Garage Door Springs Safety and Replacement

Garage door springs are what make it possible to easily open and close a garage door that weighs several hundred pounds. These high tension springs along with the other components (cables and rollers) that make up a complete garage door system  makes it so easy to lift a heavy garage should. It also be source of great concern. This is because these springs are under very high tension when the garage is closed and can cause serious damage if not maintained.
Regular maintenance to assure you of properly functioning garage door springs as well as the rest of the system can prevent any hazard from ever happening

"Give me a lever long enough and a prop strong enough. I can single-handedly move the world" ARCHIMEDES

If you own a flip-out garage door, chances are that you will have one or both sets of springs give out on you at some point. When this happens you must decide if it's best to do the work yourself or have it done by a contractor/installer. If you are very familiar with the way garage doors work and you have installed springs before, then it may be well worth it do the work yourself it you are trying to save. But if you haven't ever worked on garage doors before than
there are some very important things about safety that you might want to consider.

Considering the amount of times that you've opened and closed the garage door, at first glance that may not seem all that "dangerous". For as long as you could remember all you had to do to open the garage was to simply press a button. But think about it, a 400lb. garage door being lifted and shut with the strength of two (or a set of two) 1 1/2 foot springs and some cables. These 1 1/2' springs are stretched into a dangerous state when they are closed. This tension represents an enormous amount of energy that if released can actually be deadly if for some reason the energy was released. That is why you should never try to work on a garage door when it is closed. Also, never loosen anything that is attached to the springs when the door isn't open.

Springs that are old and poorly maintained often break, and this is when they are under the most tension (closed door) and also the most dangerous situation because pieces of the spring become projectiles of shrapnel and can kill if anyone is in the garage at that time. If you have not worked on on replacing the garage door springs before and this is scaring you - good. This is something that you want a skilled contractor that can guarantee the work and parts to take care of.

Adjusting the garage door is a matter of making the tension either tighter or more loose and will make the want to pull up or pull down fast which can be dangerous if you don't know what you are doing. You want to make the adjustment to the door neutral so that the door neither wants to fly up or drop down and will stay where it is. Again if you are not sure about doing this you're not alone, even people who do this on a regular basis are extremely careful with how to proceedthey are making garage door adjustments.

Like making adjustment to an existing garage door spring, replacing garage door torsion spring with new ones will require you to release the tension off of the old springs first. When replacing a spring it is a good idea to replace both of them at the same time. this ensure that both springs receive the same amount of tension over time and should prevent any damage that can happen when one has been in use longer that the other


Garage doors are very heavy and if one was to suddenly drop or even unexpectedly lift up the the damage can be great so it is very important that you get regular maintenance to it at least twice a year. Most homeowners overlook the garage as oppose to other parts of the house that may add to the overall aesthetic of the house, but this is just as important. A with any mechanical device with regular use comes wear and tear and every time the garage opens and closes the springs, cables and roller are engaged and are subject to fail. To insure that this never happens always inspect your garage door springs