Wasn't sure where to put this, so putting in general. I need some advice on how to fix my garage door. Yesterday, the big spring above the door broke. I can still get the door open if I lift while my wife pushes the button, but that door is dang heavy. Is that something I can fix myself, just replace the spring? If so, where do I get it, and how do I make sure I get the right one. Do any of the Home Improvement stores have a repair service? Do I have to replace the whole lift mechanism?
Sorry if these are stupid questions, but haven't been able to get much info on my own. Stopped at local home store, but Garage guy had the day off.
You could have started a new thread, would expect more replies that way than this one being buried in an old thread.
I'll try to reply here to your questions anyway. First off, a photo of the broken spring will reveal how many springs are being used (one or two central or one at either side). The size of the door and more importantly the weight of the door is important in sizing the spring required. The total length of the spring and the "wire size" (diameter of the spring coil, and coil thickness) are all things you'd need to know to properly size the spring. There are a couple of websites to aid this if you look them up.
Now on to whether you can fix this yourself. The most common are extension springs and torsion springs. There are inherent dangers in both as with any spring of that size. A lot of the deciding factor will depend upon your skill level and the ability to see where the danger is.
As a first time home owner I had a torsion spring break (they will, it's metal fatigue) and I'd never worked on one. All the websites voiced a danger potential (it's not BS) and urged contacting a professional. I have over 35 years of machine shop experience and I'm rather inclined to DIY anyway. I spec'd the rated springs and then went up one duty rating (estimated number of cycles to fatigue point) so I don't have to replace them again when I'm too old to want to do it. I watched/read what information was available (you should too) on the replacement procedure(s). I had only one torsion spring broken but I replaced BOTH because they likely had the same number of duty cycles.
I would strongly suggest you determine whether the correct spring(s) were installed on your door because people sometimes do stupid things to save money where they shouldn't. Find the correct spring on the website chart and see if it matches what was installed on your door. Go up one or two duty cycles if you wish, the extra money spent will buy you more time if you intend to be in that house for very long.
I added the information from the videos to my own experience and had little trouble replacing both springs, one or two adjustments were all I needed to achieve a level of being able to raise the door by myself (my door is about 200 lbs.). I would caution you in that if you tighten the grub/locking screws too much you may collapse the tube (if hollow) and you won't be able to make the likely second/third adjustment needed. If you don't tighten them enough the hub will spin, the spring will unwind, and you'll have to start all over again. I would also strongly advise using solid winding bars (if these are torsion springs) not some piece of conduit that can/will collapse on you. There's quite a bit of stored energy in a wound-up spring of this size that commands respect or suffer the consequences and potential corrective surgery.
My advice? Can't estimate your ability, experience, or common sense and don't want to encourage something that ends badly for you. Is it something that can be done without a professional? Absolutely. I did it by myself and I'm not particularly gifted. Watch some videos and be honest with yourself about your ability to know what to do about the danger involved. A ladder or sturdy platform will be required. For other opinions start a new thread. Hope this helped someone.
