A garage door spring costs between $20 and $100 if you buy the part yourself, or $150 to $350 per spring (including labor) when professionally replaced. Expect to pay $300 to $700 total to replace both springs, which professionals highly recommend to keep the door balanced.
Yes, you can replace a garage door spring yourself, but it is considered one of the most dangerous DIY home repairs. The springs are under thousands of pounds of tension, and mishandling them can result in severe property damage, broken bones, or fatal injuries.
No two garage doors are exactly alike, which is why spring repair pricing can differ from one home to another. Factors such as door weight, spring type, and installation complexity all play a role. Local labor rates, service availability, and the urgency of the repair also influence cost.
Technically yes, but you should absolutely avoid it unless it is an absolute emergency.
Yes, you can manually open a garage door with a broken spring, but it is extremely dangerous and requires significant physical effort. A standard garage door weighs between 100 to 350+ pounds, and the springs are specifically designed to bear that weight.
Garage door springs typically last 7 to 10 years or about 10,000 cycles (where one cycle equals opening and closing the door once). However, their real-world lifespan is primarily dictated by your daily usage frequency, maintenance habits, and the type of spring installed.
No, you should not use standard WD-40 on garage door springs. Standard WD-40 is a water displacer and degreaser, not a lubricant. It will wash away existing grease, cause the springs to dry out, and can even attract dust and dirt.
It usually ranges from £100-300 depending on your vehicle, and you can pay online.
There are two primary types of garage door springs:
Is it worth repairing a 20-year-old garage door opener? Generally, it's not. Garage door openers typically have a lifespan of 10 to 15 years. A new opener is often a better purchase because it comes with updated safety features and runs more quietly.
A front coil springs replacement on average takes around 2 hours, but can take anywhere from just over 1 hour to 3 hours. A rear coil springs replacement takes on average 1 hour, but can take up to around 1.5 hours.
Replacing a garage door spring is moderately difficult and carries high safety risks due to the massive amount of tension the springs hold. While extension springs are somewhat manageable for experienced DIYers, torsion springs are extremely dangerous and are widely recommended to be handled by professionals.
In some cases, the uneven tension can even cause damage to your cables, drums, or opener. By replacing both springs together, you reset your system, ensuring balanced lifting power, maximum cycle life, and fewer repairs down the road.
If your garage door isn't opening or closing properly, you may need to replace the door's springs. Garage door spring replacement costs $250 on average, with prices often ranging from $150 to $350 or more.
Here are the most common signs that your garage door springs need to be replaced:
When a garage door won't close and nothing is blocking it, the most common culprit is misaligned or dirty safety sensors. These are the small, photo-eye sensors located near the floor on either side of the door.
How to Close a Garage Door With a Broken Spring. To close your garage door, reverse the steps for opening it: Start moving the garage door down to get it out of its resting place on the horizontal rails. With another person, slowly guide the garage door down until it's closed.
Yes, forcing a garage door open with a broken spring is a bad idea. The springs counterbalance the door, so when one breaks the full weight shifts to the door and the opener, which can strip gears, bend rails, fray cables, misalign tracks, crack panels, and burn out the motor.
Does home insurance cover garage door springs? Whether home insurance covers garage door springs depends on your policy and how the spring was damaged. If your policy covers your garage and the spring breaks due to a covered peril, it should cover garage spring repair.
It is not advisable to keep driving with a broken spring. It should only be done to reach a nearby garage. A broken spring reduces the stability of the vehicle and can affect braking, steering and overall control. Even at lower speeds, the suspension system will not perform as designed.
However, the cost to replace coil springs can vary. You'll be paying somewhere in the region of £167 to £177 for rear coil spring replacement or between £175 to £275 for front coil spring replacement. Read on to learn more about the average coil spring replacement costs charged by car garages and mechanics in the UK.
FAQs about mechanic labour costs
Mechanic hourly rates in the UK range from around £60 per hour at a garage, or around £45 per hour with a mobile mechanic (although mobile mechanics will often charge a callout fee on top, of between £45–£85).