You heard a bang, and now the door won't lift
If you heard a loud bang from the garage — people describe it as a gunshot or a heavy pipe dropping — and the door will now barely move, a torsion spring has almost certainly broken.
This is the one fault on this site where we would ask you to stop and read the safety note before doing anything else.
Do not try to force it open
The spring, not the opener, carries the weight of the door. A sectional door weighs somewhere between 130 and 350 pounds, and the spring balances almost all of it so the motor only has to overcome the remainder.
With the spring gone, all of that weight is live. A door lifted by hand or dragged up by an opener that was never built for it can come down hard and fast. Do not put yourself or anything else under it, and do not keep pressing the button — you will burn out an opener that was otherwise fine.
Why it broke when it did
Springs are rated in cycles, not years — one open and close is one cycle. Standard springs are rated around 10,000 cycles, high-cycle springs around 20,000. Angi and Bob Vila both put that at roughly seven to fifteen years of ordinary use.
So a spring that failed is usually a spring that finished, not one that was defective. Cold accelerates it, and a household that uses the garage as its main door gets through cycles far faster than one that does not.
Replace both, and ask about cycle rating
If one spring has reached the end of its life, the other is within months of the same. Replacing only the broken one means paying the call-out twice, and Angi's guidance is to replace in pairs to keep the door balanced.
Ask what cycle rating you are being quoted. A high-cycle spring costs modestly more up front and can roughly double the service life, which for a busy household is the better purchase.
Common questions
- What does a torsion spring cost in New York?
- Angi's New York page puts single torsion spring replacement at $169–$394, averaging $282, as of 2026, with labour alone at $85–$170. Bob Vila's national figures run lower, at $150–$300 for both springs on a double door. Both are on our cost guide.
- Is it safe to replace a spring myself?
- No, and this is the one job every source we researched is unanimous on. A wound torsion spring stores an enormous amount of energy and releases it violently if a winding bar slips.
- Can I still get my car out?
- Most openers have an emergency release cord that disconnects the trolley so the door can be moved by hand. With a broken spring the door will be extremely heavy and will want to fall — this genuinely needs two able people, and it is often better to wait.
| Torsion spring replacement, single springAngi (New York), 2026Labor alone runs $85–$170 residential. Springs are replaced in pairs when one fails, to keep the door balanced — expect roughly double for both. | $169–$394avg $282 |
|---|---|
| Torsion spring replacement, single springAngi, 2026 — national figureUp to $500 where a multi-door or related repair is involved. | $150–$350 |
| Torsion springs, both, double doorBob Vila, 17 April 2024 — national figureNotably lower than Angi's single-spring New York figure. Bob Vila's national numbers run below Angi's throughout; both are published here rather than averaged. | $150–$300 |
| Extension spring replacement, per springBob Vila, 17 April 2024 — national figureCheaper than torsion, and shorter-lived. No New York specific figure was published by any source we could verify. | $100–$200 |
Your quote can come in below these ranges, and it can come in above them. Both happen for legitimate reasons: a simple reset costs less than a full replacement, and difficult access, a heavy or non-standard door, seized hardware, or damage found once the door is open all cost more. These are published by the sources named, not by us, and nobody can price your door from a web page. Use them to start a conversation, not to end one.
Also worth reading
- What garage door repair costs in Queens, and where the numbers come fromPublished price ranges for garage door repair in Queens and New York — springs, openers, cables, panels and new doors. Every figure sourced and dated. No estimates of our own.→
- Your garage door starts down, then goes back upA garage door that reverses before it closes is almost always the safety sensors, and often free to fix yourself. What to check, in order, before you call anyone.→
- The motor runs, the door stays where it isA garage door opener that hums or runs without moving the door is usually a disconnected trolley — frequently a free, five-minute fix. What to check before calling anyone.→
Tell us what the door is doing.
Five questions, about ninety seconds, no payment details. Castle Garage Door Network does not do the work — independent contractors do, and they contact you directly.