 times out of 10 the tension can be adjusted rather than replacing. Once I get the photos all uploaded you should be able to identify the make of door/spring and if it can be adjusted.