2026-04-06 7 min read
If you've ever walked into your garage on a cold Camden County morning and hit the opener button. only to hear a loud bang and watch your door refuse to budge. there's a good chance a torsion spring just let go. It's one of the most common garage door failures we see in Somerdale and the surrounding neighborhoods, and it almost always catches homeowners off guard.
The good news: it's entirely fixable. The better news: if you know what to look for, you can often spot a spring that's on its last legs before it fails completely.
Somerdale sits in Camden County, just about 12 miles southeast of Philadelphia, and the weather here is genuinely rough on metal hardware. Summers are warm and humid, with temperatures climbing into the upper 80s, while winters regularly drop into the mid-20s and below. a swing of 60°F or more across the year.
That repeated expansion and contraction cycle is exactly what wears out torsion springs. Steel fatigues over thousands of cycles, and when you add moisture from those humid South Jersey summers and the salt air that occasionally drifts in from the coast, corrosion accelerates the process. Homes in Somerdale's older neighborhoods. many of which were built in the 1960s and 1970s. often still have their original springs, which are well past their rated lifespan.
Most standard torsion springs are rated for around 10,000 cycles. If you open and close your garage door four times a day, that's roughly 1,460 cycles per year. meaning a standard spring lasts about seven years under average use. Higher-cycle springs (rated for 25,000,50,000 cycles) are available and worth the upgrade, especially for a household that uses the garage as a primary entry point.
Don't wait for the loud snap. These are the signals that a spring is wearing out:
- The door feels unusually heavy when you try to lift it manually. A properly balanced door should stay in place when raised halfway. If it falls back down, spring tension is gone or severely reduced. - Visible gaps or separation in the coils of the torsion spring above the door. A broken spring often splits apart visibly. - The opener struggles or strains, moving the door slowly or stopping mid-travel. The opener motor isn't designed to compensate for a failed spring. - Uneven movement. one side of the door rises faster than the other. often means one spring in a two-spring system has failed. - A sudden loud bang from the garage, even if you weren't near it. That's the sound of a spring releasing its stored tension all at once.
If you're seeing any of these signs, it's worth having the system inspected before a full failure leaves you unable to get your car out on a weekday morning. You can schedule an inspection with our team at any time.
Older Somerdale homes. particularly the ranch-style and split-level homes common along the borough's residential streets. often have extension springs, which run horizontally above the horizontal tracks on each side of the door. Newer installations almost always use torsion springs, which mount on a metal shaft directly above the door opening.
Torsion springs store energy by twisting (torquing) the shaft; extension springs store energy by stretching. Both work, but torsion systems are generally more durable, safer when they break (the shaft contains the released energy), and provide more balanced lifting force. If your home still has extension springs, a replacement is a good opportunity to upgrade.
This comes up a lot, and the honest answer is: you shouldn't. Torsion springs are under several hundred pounds of tension. When you're winding or unwinding them manually with winding bars, a slip can send a bar flying at serious speed, or the spring itself can uncoil violently. The industry sees injuries every year from DIY spring attempts. and that's among people who've watched plenty of tutorial videos.
Extension springs carry similar risks, especially if the safety cables running through them are worn or missing. If you want to understand what a professional installation looks like from consultation to completion, our installation timeline guide walks through the full process.
For spring work specifically, call a licensed technician. It's one of those repairs where the cost of professional service is genuinely worth it.
The opener motor takes the brunt of it. Garage door openers are designed to move a balanced door. one where the springs are carrying most of the weight. When a spring is weak or gone, the motor works significantly harder than it was built to handle. This shortens motor life substantially and can eventually burn out the opener entirely, turning a $150,$300 spring repair into a $400,$800 opener replacement on top of it.
If you're also noticing drafts, moisture intrusion, or the door not sealing properly while this is happening, check out our weatherstripping guide. a misaligned or heavy door can pull the bottom seal out of position over time.
1. Stop using the opener immediately. Forcing a broken-spring door through a motor cycle risks stripping gears or burning out the motor. 2. Don't try to manually lift it. Without functional springs, that door weighs between 150 and 400 pounds depending on its size and material. 3. Secure the garage from inside if the door is stuck in the closed position. you can usually enter through a side door or the house interior. 4. Call a professional the same day. Spring repairs are typically a one-visit fix when a technician has the right parts on the truck.
Garage Door Somerdale carries common spring sizes for the door configurations typical in Somerdale and neighboring Stratford and Lindenwold homes, which means we usually don't need to special-order parts. Check out our full services page or reach out directly to get a same-day appointment.
Most residential torsion spring replacements in the Somerdale area run between $150 and $350 for a single spring, depending on the spring size, cycle rating, and whether both springs need replacing. It's generally recommended to replace both springs at the same time if one breaks. since they've experienced the same wear, the second one usually isn't far behind.
For a standard single or double-car garage door with torsion springs, a professional technician can typically complete the job in 60 to 90 minutes. There's no need to remove or disassemble the door.
Yes, in most cases. Both springs have accumulated the same number of cycles and the same weather stress. Replacing only the broken one often means calling for another repair within months when the second spring gives out. Replacing both at once saves you a second service call and keeps the door balanced.