Garage Door Spring Warning Signs Lakewood Homeowners Shouldn't Ignore
2026-03-17 6 min read
Most Lakewood homeowners don't think about their garage door springs until something goes wrong. and when it does, it tends to happen fast. One morning the door works fine; the next morning you push the button and the opener strains, grinds, or the door doesn't move at all. In some cases, you hear a sound like a gunshot from the garage and walk in to find a broken coil hanging off the shaft above the door.
Springs are the hardest-working component in your entire garage door system, and they operate under enormous tension every single time the door moves. Understanding what failure looks like. and catching the warning signs early. can save you from a locked garage, a damaged opener, and a much bigger repair bill.
How Garage Door Springs Actually Work
Your garage door weighs somewhere between 125 and 300 pounds depending on the material and size. The opener motor alone isn't designed to lift that weight. it's the torsion springs (mounted above the door on a horizontal shaft) or extension springs (running along the horizontal tracks on each side) that do the real lifting. The opener just guides the movement. When the springs fail, the motor suddenly has to handle the full weight of the door, which it cannot do safely for long.
Standard springs are rated for roughly 10,000 cycles. one cycle being one open and one close. For a household that uses the garage door four times a day, that works out to somewhere around seven to nine years of life. Homes in Lakewood's Applewood Valley neighborhood, with its mix of original 1950s ranches and renovated split-levels, often have garage doors and hardware that are well past that age without ever having the springs inspected.
For a full rundown of what a professional service visit covers, check out our services page.
Warning Signs Your Springs Are Failing
The Door Feels Unusually Heavy
This is the most telling sign that something is wrong with your springs. Disconnect your opener by pulling the red emergency release cord, then try to lift the door manually. A properly balanced door should feel relatively light and should stay in place when you raise it to waist height. If it feels like you're lifting dead weight, or if it immediately falls back down, the springs have either lost tension or already broken.
A Loud Bang From the Garage
When a torsion spring snaps, it releases all of its stored energy at once. The noise is unmistakable. many homeowners describe it as sounding like a gunshot or a car backfiring inside the garage. If you hear this and your door stops working immediately after, stop using the door entirely. Do not try to force it with the opener. Call a technician.
The Door Opens Unevenly or Looks Crooked
A door that tilts to one side while moving, or that gets stuck partway up at an angle, typically means one spring has failed while the other is still holding. This puts dangerous stress on the cables, rollers, and tracks. components that weren't designed to compensate for an unbalanced load. Left unaddressed, you'll be replacing more than just the springs.
Visible Gaps in the Spring Coil
Take a look at the torsion spring above your door. If you can see a gap in the coil. a separation where the spring has physically snapped. the spring is broken and the door should not be operated until it's replaced. This is one of the clearest signs possible, but it's also one that many homeowners walk past for days without recognizing what they're seeing.
Rust or Visible Corrosion
Lakewood's freeze-thaw cycles through winter and into early spring introduce a lot of moisture into garages that aren't well-sealed. Rust weakens the spring metal, making it more brittle and prone to sudden failure. If your springs have visible surface rust or discoloration, get them inspected. A rusty spring isn't just worn. it's a spring that's likely to snap without warning.
Colorado's Climate Accelerates Spring Wear
This is something that matters specifically to homeowners along the Front Range. Denver and its western suburbs. including Lakewood and neighboring Golden. see wide temperature swings throughout the year. Cold weather causes the metal in springs to contract and become more brittle, increasing the likelihood of a snap on a cold morning when the spring is under full tension. The local combination of hard winters, heavy late-season snow, and rapid temperature changes genuinely shortens spring lifespan compared to milder climates.
For homes in Solterra near the foothills, or in older established neighborhoods along Morrison Road, where garages may not be well-insulated, the temperature inside the garage can drop close to outdoor levels overnight. putting maximum stress on the spring metal right when you need the door to work in the morning.
If you're unsure whether your springs are due for inspection, our FAQ page has answers to common questions about service intervals and what to expect during a tune-up.
Why You Should Never DIY Spring Replacement
This point is worth being direct about: garage door spring replacement is not a DIY job. The springs store a significant amount of mechanical energy under tension. If a spring releases uncontrolled during a replacement attempt, it can cause serious injury. This isn't a matter of skill level. it's a matter of having the right tools, the right replacement hardware matched exactly to your door's weight and specifications, and the training to safely handle the tension. Garage Door Lakewood handles spring replacements every week, and our technicians have the equipment to do it safely.
It's also worth knowing that when one spring breaks, replacing both at the same time is the right call. Springs wear at roughly the same rate, and a door with one new spring and one that's close to failure is still a door with a problem waiting to happen.
If you're seeing any of the warning signs described above, don't wait. Contact our team to schedule an inspection. catching a failing spring before it fully breaks is always cheaper and safer than dealing with the aftermath.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Can I still use my garage door if one spring is broken? A: No. Operating a door with a broken spring puts the full weight of the door on the opener motor, which can burn it out quickly. It also makes the door unpredictable and potentially dangerous. Stop using the door and call for service.
Q: How long do garage door springs typically last in the Lakewood area? A: In the Denver metro area, including Lakewood, springs on a normally used residential garage door typically last seven to nine years. Homes with heavy daily use or poorly sealed garages that experience wide temperature swings may see springs wear out sooner.
Q: Should I replace both springs at the same time, or just the broken one? A: Both, always. Springs wear at approximately the same rate, so if one has broken, the other is close behind. Replacing both at the same service call saves you a second service fee and prevents being caught off guard by the second failure shortly after.