Open Sesame Garages · Oklahoma City
I heard a loud bang in my garage. Was it the garage door spring?
Almost certainly, yes. A torsion spring that snaps releases its stored tension all at once, and it sounds like a gunshot or a heavy board dropped on concrete, often with nobody near the door. Confirm it from the floor: look at the spring on the bar above the closed door for a gap of an inch or two in the coil. If you see the gap, do not run the opener or lift the door, and call for spring replacement.
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How to confirm it in 30 seconds, without touching anything
- Look at the bar directly above the closed door. A broken torsion spring shows a clear gap, usually an inch or two, where the coil separated.
- On older doors with springs running alongside the ceiling tracks, look for a spring hanging loose or lying on the floor, held only by its safety cable.
- Check the cables at the bottom corners of the door. A cable hanging slack or unwound from its drum is a second sign.
- Do not press the opener button to test it. If the spring is broken, the opener will strain, lift a few inches, and stop, and it can strip its own gears doing it.
Why springs break with a bang, and why it happens when nobody is near the door
A torsion spring is wound tight enough to counterbalance a 150 to 300 pound door. Every open and close cycle flexes the steel, and after roughly 10,000 cycles on a standard spring, fatigue opens a crack that eventually lets go. The energy releases instantly, which is the bang.
Springs usually break while the door is closed and sitting still, because that is when a closed door holds the springs at full tension. That is why the most common story is a bang heard from inside the house, then a door that will not open the next morning.
If it was not the spring
If both springs look continuous and the cables are taut, check for a snapped lift cable, a panel or strut that cracked, or something that fell from a shelf. A door that still opens smoothly and evenly by the opener is unlikely to have a broken spring.
Related questions
Is it safe to leave the door closed overnight after the spring breaks?
Yes, as long as nobody operates it. A door with a broken spring sitting closed on the floor is stable. Unplug the opener so nobody in the house tries the button, and book the repair for the morning unless a car you need is trapped inside.
How much does it cost to fix a broken spring in Oklahoma City?
Garage door spring replacement in the OKC area typically costs $150 to $350. A single standard torsion spring runs $200 to $275 and a matched pair $275 to $350, with parts, labor and the balance test included. After-hours calls add a service fee that is quoted on the phone before dispatch.
Can a broken garage door spring hurt someone?
The break itself rarely does on a torsion spring, because it stays on its shaft. The danger comes afterward: lifting a door that has lost its counterbalance, running the opener, or trying to unwind the surviving spring without winding bars. Extension springs without safety cables are the exception, since they can release across the garage when they snap.
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