Broken Garage Door Springs in Des Plaines

Older garages here, particularly the detached ones on the narrow lots, often carry a pair of extension springs stretched along the horizontal tracks either side of the door. They do the job, but they need containment cables threaded through them so a broken spring cannot travel across the garage. A surprising number of these doors do not have them.

Attached garages and any door that has already been replaced usually run torsion springs on a shaft above the opening. Those are heavier duty and better contained. Where the headroom allows it, the technician will say whether a conversion is worth doing rather than simply fitting like for like.

Plenty of these calls start with a car shut in before an early shift. On a two-spring door with one break, the release cord and a second pair of hands will sometimes raise it far enough to reverse out. On a single-spring door there is nothing holding the weight at all, and a door that gets away from you is genuinely dangerous. If it does not come up easily, leave it down.

Where a door has two springs, both are changed together. They went on at the same time, they have done identical work, and the survivor is only a short way behind. Fitting one new spring against one tired one leaves the door lopsided and books the next visit for a few months' time.